• Sisters Anja and Gerit Kling are guests at Barcelona
  • DTM debut for Simon Licht (“Baader Meinhof Komplex”)
  • Spanish round starts final spurt in title fight
DTM 2008
Gerit Kling

The ninth round (Sunday, 1:45 p.m. CEST live on ARD) now puts the DTM on the finish straight of the season. With leader of the standings Timo Scheider and champion Mattias Ekström Audi has two hot irons in the fire – and prominent support to boot: Sisters Anja and Gerit Kling as well as Simon Licht will keep their fingers crossed for the drivers at Barcelona.

Next Thursday, the film, “Der Baader Meinhof Komplex”, will hit the cinemas as one of the most spectacular German productions in recent years. Simon Licht is one of the protagonists in the role of RAF founding member Horst Mahler. The actor, who was born in Hanover in 1966, played in previous films like “Elementarteilchen” as well as in TV series like “Stromberg”.

In addition to his other passion, sailing, Simon Licht is also a big motorsport enthusiast and will experience his DTM debut at Barcelona. The connection to Audi has existed for some time: At the Audi MedCup, the regatta series in the Mediterranean, Simon Licht was a guest on board the German boat “Platoon”, which is supported by Audi. After meeting the successful sailors the actor now has the opportunity of a close-up experience with the motorsport department of the Ingolstadt brand.

In the DTM title fight next weekend Audi can count on further prominent support: Anja and Gerit Kling are travelling to the Circuit de Catalunya at Audi’s invitation as well. The sisters rank among Germany’s most popular TV actresses.

None of the prominent guests will be restricted to the role of a mere spectator: On Saturday, they will be climbing into the passenger’s seat of the 470-hp Audi A4 DTM racing taxi to be chauffeured around the 2.977-kilometre circuit. On Sunday the actor and actresses will split their support: Simon Licht will visit Mattias Ekström at his garage before race start, the Kling sisters will have Timo Scheider explain the Audi A4 DTM to them, which has won as many as four races in the most popular international touring car racing series this year.

Prominent national and international support for its racers has a long tradition at Audi: Actors like Fritz Wepper, Ralf Möller, Moritz Bleibtreu and Peter Lohmeyer, athletes like Sven Hannawald and Dieter Thoma or TV stars like Sarah Wiener, Gitta Saxx and Kai Pflaume were among the guests who spurred Audi on at the DTM venues just this year.