Audi travels as leader to DTM at Budapest
Four rings are heading drivers,’ teams’ and manufacturers’ standings Qualifying at Hungarian comeback to be held in the evening Dieter Gass: “Counting on support by Audi fans from Győr”
Next weekend (May 30 to June 1) the DTM is returning to Budapest after 26 years. Champion Mike Rockenfeller is traveling to round three of the season at the Hungaroring, where the drivers of all three manufacturers had met for pre-season track tests, as the new leader of the standings.
1,633 laps or 7,154 kilometers were reeled off on the track at Budapest at the beginning of April by the eight Audi drivers alone – the next weekend will show who made the best use of the official track tests in preparation for the first run of the new DTM in Hungary. The Audi squad is traveling to the Hungaroring as the hunted. Before round three, Mike Rockenfeller, Audi Sport Team Phoenix and Audi are leading the drivers,’ teams’ and manufacturers’ standings. Everybody is looking forward to the 4.381-kilometer track that is the second-longest one on the calendar. “Tailor-made for a DTM car,” is the tenor of the race drivers’ comments about the challenging track featuring a mix of fast and slow turns, plus thrilling combinations. Qualifying will be particularly important because braking at the end of the start-finish line will arguably offer the only good overtaking opportunity, so a position at the front of the grid will play a major part in deciding the outcome of the race. Fans can watch the time chase of the DTM race drivers on prime-time television. Qualifying at Budapest will only start at 18.10 (CEST), German Television ARD will be live on the air from 18.00. The race on Sunday will start at 13.30 as usual, with coverage on ‘Das Erste’ beginning at 13.00. The Audi drivers are looking forward to the support by many fans. The Audi plant in Győr is located only an hour and a half’s drive away. Audi is one of the major employers in the region.
Audi travels to DTM at Oschersleben with tailwind
Title battle in the DTM launched with successful opener Challenging circuit near Magdeburg promises thrilling race Dieter Gass: “Set on continuing Hockenheim performance”
Next weekend (May 16 to 18) the DTM is entering its next round at Oschersleben near Magdeburg. The DTM season opener at Hockenheim gave a good foretaste of what the fans can expect this year: thrilling action until the checkered flag is waved, door-to-door duels for positions and extreme competitiveness of the drivers at the front of the field.
Events in the DTM are following each other in quick succession. The first three races are held at two-week intervals, with the 3.696-kilometer track at Oschersleben marking the next stop. While aerodynamic efficiency at high speed played a crucial role on the long straights at Hockenheim the fast turns and chicanes of Oschersleben primarily call for downforce. Taking short-cuts across the curbs challenges the drivers to be careful in the process and the engineers to provide a perfectly set-up car. The Audi squad managed both feats on many occasions in the past. Five times an Audi driver has won the round on the circuit near Magdeburg. Mattias Ekström most recently clinched victory there in 2011. In 2013, all eight Audi RS 5 DTM cars finished in the top ten and thus in the points at Oschersleben – marking a premiere. So it comes as no surprise that several drivers have special memories of the circuit. Timo Scheider celebrated his first-ever DTM success there, Champion Mike Rockenfeller his first podium finish in his debut year of 2007 and newcomer Jamie Green, on clinching the pole position and a podium place last year, showed that he had finally arrived at Audi. In 2014, Audi is traveling to Oschersleben with tailwind gained from a pole position and the two podium places by Mattias Ekström and Adrien Tambay. Four drivers in total finished in the points at the Hockenheim season opener.
DTM season opener at Hockenheim: “May makes all things new ...”
The 2011 DTM starts at the Hockenheimring on the 1st of May Audi has the youngest driver squad in its DTM history New drivers, new colors, new tires
“Alles neu macht der Mai” (“May makes all things new”): The poem by Hermann Adam von Kamp that is part of German folklore perfectly fits the DTM season opener at the Hockenheimring on the 1st of May (starting at 13:45 live on “Das Erste”) because at Audi, the only automobile manufacturer in the DTM to have achieved a title hat-trick to date, a number of things are completely different from last year.
The tires: Just like Formula 1 the DTM has a new exclusive tire partner. The Audi drivers did a good job of handling the Hankook tires during the tests in winter. However, only Hockenheim will show how the relative strengths of the contenders manifest themselves in a direct comparison and who will do the best job of handling the new tires. The drivers: After the 2010 season, which did not go according to plan, Audi exchanged three drivers and made two reassignments. With an average age of 27, the youngest but perhaps strongest driver squad in Audi’s DTM history will be on the grid. Only three drivers – Mattias Ekström, Timo Scheider and Oliver Jarvis – have kept their cockpits from last year. The cockpit swaps: Mike Rockenfeller was the best driver of a year-old A4 last year and rewarded for this achievement. The Le Mans winner moved up into a current Audi A4 DTM from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline and thus automatically belongs to the group of drivers aspiring to the title. “Rocky” swapped cockpits with Martin Tomczyk, who for the first time in his DTM career competes for a team other than Abt Sportsline and is now the “leader of the pack” at Audi Sport Team Phoenix. The newcomers: Audi has signed three youngsters – Rahel Frey (Switzerland), Filipe Albuquerque (Portugal) and Edoardo Mortara (Italy) – who left promising impressions at a talent evaluation as well as at tests prior to the season.
Eager anticipation of Audi drivers’ favorite track
DTM to visit Zandvoort on the North Sea coast this weekend Many Audi drivers have special memories of the track Dieter Gass, Head of DTM: “Manufacturers’ title remains our goal”
The battle for the prestigious title of the best manufacturer is intensifying. Before the penultimate round of the DTM at Zandvoort next weekend (September 27 to 28) Audi and BMW are separated by only 18 points. The advantage for the four rings: There is no other track of which the Audi drivers have as many fond memories as of the circuit located on the North Sea Coast about an hour’s drive from Amsterdam.
Two championship titles, seven race victories, 15 podium places, seven pole positions and five fastest race laps: Even the statistics show how comfortable the eight Audi drivers feel on the circuit at Zandvoort. They are determined to take advantage of all these positive memories in order to clinch the manufacturers’ title for their brand. Two races before the end of the season Audi is trailing BMW by a very narrow margin in the manufacturers’ standings. Zandvoort is inseparably linked to the career of Mattias Ekström. Almost exactly twelve years ago the Swede, on September 29, 2002, in his second DTM year, clinched his first victory there, which meant the title win for his team-mate Laurent Aiello – marking the first of seven driver championship wins for Audi in the new DTM. The most recent title was won at Zandvoort as well. In 2013, Mike Rockenfeller sealed the deal early by finishing the race as the runner-up. Two years before, the German had celebrated his first ever DTM victory in the Netherlands. Four times on pole but no victory scored to date: Timo Scheider has a very special relationship with Zandvoort. Particularly the 2003 race day is remembered by many motorsport fans as one of the most tragic moments in the new DTM. After starting from the pole position, Scheider commandingly led the race.
Audi in the DTM: Aiming for first place at Moscow
The event marks the season’s midpoint and will be held on the long configuration of the Moscow Raceway for the first time.
Audi is showing a strong, cohesive team performance in the 2014 DTM season. Following the first four races, six drivers of the brand are in the top ten of the standings, in positions two to six and nine. Edoardo Mortara, Mattias Ekström and Mike Rockenfeller are trailing leader of the standings Marco Wittman in striking distance and have the chance to bump the BMW driver from the top spot with a victory. In the manufacturers’ and teams’ classifications, Audi is traveling to Russia as the leader of the standings. Victory is the only thing that is still missing in the track record of the four rings this year. Chances for a successful weekend at Moscow Raceway, which is about an hour and a half’s drive from the center of the city, are good. Last year, the subsequent champion, Mike Rockenfeller, and his brand colleague Mattias Ekström celebrated a commanding one-two victory with an advantage of more than ten seconds, which is untypically large in the DTM. The pole position and the fastest race lap went to Audi as well. Instead of the short configuration, which is only a little more than 2.5 kilometers long, the DTM will be using the 3.931-kilometer track this year. The new section features a few fast combinations of turns and provides more overtaking opportunities. The end of the long straight in front of the start and finish where the drivers, just before braking, will be reaching a speed of more than 240 km/h this year, continues to offer an optimal opportunity. TV viewers will get to watch the qualifying session on prime time. ‘Das Erste’ will be airing live coverage from Moscow on Saturday at 16.35 (CEST) and from 13.15 (CEST) on Sunday. Tickets for the entire 2014 DTM season can be purchased online at www.audi-motorsport.com/dtm or telephonically on +49 841 89-47777.
Audi drivers fired up for DTM finale
Together, the eight Audi drivers are set on showing a strong team performance and bringing the title of the best manufacturer home to Ingolstadt. The race starts on Sunday at 14.00 (live on ARD). Before the race, the fans will be treated to a premiere, as Audi will be taking the world’s sportiest piloted driving car to the starting line.
21 is the magic number before the DTM season finale at Hockenheim to which Audi will be traveling as the hunter. These points must be recovered to capture the title of the best manufacturer in the DTM from BMW. The squad will also be assisted in this effort by the tailwind gained in the weekend before last at Zandvoort where Mike Rockenfeller on setting the fastest qualifying time and Mattias Ekström on clinching victory in the race again demonstrated the potential of the Audi RS 5 DTM. Audi had started the season from the top spot of the grid at the Hockenheim opening race in May and was represented on the podium with two drivers. The new DTM will be holding its 32nd race at Hockenheim next weekend. The 4.574-kilometer track a little less than an hour’s drive south of Frankfurt has traditionally been on the calendar as the venue for the opener and finale of each season. The Motodrom with its large grandstands located directly alongside the track creates a stadium-like character and the resulting unique atmosphere. The current stage of advance ticket sales shows that the drivers can again look forward to an impressive finale with a large turnout of fans. In a sporting sense, the tradition-steeped track with approximately 65 percent of full-throttle driving poses an exciting challenge. The long ‘Parabolika’ is one of the fastest sectors on the entire calendar on which the drivers reach a speed of up to 260 km/h.
DTM Oschersleben: Advantage Audi
ARD will broadcast the third from last DTM race of the year live on Sunday, September 18, starting at 1:45 p.m., CEST. Other topics of the weekend - How will the Hankook tires perform at Oschersleben? - Will all three Audi teams again be able to fight for podium positions? - Will Rahel Frey be able to continue the good performance she showed at Brands Hatch? - Will Miguel Molina finally score his first point of the season? Quotes by the officials Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “The great result at Brands Hatch provides additional motivation to the whole team. It would certainly be good if we could take the momentum from there to Oschersleben with us. We’re in a very balanced situation. Martin (Tomczyk) is leading by just one point. The decision must now be made in the last three races. Being on a roll as we are after this one-two-three result, we’ll all try to take advantage of it.” Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “We’ve got fond memories of Oschersleben. But the hot phase in the battle for the title is starting now. We’ll try as best we can to support Martin (Tomczyk). A driver of a year-old car winning the championship would be a historic topic. The team will do everything within its means at Oschersleben to show the kind of performance it did at Brands Hatch.” Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix): “Naturally, a one-point lead in the standings by Martin Tomczyk is not a cushion. But it may be the crucial point at the end of the season ...! The result at Brands Hatch has helped us; our self-confidence continues to rise. Martin is in good spirits, and so is the team. Oschersleben suits us well and it helps not having so much weight on board. Rahel Frey’s curve is clearly pointing upward. She drove the ninth-fastest lap at Brands Hatch and was always quick. Although a spin and an excursion prevented a really good result, we want to continue her good development.”
Spielberg is calling – Audi will be there
These are four good reasons for Audi to shine at the DTM’s grand Austrian comeback at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg on June 5.
Mercedes-Benz driver Bruno Spengler is traveling to the Austrian province of Styria as the leader of the standings. But breathing down his neck are four Audi drivers, Mike Rockenfeller, Martin Tomczyk, Mattias Ekström and Timo Scheider. Some of them have already contested several races at Spielberg before. During the tests on Thursday most of the other racers have to first get to know the track, which has been rebuilt in true-to-the-original fashion by energy drink manufacturer Red Bull after the dismantling of the former A1 Ring. Zandvoort winner Mike Rockenfeller remembers the track from the Porsche Carrera Cup. Martin Tomczyk, Mattias Ekström and Timo Scheider, in 2001, 2002 and 2003, were part of the field when the DTM paid three successful visits to Austria. The turbulent last lap in 2002 that went down as one of the craziest in DTM history remains unforgotten. All three Audi factory drivers still have very fond memories of the spectacular races at Spielberg and the impressive crowd there. And on the first weekend in June DTM fans can again look forward to seeing an absolute highlight. The track layout has remained as impressive as it was before and the demand for tickets has been huge. So, all of these aspects combined provide optimum prerequisites for a strong comeback of the most popular international touring car series in Austria. For Audi it will be the first Austrian race since the Supertouring car rounds at the Salzburgring held at the end of the 1990s. Accordingly, the Austrian Audi partners, who will support the Audi team at Spielberg, have keen interest in the event. On TV the DTM races at Spielberg were always spectacular too. ARD will deliver the DTM live to living rooms in HD quality on “Das Erste.” Qualifying coverage on Saturday (June 4) will start at 1:30 p.m., race coverage on Sunday (June 5) at 1:45 p.m.