With a strong team performance in the second of the two DTM races at Zandvoort (Netherlands), Audi has maintained the lead in all three of the DTM classifications.
DTM: Audi with strong Sunday at Zandvoort
Although the cars of competitor BMW were allowed to start with 15 kilograms less weight Mike Rockenfeller, Loïc Duval (both Audi Sport Team Phoenix), Mattias Ekström and Nico Müller (both Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) initially clinched positions two to five for Audi on track. After the original winner, Marco Wittmann (BMW), was excluded from the classification in the evening due to a breach of rules, Audi retroactively celebrated a 1-2-3-4 win. Jamie Green (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) in ninth place scored points as well. Only his teammate, René Rast, went home empty-handed on Sunday following a collision.
Mike Rockenfeller had to admit defeat to Marco Wittmann by only 0.807 seconds in a race that remained a thriller up until the end. On his favorite track, the 2013 DTM Champion improved from sixth to second place at the start and, like Wittmann, pitted later than most of the competitors. On the tire-killing track at Zandvoort, this strategy proved to be the right choice on Sunday.
After his pit stop on lap 13, Rockenfeller soon closed the gap to the leading Wittmann but was not able to overtake him. “Like yesterday, I was stuck in the transmission of a BMW and was hoping for Marco to make a mistake or for his tires to degrade more than mine. But that wasn’t the case,” said the Audi campaigner. “When you start from position six, a second place is superb. Inheriting a victory retroactively is not the same as clinching one on the race track. But the rules are like this and, obviously, I don’t mind taking home the additional points. For the team it’s fantastic that Loïc (Duval) finished on podium as well.”
The French DTM rookie showed a strong performance throughout the weekend. After having been the fastest driver in the DTM for the first time in the morning’s free practice, he advanced in the race from position 13 on the grid to third place and set the fastest lap as well. Clinching his first points and first podium were the deserved reward. Position three retroactively even became second place.
Overjoyed after the race as well was Mattias Ekström, who with a hard-fought third place, recaptured the lead of the standings. Even shortly after the race’s midpoint, the Swede reported vibrations over team radio and a pressure loss on the front left wheel a few laps before the end of the race. Consequently, the Audi driver reduced pace in the right-hand turns and at the end of the long start-finish straight, thereby avoiding a tire blow-out. In doing so, he was shielded in the final stage by his young teammate Nico Müller, who came fourth behind Ekström.
An extremely disappointing race was experienced by Audi Sport Team Rosberg which had started from promising positions four and five. Following a collision with Robert Wickens (Mercedes-Benz) in the early stage, Jamie Green still went on from 17th to finish in the points. René Rast had to park his Audi RS 5 DTM with a damaged right rear suspension after being hit by Maro Engel (Mercedes-Benz) and, as a result, lost the lead of the standings to Mattias Ekström.
“Obviously, that was very frustrating, not least because René (Rast) was running really well too,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass. “Still, it was a good team result for us. It was an incredibly exciting race because up until the last minute we couldn’t be sure that Mattias (Ekström) would make it to the finish. We heard on the radio that he was having problems with the tire inflation pressure and we saw other drivers with punctures. Mike (Rockenfeller) drove another strong race and Loïc (Duval) has finally scored his first points – and immediately with a podium result.”
Dieter Gass (Head of Audi Motorsport)
“Following the Saturday that wasn’t really our day, Sunday ended on a positive note for us. We showed a strong overall team performance. On both days, we had a good race performance, which the fastest laps set by René (Rast) and Loïc (Duval) show as well. But overtaking is an altogether different story at Zandvoort. Rocky did not get past Maxime Martin on Saturday and not past Marco Wittmann on Sunday, although he was able to quickly close the gap. I’m delighted that Loïc managed to score his first points right away with a podium. The way Nico (Müller) shielded Mattias (Ekström) on Sunday towards the rear was tremendous too. René and Jamie (Green) were a little unfortunate. Mattias is leaving Zandvoort as the leader of the standings again. However, the fact that we’ll have to again add weight for the Nürburgring is a drawback. It’s obvious that the current system does not accomplish any of the things it’s meant to do. Its unconditional abolishment is the only solution for this absurd condition.”
Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM #99) position 4 / position 1
“It’s been a good weekend for me on the whole. We can be very pleased with it. These are important points for the championship. Obviously, I’d have liked to clinch a podium place on Saturday and won on track on Sunday because I just barely missed out on both. But after my foot injury I’m able to use my left foot again for braking. It’s not ideal yet, but getting better and better. That’s why I’m already looking forward now to our home round at the Nürburgring.”
Loïc Duval (Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM #77) position 13 / position 2
“A really positive weekend with a double podium for Phoenix. For me, it was a nice surprise. I hadn’t expected it on Sunday until I crossed the finish line. My performance has made another step forwards on both days. Things were already going better in Moscow. We worked together well as a team here too. My two starts were a weak point. We had an issue that we need to resolve for the future.”
Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM #5) position 17 / position 3
“For me, it was a tough weekend. I wasn’t fast enough in qualifying. On Saturday, I had a small mistake with a big effect. In race two on Sunday, in position three, it was good to score 15 points for the championship and taking the lead. I fought very hard for that. Next, I’ll be traveling to the Rallycross World Championship in France. After that, I’ll have to work on being faster again for the next race at the Nürburgring. With our weight, qualifying will be even more difficult than here.”
Nico Müller (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM #51) position 10 / position 4
“This difficult weekend ended on a positive note. We started with a technical issue in the first free practice and, as a result, missed a lot of laps and were lacking this experience throughout the weekend. We were too slow. I had the worst qualifying sessions in my whole DTM career. We need to get a handle on that again for the coming races. On Sunday, I advanced from position ten to five and scored important points. I’m happy with that.”
Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM #53) position 5 / position 9
“On Saturday, I had a poor qualifying and then a good race. On Sunday, with P4 on the grid, I had a good qualifying but a weak race. One of the mistakes was mine: on lap one, I left the track. When I overtook Robert Wickens later, he turned me around. I think we were both at fault in this, maybe he even a little more. The spin cost me a lot of time. In the end, I was fortunate enough to still be able to score points after such an eventful race.”
René Rast (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM #33) position 9 / DNF
“A frustrating weekend! I only scored two points again. On Saturday, we weren’t fast enough. In the race I immediately had contact and lost a few parts in the process. On Sunday, I had contact with a Mercedes and my suspension broke as a result. I was coming out of the pit lane on cold tires and trying to defend myself. I saw Tom Blomqvist and didn’t know that Maro Engel was behind him. He apparently felt threatened and drove into my car a few times which caused the suspension to break.”
Thomas Biermaier (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
“After Saturday ended in disappointment for us, we showed once again that we never give up. In spite of a slow puncture, Mattias (Ekström) managed to bring home position four and, as a result, took the lead of the standings again. That’s something only Eki can do. The way Nico (Müller) shielded him towards the rear without being unfair was another class act. That was simply perfect teamwork! In the teams’ classification, we improved to position two at Zandvoort although, overall, we had higher expectations. But with the weight we had our backs to the wall to some extent. This weekend again showed how nonsensical the current system is. Like all the fans, we’re wishing for the performance weights to finally disappear.”
Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix)
“Our weekend went really well. Loïc Duval on clinching position six in qualifying showed that he’s finally arrived in the DTM. On Sunday, he was in first place in free practice. In the race, he showed a consistent performance, advancing from position 15 to three and posting the fastest lap. Rocky had a chance for victory. He was able to close the gap to Marco (Wittmann), but overtaking is difficult at Zandvoort. He didn’t take any risks and was clever enough to take second place home, which then even turned into a victory. The team’s performance was right. Our guys again did the quickest pit stops. Now we’re looking forward to our home round at the Nürburgring.”
Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg)
“For Audi Sport Team Rosberg this was not a good weekend on the whole. On Saturday, we still achieved some halfway positive results, but Sunday was rather disappointing. That we provided the best Audi driver in both qualifying sessions are positive aspects we’re taking home from here. Now, we’re going to look ahead and not back. Events at the Nürburgring will be difficult enough again.”
Results of race 2:
1 Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Phoenix) 37 laps in
56m 33.404s
2 Loïc Duval (Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Phoenix) + 16.581s
3 Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) + 58.073s
4 Nico Müller (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) + 58.620s
5 Gary Paffett (Mercedes-Benz) + 58.848s
6 Maxime Martin (BMW) + 59.390s
…
9 Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Rosberg) + 1m 02.405s
Not classified:
René Rast (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Rosberg), 10 laps
Press release Audi Sport
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