Audi shows DTM live at the IAA
- Qualifying and race from Barcelona at the booth of AUDI AG
- “Octoberfest” atmosphere on DTM weekend at Barcelona
- Tom Kristensen promotes traffic safety
On the DTM’s eighth race weekend at Barcelona Audi will establish a particularly close relationship to home: Audi’s running in the DTM round can be watched live at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt. At the same time, Audi will take the atmosphere of the Octoberfest that starts on the same weekend to the paddock in Spain.
Audi’s motorsport activities will be prominently presented at the International Motor Show (IAA). On September 19 and 20, Audi drivers Frank Biela and Lucas Luhr will sign autographs and give interviews. The DTM qualifying sessions and the race will be broadcast live at Audi’s trade fair booth in Hall 3 on this first IAA weekend as well. A week later – on September 26 and 27 – Emanuele Pirro and Timo Scheider will answer questions by the audience in Frankfurt.
The race weekend at Barcelona coincides with the start of the 176th Munich Octoberfest in Bavaria, the state that is home to Audi. Audi will also treat its guests at Barcelona to the flair of this tradition at a typical “Octoberfest Evening” at the Team and Media Hospitality on Friday. Starting at 7 pm, the southernmost DTM venue will exude a genuinely Bavarian feeling – complete with tapping of the beer keg and regional specialties.
The executive board of AUDI AG will be represented at Barcelona by Michael Dick. The board member who is responsible for Technical Development brought the Audi squad good fortune during his two most recent DTM visits: Audi clinched victory both at Oschersleben and the Nürburgring.
Tom Kristensen promoted traffic safety during the eSafety Challenge 2009. The initiative furthers innovative life-saving vehicle technologies. Immediately after the DTM race at Brands Hatch the Audi “factory” driver together with three other racers supported the initiative during driving demonstrations in Rome. The eSafety Challenge was incepted by the European Commission, the FIA Foundation as well as eSafetyAware with support by Euro NCAP.
At Barcelona, Tom Kristensen will compete with an all-new helmet design. The eight-time Le Mans winner will contest the three remaining races of his last DTM season with helmet graphics sporting a three-dimensional image of his Audi A4 DTM. The new look, which the Dane presented to the public for the first time at a media event at Brands Hatch, was created by the French designer Philippe Clay from Nouch Designs.
For Audi “factory” driver Mike Rockenfeller Barcelona will kick off a series of three racing events within three weeks. After the eighth DTM round the 25-year-old racer will return to Switzerland for just one day before boarding an airplane heading for the United States. At Road Atlanta, Rockenfeller has been nominated as the reserve driver for the two Audi R15 TDI cars’ running on September 26. On October 11, the ninth DTM round will follow at Dijon-Prenois.