Audi also triumphant at Brands Hatch

The Swede, driving for Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, who was plagued by a run of bad luck during the opening races of the year, kept a cool head in the heat of the battle around Brands Hatch and benefited from the perfect strategy to win the turbulent race by 5.957 seconds from Mercedes driver Jamie Green. In contrast to most of his competitors the former DTM Champion made both tyre changes relatively late in the race, and was, as result, able to force Green into making a decisive mistake and secured the second successive DTM win for Audi.

With team mates Martin Tomczyk securing fourth place and Christian Abt in fifth position, two further Audi drivers collected points on the demanding circuit located within the shadow of the gates of London. Abt was, as in qualifying, the best driver of a year-old car and collected the first points for Audi Sport Team Phoenix.

Tom Kristensen’s impressive showing went unrewarded. The Danish driver dominated the entire weekend in his Siemens Audi A4 DTM and looked to be heading for a second successive commanding win, before being forced to retire 17 laps from home with a defect to the front left-hand suspension.

The nightshift put in by Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s squad of mechanics, who completely rebuilt his Veltins Audi A4 DTM in a mere 16 hours after a heavy accident in Qualifying, also went unrewarded. The former Formula 1 driver complained of an ill-handling car in the race following a contact with Jean Alesi and retired in the pits four laps before the finish.

Pierre Kaffer and Timo Scheider narrowly missed scoring points in ninth and tenth places respectively. In his first outing for Audi customer team Futurecom TME, Jeroen Bleekemolen, in 14th position, was the best driver of a 2004-spec car. After a storming drive in the opening stages of the race, Vanina Ickx slid into the gravel bed at the top of “Paddock Hill Bend”. Frank Stippler retired during the second lap following an “off” at the “Druids” hairpin.

Quotes after the race

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “The spectators at Brands Hatch saw a fantastic DTM race. It’s tremendous that Mattias claimed victory for Audi, which shows that he’s back where he belongs and is just as strong as he’s always been. Tom’s retirement is obviously a huge disappointment. He really had dominated the race, he was the quickest, but was then forced to retire due to a technical problem. It is a disappointment for both Tom and us, but such things are a part of racing and give us even more motivation for our home race at Norisring.”

Mattias Ekström
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, Red Bull Audi A4 DTM #5
1st, + 5.957s
“Right now I’m just feeling totally happy. The win is just reward for the entire team, which was backed me through thick and thin, particularly in the last couple of races when things didn’t go so well for me. I’m sorry for Tom who deserved to win today. But I’m convinced as long as we stick together as a team in the future the fight for the championship will go down to the wire.”

Martin Tomczyk
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, Red Bull Audi A4 DTM #4
4th place, + 17.834s
“Generally speaking, fourth place is a super result because I hadn’t expected it after the start, and certainly not after my first pit stop. According to the strategy I had to stay out on the track which cost me two positions. Otherwise I might have been able to put pressure on Bernd Schneider. In the end, though, the outcome was the same as it would have been with the right strategy, so I’m satisfied.”

Christian Abt
Audi Sport Team Phoenix, Playboy Audi A4 DTM #12
5th place, + 19.567s
“That was a tough race. The last ten laps were particularly difficult, and I was happy when I saw the chequered flag. If you’re running in fifth place almost throughout the entire race you’re completely satisfied. Our strategy paid off, if anything, we may have stayed out on the track a little too long. Finally, I’m back to crossing the finish line and, what’s more, in exactly the place I wanted to be in. I want to maintain this level because now ‘my’ circuits are coming up.”

Pierre Kaffer
Audi Sport Team Phoenix, Castrol Audi A4 DTM #14
9th place, + 36.034s
“I’m quite happy. We had two really great pit stops and the right tactics too. In between we had a minor problem because the rear tyres were no longer working all that well. I let Timo Scheider pass but then Stefan Mücke hit me yet again. I’m pleased to see that the whole team has improved – with Christian clinching fifth place, and myself ninth. And I’m very happy for my neighbour Mattias Ekström, who really had a lot of bad luck lately and now has won this race.”

Timo Scheider
Audi Sport Team Rosberg, Gebrauchtwagen:plus Audi A4 DTM #16
10th place, + 36.272s
After a poor starting position we did achieve quite a bit, even though we didn’t finish in the points. The start was great, I overtook two cars straight away. Afterwards we supported Audi on the track, and this worked well, too. Mattias did a super job, despite the fact that Tom had been leading the race for a long time and would have deserved victory even a bit more. My thanks go to Team Rosberg for executing the strategy properly. Audi has made a wonderful car available to us, which made it possible for me to overtake Mika Häkkinen in a nice duel.”

Jeroen Bleekemolen
Futurecom TME, Futurecom Audi A4 DTM #19
14th place, - 1 lap
“That was a nice return to the DTM. We had the speed to perhaps make it into the top ten, but we had a small problem during the first pit stop. The second stop was good, and I was able to make up one position again. I managed to keep up with the pace of the cars in front of me.”

Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, Veltins Audi A4 DTM #6
17th place, - 4 laps
“Right from the beginning I had difficulties maintaining the pace. Why that was the case we need to analyse. The team did a very good job because, mechanically, the car was running perfectly. Unfortunately the balance wasn’t right from the first moment. I wasn’t able to really attack, was practically playing a bit part and quit when Jean Alesi touched me.”

Tom Kristensen
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, Siemens Audi A4 DTM #7
Retired lap 69 (front-left suspension)
“I’m happy for Eki, but obviously deeply disappointed for myself. The entire weekend ran so amazingly well: pole position, fastest in the warm-up and then in the race as I led so commandingly. I was even able to control the pace and didn’t drive over anything I shouldn’t have. I even avoided the kerbs in Turn 1. But suddenly I couldn’t steer the car properly in the compression anymore.”

Vanina Ickx
Futurecom TME, Original Zubehör Audi A4 DTM #20
Retired 44th lap (spin)
“I had a good start and was able to overtake two cars. The rhythm of the race was flowing, I managed to keep Susie Stoddart behind me and maintain the pace of the others. Unfortunately – yet again – my first pit stop didn’t work out. There was a problem with one of the front wheels which couldn’t be solved. That’s why I continued driving with the old wheel. I got a bit nervous, made a mistake and spun into the gravel trap.”

Frank Stippler
Audi Sport Team Rosberg, S line Audi A4 DTM #15
Retired 2nd lap (accident)
“As early as on the warm-up lap I felt vibrations on the right front wheel. The wheel – which is completely unusual – already stopped on the warm-up lap when I hit the brakes lightly. In the race, as well, the wheel locked after the start and finish – something I’ve never experienced at this point before. This phenomenon later caused me to spin off the track. My sincere congratulations to Audi and Mattias Ekström on their victory.”

Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “In motorsport, there are always ups and downs. Mattias’s victory was a very gratifying, Tom Kristensen’s defeat a very painful experience. We won’t give up, though, because we are professionals and are going to continue working hard. Our performance has given us a positive feeling because we’re absolutely focused. There are still a lot of races ahead in which we’ll be selling ourselves even better than we did today .”

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix): “We’ve always worked towards showing a good race and we finally managed to do this now. Especially with Christian, everything was on the dot. In the beginning Pierre’s tyre pressure was a bit too high, and we adjusted it. We’ve finally scored points and are particularly happy about fifth place. We’ve got the qualifying under control, and the race too – I think, from now on, we’ll be able to finish in the points regularly.”

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg): “This is really too bad for Frank. As early as on the formation lap he said that something was wrong with the right front wheel. Then the wheel stopped, which is why his excursion off the track probably wasn’t his fault either. Timo drove a solid race, although I’d have wished for a little better than tenth place. Our pit stops were okay.”

Results

1 Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), 85 laps in 1h 03m 31.829s
2 Jamie Green (Mercedes), + 5.957s
3 Bernd Schneider (Mercedes), + 13.837s
4 Martin Tomczyk (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), + 17.834s
5 Christian Abt (Playboy Audi A4 DTM), + 19.567s
6 Jean Alesi (Mercedes), + 21.758s
7 Bruno Spengler (Mercedes), + 26.013s
8 Alexandros Margaritis (Mercedes), + 35.183s
9 Pierre Kaffer (Castrol Audi A4 DTM), + 36.034s
10 Timo Scheider (Gebrauchtwagen:plus Audi A4 DTM), + 36.272s
11 Mika Häkkinen (Mercedes), + 38.537s
12 Daniel la Rosa (Mercedes), + 38.867s
13 Stefan Mücke (Mercedes), - 1 lap
14 Jeroen Bleekemolen (Futurecom Audi A4 DTM), - 1 lap
15 Mathias Lauda (Mercedes), - 1 lap
16 Susie Stoddart (Mercedes), - 1 lap
17 Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Veltins Audi A4 DTM), - 4 laps
18 Tom Kristensen (Siemens Audi A4 DTM), - 17 laps
Not classified:
19 Vanina Ickx (Original Zubehör Audi A4 DTM), - 42 laps (spin)
20 Frank Stippler (S line Audi A4 DTM), - 84 Rd. (accident)