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Audi is one of the most successful brands in the DTM When the new DTM series starts at Hockenheim on April 9th, there will be a small anniversary to celebrate: 2006 marks Audi’s tenth year of contesting the most popular international touring car racing series. Four champion’s titles, 35 victories, 30 pole positions and 26 fastest race laps make Audi one of the most successful brands in DTM history. At its first appearance in the DTM Audi immediately left a lasting impression. In the Audi V8 quattro, a vehicle derived from the production version, Hans-Joachim Stuck clinched the title for Ingolstadt in the brand’s debut year of 1990 straight away, owing – last not least – to the superior quattro drive. 1991 saw Frank Biela triumphant, thus making Audi the first manufacturer to manage a successful defence of the title. In the 2004 season, when Audi made its comeback to the series as a manufacturer, Mattias Ekström in the A4 DTM yet again claimed the championship straight away. The fourth DTM title on Audi’s track record was captured by Team Abt Sportsline, which had been entering the Abt-Audi TT-R from 2000 to 2003 as an Audi customer team, winning the championship with Laurent Aiello in 2002. In each of Audi’s four champion’s years the closest rival in the fight for the DTM crown was Mercedes-Benz – and in the 2006 season Germany’s two leading automobile manufacturers will again be fighting for the prestigious title.

Mid-engine sports car serves as safety car Début for Audi R8 racing taxi Double début at the Norisring in Nuremberg: This weekend, the Audi R8 will be used as the official DTM safety car for the first time – and as a racing taxi as well. quattro GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of AUDI AG handed over two of the 420-hp mid-engine sports cars to the German Motorsport Association (DMSB) on the occasion of the “Norisring Speed Weekend”. The two Audi R8 cars were prepared specifically for use as safety cars by quattro GmbH at the Neckarsulm plant. “There were not many modifications required, though, because the R8 possesses the genes of a perfect sports car,” says Werner Frowein, managing director of quattro GmbH. Another Audi R8 was carefully prepared by quattro GmbH for use as a racing taxi.

Two events for Swede in DTM opener at Hockenheim DTM and FIA World Rallycross Championship on same weekend Mattias Ekström: “Like Christmas and Easter on a single day” Mattias Ekström has contested 161 DTM races in his career, celebrated 21 victories with Audi and seen just about everything in 15 years of competing in the popular touring car series. Still, the DTM opener at Hockenheim from May 6 to 8 will be a special weekend for the two-time DTM Champion. The versatile Swede is venturing a double start, competing in both the DTM and the FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX). “Being able to race in the DTM and in rallycross at Hockenheim is like Christmas and Easter combined on a single day for me,” says the 2004 and 2007 DTM Champion. “I’m very thankful to Audi for this unique opportunity. Following the final pre-season tests in my Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM at Hockenheim, I’m all fired up for the first two DTM races of the new season. We have good chances of repeating last year’s victories. That I’ll be able to additionally compete with world stars like Ken Block, Petter Solberg and Sébastien Loeb at the wheel of my S1 EKS RX quattro in front of thousands of Audi fans at the Motodrom is fantastic. On Friday and Saturday, I’ll definitely be on the grid. On Sunday, the time between the DTM qualifying session and the final rallycross races is pretty short. But, I’d have to qualify for the RX finals to begin with.” A round of the near-600-hp RX cars was held as part of the DTM season opener last year as well. At that time, however, the tight schedule did not permit Mattias Ekström to race in his privateer rallycross team, EKS. This year, the starting times of the two DTM races on Saturday (16:00) and Sunday (14:30) are clearly more favorable – at least on Saturday. That is why Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich gave his most successful DTM driver the green light for his double start.

SONAX and Audi Bank advertise on the Audi A4 DTM Audi Gebrauchtwagen:plus goes to the grid quattro GmbH again partner in the DTM At the official DTM test at Mugello (Italy) between 8 and 11 March, defending champion Audi presents three new partners for the 2005 DTM season: SONAX, the Audi Bank and Audi Gebrauchtwagen:plus use the successful AUDI AG involvement in Europe’s most popular touring car series to present its products and services to an audience of millions. SONAX is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of car care products and market leader in Germany and was an Audi partner in the DTM during the years 1990 and 1991. During the 2005 season the six-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen and DTM newcomer Frank Stippler compete with two Audi A4 DTM cars in the SONAX design and that of S line, the sport and tuning kits from quattro GmbH. Also for the Audi Bank, one of Europe’s leading automotive financial service providers, the DTM is no unknown territory: In 2003 the Audi Bank supported the juniors Peter Terting and Martin Tomczyk. The two Audi A4 DTM cars of Christian Abt and Pierre Kaffer carry the Audi Bank name in the 2005 DTM. On both the silver and grey painted year-old cars, AUDI AG also presents its new programme Audi Gebrauchtwagen:plus, which is launched at the Audi partners parallel to the start of the DTM season in April 2005. The new colours can be seen on the Audi A4 DTM cars for the first time at the DTM test at Mugello, which will be run by Audi Sport Team Joest. After a test scheduled for the end of February at Hockenheim fell victim to adverse weather conditions, Christian Abt, Rinaldo Capello, Pierre Kaffer and Frank Stippler now have the opportunity to test their race cars for the 2005 season for four days. At the next official DTM test between 29 March and 1 April at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) all eight Audi DTM drivers should be in action.

Plans for new US race series with DTM racecars Possible new fields of competition for the Audi RS 5 DTM Development Boss Wolfgang Dürheimer: “Of interest to Audi” A new and promising opportunity in motorsport opens up for Audi: as announced at a press conference today in New York, the organizers of NASCAR and GRAND-AM plan a US based race series for DTM racecars like the Audi RS 5 DTM. To this end, a dedicated platform for the spectacular DTM cars should be in place in the USA by 2016. The responsible parties of the ITR have concluded a corresponding cooperation with their partners in America. It complements a previously existing and similar agreement with the Japanese Super GT Championship organizers. “As a consequence, the opportunity arises in the future to race the Audi RS 5 DTM not only in Europe, but also in Asia and North America in premium championships,” says Wolfgang Dürheimer, Member of the Board for Technical Development at AUDI AG. “As a globally active company, this is exciting and interesting for Audi.” Scott Keogh, President of Audi of America: “Audi has a strong and spectacular history in US motorsport. We are currently looking for options that will allow the four rings to be more visible again on the race tracks throughout the USA. It’s fantastic news that there could soon be a US DTM. The Audi RS models are very popular in America. I’m convinced that our customers will be delighted to see the Audi RS 5 DTM in action.” Audi has been active for more than 30 years in motorsport and was frequently successful in the USA during this period. In the 1980s, the brand with the four rings triumphed three times in succession at the Pikes Peak hill climb in Colorado. In 1988, Audi won the Trans-Am Series, in 1989 the Audi 90 quattro was the dominant car in the IMSA GTO series. Audi won the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) championship title nine times in succession between 2000 and 2008.

Audi factory driver Geburtsdatum: 13. Juni 1985 Geburtsort: Coimbra (P) Wohnort: Coimbra (P) Familienstand: ledig Größe/Gewicht: 1,74 m/65 kg Motorsport seit: 1994 (Audi-Fahrer seit 2011) Le-Mans-Starts: 1 Karriere 1994-2004 Kart 1998 1. Platz Klasse Iniciados Portugal-Cup, 2. Platz Klasse Iniciados Nationale Kart-Meisterschaft 2000 3. Platz Portugal-Cup, 3. Platz Nationale Kart-Junior-Meisterschaft 2002 2. Platz Europäische ICA-Kart-Meisterschaft, 2. Platz Italienische ICA-Kart-Meisterschaft 2003 10. Platz Formel-A-Kart-Weltmeisterschaft 2005 3. Platz Deutsche Formel Renault, bester Rookie; 5. Platz Formel Renault Eurocup, bester Rookie; 6. Platz Spanische Formel-3-Meisterschaft, bester Rookie 2006 1. Platz Formel Renault NEC, 1. Platz Formel Renault Eurocup 2007 4. Platz World Series by Renault 3.5, bester Rookie; zwei GP2- Rennen, Formel-1-Testfahrer Red Bull und Toro Rosso 2008 Vier Rennen A1GP-Serie 2009 3. Platz A1GP-Serie, 1. Platz Race of Champions Iberia, zwei Läufe Italienische GT-Meisterschaft (Audi R8 LMS) 2010 1. Platz Race of Champions, 2. Platz Italienische GT-Meisterschaft (Audi R8 LMS) 2011 12. Platz DTM (Audi A4 DTM) 2012 11. Platz DTM (Audi A5 DTM) 2013 18. Platz DTM (Audi RS 5 DTM), 1. Platz GT-Klasse 24 Stunden Daytona (Audi R8 GRAND-AM) 2014 24 Stunden Le Mans, 6. Platz 6 Stunden Spa, 22. Platz FIA-Langstrecken-Weltmeisterschaft WEC (Audi R18 e-tron quattro), 2. Platz European Le Mans Series 2015 6 Stunden Spa, 24 Stunden Le Mans (Audi R18 e-tron quattro), European Le Mans Series www.filipealbuquerque.com facebook.com/filipe.albuquerque1 twitter.com/AlbuquerqueFil (@AlbuquerqueFil) instagram.com/filipealbuquerque_

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Audi RS 5 DTM on grid sporting 1990 V8 quattro livery Track presentation in 25-year-old race car Past and present officials at Norisring today Audi’s Norisring race weekend is marked by an anniversary. 25 years ago, Audi, on making its debut, instantly won the Nuremberg city street race for the first time, with Hans-Joachim Stuck at the wheel of the Audi V8 quattro back then. On the third DTM weekend, Mattias Ekström is competing in his Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM sporting the race car livery from those days. Autograph sessions, on-track drives and a meeting of former campaigners round off a week full of emotions. The Norisring week began for Mattias Ekström and Hans-Joachim Stuck with many hours of signing autographs. At the Audi Forum Ingolstadt, in the environment of the DTM press conference in Nuremberg, at the Audi Forum Neckarsulm and at Audi’s Heilbronn ‘Böllinger Höfe’ production site, the two race drivers signed posters and autograph cards. Several hundred visitors and Audi employees would not miss this opportunity. The two race cars were always on site as well. TV viewers can look forward to a special treat too, as Hans-Joachim Stuck got behind the wheel of the 25-year-old Audi V8 quattro for the track presentation of the Norisring to be aired on ‘Das Erste.’ On Friday evening, Audi Sport invited guests to a time journey of the past. Five employees, who were already working for Audi in motorsport back in 1990, visited the current DTM squad. The former Head of Audi Motorsport, Dieter Basche, would not miss the get-together either. The Audi driver in those days, Hans-Joachim Stuck, recalled his fondest memories on the lakeside terrace at the Dutzendteich as well. “It was great to see how many people we’re still able to thrill with Audi’s first DTM successes today,” said Hans-Joachim Stuck. Mattias Ekström added: “I attended the DTM for the first time as a spectator at the age of 14. Audi already thrilled me back then.