A word from ... Edoardo Mortara
The Audi driver about weeks with plenty of variety and the two DTM races at the Moscow Raceway.
The birth of your daughter, 24 Hours of Spa, a victory in the Audi R8 LMS Cup in Asia and the DTM in Russia – You’ve had a lot going on in your life since Zandvoort ...
First of all, the personal aspects have to be separated from working life. The birth of our daughter on July 19 was a defining moment for my wife and me. On the sporting side, I had the opportunity to drive a couple of GT races which I always enjoy a lot. In the 24-hour race at Spa, I competed for the first time. That’s a great race with a tremendous atmosphere. The team was fantastic too. My commitment in the Audi R8 LMS Cup for Phoenix Racing Asia at Sepang also went really well. So, I’ve had a good time.
Back to the DTM: why was Audi struggling so much in both qualifying sessions at the Moscow Raceway?
Honestly, I’ve always had the impression that BMW was playing with us and showed their real potential this weekend. But we also need to analyze why in qualifying – especially on Sunday – we were so far away from being in contention. We rather have to look for the problem with us than with the others.
The two races highly differed from each other, with rain on Saturday and the comeback on Sunday. Your assessment?
I think I showed a strong performance in both races. On Saturday, I should have finished a little farther in front, but I’m happy about having scored points in both races.
On Sunday, you overtook a lot of cars. What was the best overtaking maneuver?
That’s hard to say. I had a couple of good maneuvers on Saturday as well. On Sunday, it was great fun starting from the rear and advancing to sixth place.
How was the last turn from your perspective?
I tried to make up another position. Unfortunately, that didn’t work. The way Robert (Wickens) drove was very fair and I didn’t want any contact with him. In the end, we crossed the line side by side with a gap of 0.0 seconds...
With a 30-point deficit separating you from Marco Wittmann, what’s still possible in the last six DTM races?
Everything.