• “1st Audi Dutzendteich Challenge” at the Norisring
  • DTM teams have built ten unique paper boats
  • Funny race on Friday night between 8 and 9 p.m.
DTM 2006
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline preparing the "1st Audi Dutzendteich Challenge" with extreme canoeist Schorschi Schauf

Friday night will bring the moment of truth for Audi’s DTM teams: The “1st Audi Dutzendteich Challenge” will show whether or not the mechanics and engineers of the teams of Abt Sportsline, Phoenix, Rosberg and Futurecom TME are talented boat builders as well. In what is arguably the “craziest race of the year” the ten Audi DTM drivers will be competing in paper (!) boats crafted with careful attention to detail by their mechanical crews.

The mechanics invested countless hours of their free time in building their ships. The “secrecy” amongst the teams is even greater than it is prior to the beginning of a new DTM season. The reason is that the Audi boat race is not only about completing a distance on the Dutzendteich lake in as short a time as possible without being shipwrecked. The originality of the boats will be evaluated as well, and the teams want to keep the funny ideas with which they plan to convince the jury to themselves for as long as possible. Consequently, there is no such thing as taking photographs prior to the big race.

Nevertheless, first details have been leaked. Former DTM Champion Mattias Ekström made his boat licence at Lake Constance last week. His Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline engaged extreme canoeist Schorschi Schauf as a consultant and copied his kayak as a paper version. The “swim-out“ on the river Iller was a success, something which apparently cannot be said about all the models of the four Audi teams. Rumours, however, that one of the boats sunk during its maiden voyage in the Eifel region were not confirmed. It is a fact, though, that the Audi customer team, Futurecom TME, is going to enter two different constructions: “One featuring a classical bathtub design, and one an innovative and sleek-looking Robinson Crusoe/nutshell mix,“ revealed the team.

Up to the last minute the teams in Kempten, Meuspath, Neustadt and Greding continued working on the visual design of the total of ten boats – oriented to the DTM car’s liveries – because spectators should be able to identify Tom Kristensen, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and company at first glance.

The funny race will be staged on Friday night from 8 to 9 p.m. at the Dutzendteich lake immediately adjacent to the paddock. Start and finish will be the lakeside in front of Audi’s Team & Media Hospitality. Five boats each will be competing in two preliminary heats. The winners of the two preliminary runs qualify for the finale.

During the subsequent podium ceremony the spotlight – for a change – will not be on the Audi factory drivers but their mechanical crews, who have the chance of winning valuable prizes – including VIP tickets to a home match of Audi’s partner FC Bayern München – as a reward for their hard work.

Participants in the 1st Audi Dutzendteich Challenge 2006


Abt Allgäu I: Tom Kristensen
Abt Allgäu II: Mattias Ekström
Abt Allgäu III: Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Abt Allgäu IV: Martin Tomczyk
Bunny 1: Christian Abt
Öli 5W30: Pierre Kaffer
Wave Runner: Frank Stippler
Pond Rocket: Timo Scheider
Letzter Einbaum: Vanina Ickx
Antje: Jeroen Bleekemolen