Audi racer Mortara shines at sports arena

54,000 spectators (throughout the weekend) saw a successful DTM show event on the 1.190-kilometer track. On both public days the finale, despite different race formats, pitted Edoardo Mortara in the Audi against Bruno Spengler in the Mercedes-Benz. After the 24-year-old Audi driver had prevailed against the DTM leader of the standings on Saturday with an advantage of 0.366 seconds “Edo” again fought a close duel for the day’s victory with the Canadian on Sunday. The decision was made when Mortara touched the track barrier shortly before the finish and was forced to retire.

On the way to the finale on Sunday Mortara had clearly prevailed against the Mercedes drivers Susie Stoddart, David Coulthard and Renger van der Zande in the respective heats. The Audi driver was on a par with Bruno Spengler up to the third of five laps and only lost some ground after the pit stop. “I tried everything to win again today,” said Mortara. “My Audi A4 was again super-fast. But a very small mistake on this track is all it takes to end up in the wall. It’s really difficult here.”

Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) and Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) made it into the quarter-final on Sunday. Ekström clearly won the race against Renger van der Zande. However, a controversial time penalty meant an early end of the competition for the three-time winner of the “Race of Champions” and co-favorite for the day’s victory. On the way to the start the Swede had turned around his Red Bull Audi A4 DTM by intermittently hitting the gas pedal to please the crowd. “I just wanted to do something for the fans. After all, this was a show event. It’s too bad that I was punished for this,” said a disappointed Ekström.

Filipe Albuquerque, Timo Scheider, Mike Rockenfeller, Oliver Jarvis and Miguel Molina, who had won the relegation against Rahel Frey in the morning, were eliminated in the eighth-final.

“We’ve experienced a great event in every respect and have probably won many new enthusiasts for the DTM,” commented Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “This is exactly what we wanted to achieve through this show event. I’d like to thank everyone who made this event possible. We’ll be happy to return.”

The next championship race of the DTM is on the calendar for August 7 at the Nürburgring. Martin Tomczyk as the best Audi driver is the runner-up in the standings, just three points behind Bruno Spengler. The hero in Munich, Edoardo Mortara, is the best DTM rookie at the season’s midpoint.