DTM finale at Hockenheim: Audi Sport quotes

Dieter Gass (Head of DTM at Audi Sport)

“From an external perspective, we had a fantastic season: ten victories in 18 races, plus the titles in the manufacturers’ and the teams’ standings. Still, it’s extremely painful to miss the drivers’ title today by just a very narrow margin in spite of a victory clinched by Edo (Mortara). This being the case all the more because we had a situation at Zandvoort in which Edo unjustifiably lost points. I know that at the end of a long season, there are actually no ‘ifs, ands or buts’ – but these points were mathematically on Edo’s tally and could have made the difference.”

Edoardo Mortara (Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM #48) position 3 / position 1

“My emotions are mixed. On Sunday, we won the race, plus the titles in the manufacturers’ and the teams’ classifications – that’s a great success and a wonderful thing. On the other hand, I barely missed the drivers’ title, in spite of five victories in a single season. That’s hard and it’ll take us a few days before we can be really happy about the positive things.”

Miguel Molina (Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM #17) position 1 / position 14

“On this final weekend, the positive moments outweigh the negative ones. Saturday was a perfect day in every respect that was crowned by victory. Sunday, on the other other hand, I still haven’t completely come to grips with. We didn’t make the slightest change to the car, but for some reason, I had no chance in qualifying. So, it was only about having a good strategy, which at least made me advance by a few places. Now I’m going home to recharge my batteries and maybe contest a go-kart race with friends sometime soon.”

Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM #99) position 5 / position 11

“Our aim here at Hockenheim was to clinch all three titles. Now it turned out to be two, even though the icing on the cake – the drivers’ title – is lacking. I feel we should be happy anyway and celebrate a little. Personally, I arguably had the worst year in my DTM days. Now we’re going to take time to look at why that was the case, for this much is clear: in the future, I’d like to attack again on a much higher level.”

René Rast (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM #72) position 6 / position 17

“The weekend with Audi in the DTM was huge fun and a tremendous experience: thank you to Audi for giving me this opportunity and thank you to the Phoenix guys for the warm welcome. I worked a lot with the engineers in order to improve. Sixth place on Saturday was a nice reward for it. Then, on Sunday, I also got to know the tough side of the DTM. I felt that I’d delivered a great qualifying lap – and suddenly found myself in position 23.”

Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM #53) position 8 / position 8

“This weekend, the results in qualifying were a little frustrating. On Saturday, I didn’t manage a fast lap because I was struggling with traffic. Afterwards, I actually had a strong race in spite of a difficult first lap. Sunday was similar. In qualifying, we again didn’t manage to secure a good starting base. Then, on lap one in the race, I was forced off track in turn two and initially couldn’t keep pace. In between, I was running in position 22, but thanks to a good pit stop and fast lap times managed to make up ground again. As far as the whole season is concerned, Audi showed a good performance. On the whole, I had consistently good performances, but unfortunately there were a few downward excursions as well – like in the opener at Hockenheim or most recently at Budapest.”

Adrien Tambay (Speedweek.com Audi RS 5 DTM #27) position 12 / retirement

“The weekend could obviously have gone better, especially the race on Sunday. I was planning to go for all-out attack in order to advance. In the beginning, things were going well and I managed to make up some positions. When I was getting ready to overtake Di Resta too, I unfortunately had contact with Auer and that meant the end of my race. The highlight of the season for me was the race weekend at Budapest – the first success together with my new team. I feel very comfortable with Team Rosberg and have great people supporting me. So as far as that’s concerned, I’m positive about the future. A lot this season was not the optimum yet and we’re going to continue to work on reaching 100 percent over the winter.”

Nico Müller (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM #51) position 15 / position 13

“Two races without points here at Hockenheim – that’s definitely not the kind of finale I was wishing for. With best times in two free practice sessions I was actually in contention, but in qualifying kept hitting traffic. By the way, I could easily do without the DTM’s winter break – I wouldn’t mind if we continued racing next weekend.”

Timo Scheider (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM #10) position 16 / position 18

“This has been a very emotional weekend for me. It’s hard to believe that these were really my last two DTM races for Audi. In terms of racing, things could have gone better for me personally, but with the titles in the teams’ and manufacturers’ classifications, it’s been a successful weekend for Audi. I was incredibly happy about the fans’ response – in the paddock all day on Sunday and, following the cool-down lap, also when I briefly stopped in front of the main grandstand – all of those were goose bump moments. At this point, I’d like to again sincerely thank everyone who supported me in the past one-and-a half decades and accompanied my career in the DTM in good times as in bad.”

Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)

“We’ve won nine of ten races for Audi this year and now clinched five victories in succession – one of the longest strings I can remember. Plus, our squad won the teams’ classification and Audi the manufacturers’ classification. Congratulations and thank you to everyone who contributed to this. Unfortunately, only the capstone was missing: the drivers’ title for Edo (Mortara). That’s painful because this weekend he impressively showed his potential once more. Unfortunately, he was out on a limb especially on Sunday, when we’d been hoping for more support by his brand colleagues. We’re traveling back to Kempten with our heads held high and look forward to revenge next year.”

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix)

“I look at the weekend with mixed emotions. It’s great that the win of the manufacturers’ and the teams’ classifications worked out. But the drivers’ title for Edo (Mortara) would have been possible as well. The mix is similar with our team. A great beginning with position six for René (Rast) on Saturday and the bitter experience of how tough the DTM can be on Sunday. My sincere thanks go to Timo (Scheider), who said goodbye to the DTM this weekend. In his years with us, he was always a great team player and caused our team to move forward. We’ll miss him.”

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg)

“Congratulations to ABT on the teams’ classification, congratulations to Audi on the manufacturers’ classification and congratulations to Edo (Mortara) – I felt incredibly sorry for him because he would have more than deserved the title. From our point of view, the weekend was obviously less than perfect. But we’re closing the season with Jamie (Green) in position three of the drivers’ championship – and if we’re not happy about that in a series that’s as hard-fought as this one then we’re doing something wrong. We’ve been third and second now – the big trophy is still missing and we’re going to go for that next season.”