12.09.2003  SEBASTIAN STAHL JOINS ALFA ROMEO AS TEAM GEAR UP FOR OSCHERSLEBEN RACES
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The fight for the 2003 European crown is still very close, with the five best-placed drivers covered by only eight points. Jörg Müller is leading, but Nicola Larini follows him by two points, while Andy Priaulx is lying third, six points from the lead. Gabriele Tarquini and Dirk Müller are both a further two points adrift.

However, in the Manufacturers Championship, BMW leads Alfa Romeo by 38 points. According to the results of the rounds disputed so far, it seems doubtful that in Oschersleben BMW’s life will be as easy as last year. The Alfa Romeo Autodelta team has completed a lot of testing, focusing on a specific set up for the twisty German track. 

“It will be a hard weekend for me,” Larini declared. “I have the maximum ballast onboard on a track where our cars will suffer from understeer. And this means that tyre wear will be crucial. On the paper we should be losers in Oschersleben, however the situation won’t be that bad as it was last year, when we had problems in setting the new differentials up. Now that I claimed my first win of the season, I feel much better. I want to sell my life dearly and defend my chance of becoming champion.” 

After a nightmare weekend in Sweden, that cost him the lead in the Drivers’ Championship, Tarquini said: “I’m very motivated. I want to forget Anderstorp and facing the new meeting as usual. Obviously the positions in the Championship are different, and now I have to catch up. And I have to say that the role of the chaser suits me. Oschersleben is not the best track for Alfa, as it was proved by last year’s results, but we go there with confidence and the aim of not losing too many points. One positive thing is that I don’t have ballast, for the first time this year, and this should help me.” 

For the meeting in Oschersleben, the Autodelta team has entered a fourth Alfa 156 Gta for Sebastian Stahl, step brother of German F1 stars Michael and Ralf Schumacher. Stahl, who will be 25 the day after his ETCC debut, is currently committed in the German Alfa 147 JTD Cup, in which he won a race in Salzburgring. “I am very excited, because I have never driven in such a professional championship before. For me is a dream. To race an Autodelta Alfa Romeo in the European Touring Car
Championship, would be like driving in Formula One, because this represents the top for a driver like me, who uses to race in the Alfa JTD Cup. I like the Oschersleben track, and I face this commitment relaxed, with not too much pressure on me. Then I hope to do well.” 
Sebastian Stahl, Michael Schumacher, Daniele Bandiera and Gabriele Tarquini pose with two Alfa Romeo 156GTA ETCC cars after a test session earlier this summer