Audi driver Scheider with special “talisman”
- Audi board member keeps fingers crossed for title defender at Dijon
- Prémat and Kristensen hosted by mayor
- Country-specific advertising on Oliver Jarvis’ A4 DTM
The eagerly awaited DTM debut at Dijon-Prenois (Sunday starting at 1:45 pm live on “Das Erste”) is a crowd-puller: A few days before the race almost all the grandstand tickets are sold out.
Michael Dick, Executive Board Member for Technical Development of AUDI AG, would like to act as a “talisman” for Audi driver Timo Scheider, who has the chance of clinching an early title win this weekend: Dick had attended the previous races at Oschersleben, the Nürburgring and Barcelona – and at each of these events the Audi DTM squad clinched victory. Dick will also be watching the race from the Audi pits this time.
For two Audi drivers the French round of the DTM will already start on Thursday night: Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen and local hero Alexandre Prémat will be guests at the Palais des États de Bourgogne at a reception hosted by the Mayor of the city of Dijon François Rebsamen.
The organizers of the first DTM event at Dijon came up with special attractions galore prior to the race. They included a slot car track in the center of Dijon replicating the circuit of Dijon-Prenois.
To attract more visitors from neighboring Switzerland, the organizers engaged Christina Surer: The popular TV host and racer will chauffeur the winners of a quiz around the circuit in an Audi R8 race taxi on the weekend.
In Germany, the wording “Jetzt Probe fahren”! on Oliver Jarvis’s Audi A4 DTM promotes the successful mid-sized sedan by encouraging consumers to test it. At Dijon, the race car designated as #15 will bear the respective French wording: “A4: essayez-la !“
Efficiency instead of full throttle counted at the “Audi Efficiency Challenge from A to B” held between the race weekends at Barcelona and Dijon-Prenois: 120 journalists and customers of the brand tested the fuel economy of 20 Audi models on a 4,182-kilometer drive from Norway to Italy. Markus Winkelhock, Katherine Legge, Timo Scheider and Emanuele Pirro participated in the efficiency challenge in various roles as well. Winkelhock displayed particular skills in this respect: With a consumption of 3.5 liters at the wheel of the Audi A3 1.6 TDI the German beat the 3.9 liters stated by the manufacturer by four tenths, exactly adhered to the specified average speed of 57 km/h and thus helped his team clinch a stage victory.
For Mike Rockenfeller on the other hand a trip to Road Atlanta (USA) was on the agenda: At the “Petit Le Mans” race he was the reserve driver. In addition, Audi of America used “Rocky” as a commentator for video clips that were made available on the internet and provided viewers with a chance to peek behind the scenes of the sports car team.