DTM Norisring 2018
Nico Müller, Felix Fechner

The DTM produced two spectacular races at the Norisring. The quotes from the Audi camp after the DTM home race.

Dieter Gass (Head of Audi Motorsport)
“It was a fantastic weekend for the DTM with an impressive crowd of spectators on both days and of course spectacular racing. This is exactly what we want to see in the DTM. Owing to how the season has gone so far we had to expect that we would really struggle at the Norisring. In spite of this, it was frustrating to score no points on Saturday. On Sunday we improved slightly with two cars in the points. It’s a shame that our fastest cars in both races had problems: Nico (Müller) a puncture on Saturday, René (Rast) a technical defect with the air-jack system on Sunday.”

Nico Müller (Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM #51) 18th / 7th
“I was the fastest Audi driver throughout the entire weekend and extracted the absolute maximum. Fantastic work by my team! I would like to have thanked them with a podium finish, but unfortunately it wasn’t possible. Although the seventh place almost felt like one. I’m certainly satisfied with Sunday’s result.”

Robin Frijns (Aral Ultimate Audi RS 5 DTM #4) 12th / 8th
“On Saturday I just couldn’t find the rhythm I wanted. For Sunday we then changed the car set-up a little and things went much better. I’m really satisfied with eighth place from 16th on the grid on a track where we knew that we would find things difficult.”

Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM #53) 11th / 15th
“There just wasn’t enough performance throughout the entire weekend. On Saturday I just missed finishing in the points in eleventh place. In the second race I took a big risk for one of my maneuvers, which resulted in a puncture. The fastest lap that I set on Sunday showed that more was possible.”

René Rast (Audi Sport RS 5 DTM #33) 16th / 14th
“That was a lousy weekend from beginning to end. In first qualifying I made a mistake. From last place on the grid I was then unable to make any progress whatsoever in the race. The second race was actually going pretty well. Then we had a problem with the airlance at the pit stop through which I lost 25 seconds.”

Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM #99) 15th / 16th
“It’s over, forget it and look forwards. I had a ray of hope after setting the best time in third free practice when my car felt really good. The rest of the weekend was rather more frustrating. In the second race we took a risk with the early pit stop, but when the safety car isn’t deployed you have no advantage.”

Loïc Duval (Audi Sport RS 5 DTM #28) 17th / 18th
“That was without a shadow of a doubt the most difficult weekend for Audi and myself so far. We knew beforehand that it wouldn’t be easy. Even though the Norisring is a unique circuit we need to think about why it went so badly wrong. I’m glad that with Zandvoort coming up we have a track that should suit us better.”

Thomas Biermaier (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
“I’m very pleased with the performance of our team. We were the only Audi team to score points. We had a good set-up, good strategy and fast pit stops. Nico (Müller) was clearly the benchmark within Audi this weekend. Robin (Frijns) was also strong. You shouldn’t forget that he raced for the first time ever at the Norisring.”

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix)
“That was an extremely frustrating weekend. Even though we knew it would be difficult the result still hurts. Luckily, Audi got two cars into the points on Sunday. Of course normally we aim to fight for victory. Nevertheless my thanks to all the people who work hard for us.”

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg)
“On Saturday, Jamie (Green) was the best Audi driver just outside the points. That was a great shame. In the second race more was possible for out team. I feel really sorry for René (Rast) that we had the problem with the air-jack system, otherwise fourth could even have been possible. The lap times in the race give us confidence for the future.”