DTM Festival Hockenheim 2015
Arno Zensen (Head of Audi Sport Team Rosberg), Jamie Green

Audi Sport Team Rosberg with Team Director Arno Zensen managed a kickoff on the first DTM weekend at Hockenheim that was made to measure.

Jamie Green gave your Audi Sport Team Rosberg its first DTM victory since 2012. As a result, the joy must have been huge …

Absolutely. We’ve never had such a successful start of the season before: victory for Jamie (Green), sixth place in the first race for Nico (Müller) and the lead of the teams’ standings. We do have mixed emotions, though, because our strength in the first race was offset by our weakness in the second one with no points scored.

Generally speaking, things went really well for Audi with two victories and the lead of the manufacturers’ standings. Did you expect this?

No. Before the first race weekend, you never know how the relative strengths will pan out between the brands. I’d been expecting a stronger performance at Hockenheim particularly by BMW. We also owe the fact that things went so well for Audi to the hard work of all the engineers and mechanics who gave their all up to the last day before the season opener.

How did you experience the DTM innovation that now features two races per weekend?

I think that for the DTM in general and especially for the trackside crowd and the TV viewers this is a positive thing. For us as a team, it’s incredibly strenuous. The breaks between the qualifying sessions and the races are very short. If anything unforeseen should happen that requires repair work it could be a close call.

In three weeks from now, you’ll be traveling to round two at the Lausitzring. The drivers from Audi Sport Team Rosberg have never achieved a better place there than seventh. What indications would speak for an improvement?

In any event, the speed we had there last year gives rise to hope. Unfortunately, Jamie spun while he was running in third place. This year, the performance weights resulting from Audi’s successes at Hockenheim will, quite literally, be carrying additional weight in meeting the challenge.