“Rocky” clinches podium result for Audi

As early as at the start the Audi youngster caused a sensation when he outperformed Mika Häkkinen and entered turn 1 as the leading car. Up to his first pit stop on lap 13, “Rocky” in the S line Audi A4 DTM defended first place. During his first tyre change, the young German dropped behind Häkkinen. In the final phase, however, he put so much pressure on the Finn that Häkkinen ultimately made a mistake and Rockenfeller pushed past him in a spectacular manoeuvre.

An impressive race was also driven by Mattias Ekström. However, the Hockenheim winner received a drive-through penalty for a jump start. As a result of the penalty the Swede lost more than the 22.8 seconds he was lacking to surprise winner Gary Paffett at the finish line. With consistently fast lap times Ekström worked his way forwards from 20th to seventh place, thus scoring two valuable points and defending Audi’s lead in the standings.

Best-placed driver of a 2007-spec DTM car was Timo Scheider, who saw the chequered flag at Oschersleben in fourth place, barely ahead of his team-mate Martin Tomczyk. Ranking third in the standings, Tomczyk now has the same number of points as his team-mate Mattias Ekström.

With Adam Carroll and Christian Abt in positions nine and ten, two other Audi drivers made it into the top ten. Lucas Luhr, Marco Werner and Frank Biela occupied positions twelve, 15 and 18, with Biela having to park his A4 DTM prematurely just before the finish due to an electrical problem. Vanina Ickx retired after a collision with Mercedes driver Jamie Green, who received a drive-through penalty for the incident.

Quotes after the race

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “This was a very unusual race, in which strategies were crucial. Also, a lot today depended on where you ended up in traffic after a pit stop. That Mike (Rockenfeller) dared the attack against Mika (Häkkinen) towards the end of the race proves the qualities he possesses. I’m proud of his performance, and he has every right to be proud of it himself, and I’m happy to have him with us. Congratulations to Mercedes – but we continue to lead the championship – and that’s what counts!”

Mike Rockenfeller (S line Audi A4 DTM #11)
3rd place, + 15.044s
“I’m incredibly happy! This was only my second DTM race, and a lot of things are still new to me. Nevertheless, I made it onto the podium. I was determined to take the lead in the starting phase and it worked. The car was very good, I was running in front for a long time. When I was behind Mika (Häkkinen) I gave everything. It’s difficult to be running so close behind a rival. I was a tiny bit faster and able to overtake him in the end – that was fantastic! The team performed two great pit stops. Whether the strategy was the best or not, I don’t know. But we had decided it that way and were rewarded by a podium position.”

Timo Scheider (Gebrauchtwagen:plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM #8)
4th place, + 19.306s
“The start was ‘so-so’ because I was a little confused by Mattias’ (Ekström) jump start. I was just about to drive off but that was the wrong moment. I had to push the clutch pedal again and, as a result, wasn’t able to get away quickly. Gary Paffett managed a good start and passed me. Later, I was following Mike (Rockenfeller) and Mika (Häkkinen) for a long time. At some point, my tyres were ruined so that I had to let myself slow down a bit. Two small delays during the pit stops may have cost us a position. Well, these things happen.”

Martin Tomczyk (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM #4)
5th place, + 19.818s
“Unfortunately, the race wasn’t going all that well. Like at Hockenheim, I had a very good start. I was between Jamie Green and Timo Scheider and had to make some room when Timo pulled over. When I lifted, I lost a few positions, and our strategy was not designed for this. We made the best of the situation anyhow. In the end, I was running behind Timo for a long time. Of course the tyres don’t hold up to such a situation very long, but it lasted for 20 laps. Even though I would have liked scoring more points, I now have the same number of points as Mattias (Ekström).”

Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM #3)
7th place, + 22.808s
“I was very confident. When I was engaging the clutch, the car just started moving. I just thought to myself: ’Oh no, that’s not what you wanted!’ I’ll learn from this and won’t take such a high risk again. The car was very good in the race. My mistake was a shame for the team, because with this car I could have won today. But I have to look ahead now. After all, I’m still leading the championship. Two points in a race like this are simply a bonus - and would not have been possible without such a great car.”

Adam Carroll (Audi A4 DTM #20)
9th place, + 25.567s
“Now I’ve seen the finish line for the first time in the DTM. It was a pretty tough race. The immense heat in the cockpit came as a surprise to me. The race was difficult because I had to run on one set of tyres for a long time. I gave one hundred percent. The result is good.“

Christian Abt (Playboy Audi A4 DTM #16)
10th place, + 27.910s
“The start was great, and I was among the top six. Later I put myself at the service of the Audi brand and let Timo Scheider and Mattias Ekström pass. Of course that cost me time and, in the end, points too. The team did a good job. Thanks to the pit stops we were even able to make up ground. We would have liked scoring points today. Maybe we will next time.”

Lucas Luhr (Philips Audi A4 DTM #12)
12th place, + 32.443s
“That was a very turbulent race! Congratulations to Mike Rockenfeller and Team Rosberg. Third place is definitely a respectable result. Unfortunately I was caught in traffic all the time, and three or four times Paul di Resta bumped into my car that was a bit crooked afterwards. The times were okay. In traffic it simply wasn’t possible to push forward.”

Marco Werner (Audi Bank Audi A4 DTM #17)
15th place, + 45.648s
“In the end, things were going really well! If I’d had four such sets of tyres, meaning two more in practice, to put me further forward on the grid, I’d have been really happy and would have achieved a better position. My place is not satisfactory, but my lap times were okay when I was following the front runners. That’s when I saw that things were working out. The tyres were a bit of gamble. That’s too bad, but I’m not really unhappy either.”

Frank Biela (Siemens Audi A4 DTM #7)
18th place, - 2 laps (electrical problem)
“The race was fun, even knowing that you can’t achieve a lot from this grid position. I learned a little more again today. The team did a perfect job. It’s a shame that I wasn’t able to drive all the way to the finish. It was fun, and I fought. And that’s what I was able to do this weekend.”

Vanina Ickx (Audi A4 DTM #21)
Retired (accident), lap 15
“The start was okay, but I had to lift in order to keep from getting into a sandwich. After the first pit stops a few rivals were approaching me from behind, and I was in the middle of traffic. When Jamie Green sent me off the track, my race was over.”

Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “It was a race that was thrilling for the spectators, but not a very fortunate one for us. Basically, the race ended for us with Mattias’ (Ekström) jump start. We still made the best of the situation with places four, five and seven. Now we’ll continue to fight. In the championship things are looking good for us. We’re motivated for the next race.”

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix): “With Christian (Abt), we started from ninth place and finished in tenth. Of course that wasn’t what we’d been wanting to achieve. Instead, we wanted to collect points, which would have been possible too. We stayed out too long on the first set of tyres. The next two sets were much better. With Christian, we could have achieved a result between sixth and eighth place. Marco (Werner) was getting along better with each lap and in the end kept the pace of the others. He has finished his break-in period and could now really be running at the front of the field.”

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg): “I’m speechless! This was the best result Team Rosberg has ever achieved in the DTM. The squad did an incredibly good job, and Rocky was superb. Thank you very much for this!“

The results at Oschersleben

1 Gary Paffett (Mercedes) 44 laps in 1h 03m 30.763s
2 Paul di Resta (Mercedes) + 3.753s
3 Mike Rockenfeller (S line Audi A4 DTM), + 15.044s
4 Timo Scheider (GW:plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM), + 19.306s
5 Martin Tomczyk (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), + 19.818s
6 Bernd Schneider (Mercedes), + 20.043s
7 Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), + 22.808s
8 Alexandros Margaritis (Mercedes), + 24.646s
9 Adam Carroll (Audi A4 DTM), + 25.567s
10 Christian Abt (Playboy Audi A4 DTM), + 27.910s
11 Jamie Green (Mercedes), + 28.390s
12 Lucas Luhr (Philips Audi A4 DTM), + 32.443s
13 Mathias Lauda (Mercedes), + 33.234s
14 Daniel la Rosa (Mercedes), + 35.418s
15 Marco Werner (Audi Bank Audi A4 DTM), + 45.648s
16 Susie Stoddart (Mercedes), + 1m 03.690s
17 Mika Häkkinen (Mercedes), + 1m 13.762s
18 Frank Biela (Siemens Audi A4 DTM), - 2 laps
Not classified:
Bruno Spengler (Mercedes), - 29 laps
Vanina Ickx (Audi A4 DTM), - 30 laps (accident)