Quotes after qualifying at the Red Bull Ring

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
“That was a really difficult qualifying session. That in the end we had three cars in the top four was a bit of a compensation for the poor beginning of qualifying. Our three guys who made it into Q4 in difficult conditions impressively showed that they are in perfect control of the cars. Edo (Mortara) was a bit unfortunate that the rain started again when he went out. Otherwise he might have even made it onto the front row. I’m happy for Martin (Tomczyk), Edo (Mortara) and Oliver (Jarvis), who showed that some people may have wrongly written him off.”

Martin Tomczyk (Schaeffler Audi A4 DTM), grid position 1
“Having clinched the pole position in such difficult conditions even makes me a little happier than it normally would. It really wasn’t easy being in the right place at the right time – especially on the right tires and with the right tire pressures. That takes a bit of experience on the part of the team. Plus the driver has to be able to correctly judge this. It’s been a great day today. And I’m really happy to be on pole.”

Oliver Jarvis (Audi Sport performance cars A4 DTM), grid position 2
“I’m happy. We had the test day and made a big step forward. The team, the engineer and I are now working together even better. We were competitive on a dry track too. The result is great. The first two races were character building ones. I asked myself a lot of questions. Some people had doubts about me. It feels good to prove to some of the skeptics here that they were wrong. But we’ve still got many races to go; we need to continue to improve. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to show that we deserve a new car and are in contention for a podium place or victory.”

Edoardo Mortara (Playboy Audi A4 DTM), grid position 4
“I’ve got mixed feelings. After Q3 we were running in first place and had a very good car. Today the pole position would have been possible. But the rain started again when I was out on the track. That was a bit unfortunate. But we’re pleased because this is my best position in qualifying, a nice surprise in Austria. I like driving in rain and am optimistic for the race. DTM races are difficult, but we’ve got a good car for dry conditions as well as for a wet race.”

Mike Rockenfeller (E-POSTBRIEF Audi A4 DTM), grid position 5
“Fifth place in these weather conditions wasn’t so bad. A bit more would have been possible but I didn’t get it together completely. But the conditions apply to everyone. Being eliminated in the end with seven thousandths is relatively much compared with Hockenheim where I was only lacking two thousandths... I’m happy and think that we’ve made the right decisions. In the end you also need a tiny bit of luck. Now we’ll wait and see what the weather will do on Sunday. Up to now it’s been really mixed on all days.”

Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi A4 DTM), grid position 7
“The car was pretty good in Q3. We were doing well on the first set of rain tires. We decided to get a new set of tires because the track was drying off more and more. But that set unfortunately didn’t start to work. So that was the wrong decision as we know now. But as the saying goes: hindsight is better than foresight. We immediately knew that the year-old Audi cars would be strong here. To be honest, there were some of us drivers who even before the weekend were saying that if the guys do a halfway decent job they’ll be in front of us. In any event, I’m happy to finally be able to drive a race on ‘semi-home ground,’ in Austria. The turnout of spectators will really be great. I’m excited about Sunday.”

Filipe Albuquerque (TV Movie Audi A4 DTM), grid position 11
“On the very final lap I made a braking mistake in turn one and wasn’t able to improve. It was very tight. It was again about just tenths of a second. In such conditions anything can happen in the race. A place among the top ten would be nice. But obviously points would be better.”

Rahel Frey (Glamour Audi A4 DTM), grid position 16
“I’m not completely happy. We were really fast this morning in the rain but on a dry track I was also able to make a step forward and managed to catch up with the field. In qualifying though our gamble didn’t work out completely. I tried to drive another lap on slicks but the track was already too wet. I switched to rain tires but wasn’t able to adjust to them so quickly.”

Miguel Molina (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), grid position 17
“We risked too much. When the rain was setting in we tried to do some more laps on slicks. At the entrance to the pit lane I slid straight into the wall. Then we tried running on rain tires. But the car was damaged. I also didn’t find my rhythm. It’s a shame because this morning our performance was really good.”

Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), grid position 18
“It was dry and we went out on slicks. In the beginning it was just drizzling. And from the cockpit it’s difficult to judge the rain. On the way to the pits I was really slow but on the new tarmac of the pit lane entrance I had aquaplaning nevertheless and slid into the guard rail. I actually enjoy driving in difficult conditions because you can gain quite a bit in them. But on the way to the pits you gain nothing; that was a bitter pill.”

Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “There were ups and downs for us. Unfortunately, we lost both our Red Bull cars at the Red Bull Ring right in the beginning. That makes me all the more delighted about Oliver Jarvis’ performance. He’s back and has made a superb showing. It was all very crazy and very close at the end – despite the heavy rain. For Audi we can be very pleased with grid positions one and two. I’m hoping that we’ll be seeing a thrilling race on Sunday with as many uncertainties as in qualifying. Then the many spectators we’re expecting will really get their money’s worth.”

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix): “If you have the pole position you’ve really got to be pleased. We prepared everything so that Martin (Tomczyk) had the chance to convert it into a good result on the track and he did that perfectly. Rahel (Frey) unfortunately was out on slicks when the rain set in. She may have had to come in one lap earlier. In that case Q2 or Q3 might have been possible. Afterward the rain was too heavy and she was no longer able to improve. But we’re getting really close with her. Most of the time, she outperformed Susie (Stoddart). Now they’re closely behind each other. Maybe we’ll be able to turn that around in the race. Overall, it’s very nice to be back at the Red Bull Ring after so many years. You can also tell this by the turnout, the fans are flocking to the track in large numbers. That really makes it great fun for all of us.”

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg): “I’m very happy. Just barely missing the pole position at the third race was really a class act by Edo (Mortara). ‘Well done’ to him and to the squad. They were among the front runners throughout the weekend. Since he set his fastest lap in Q3 he was the last driver to be sent into Q4. Unfortunately, at that time the rain had gotten heavier again. You can’t blame anyone for that. Congratulations to the whole team. In Filipe’s (Albuquerque) case more would have been possible. But in the rain the times were very close together. Even in dry conditions on Friday it was just two tenths for the top 13 cars. Filipe was now just lacking one and a half tenths to clinch one of the front positions.”