Miguel Molina and Jamie Green presented Audi with a one-two finish in the first race on Saturday at the Motorsport Festival at the Lausitzring. Audi was the strongest brand overall with five cars finishing in the points.
Second DTM victory for Miguel Molina, one-two for Audi
Miguel Molina had to wait 67 races for his first DTM victory. For his second triumph, the Catalan from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline needed only seven attempts. With a large group of guests looking on from his partner Teufel, Molina prevailed in an Audi internal duel against last year’s victor Jamie Green (Audi Sport Team Rosberg).
For the innumerable DTM fans at the Lausitzring it was a classic case of déjà vu: Molina’s Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM and Green’s Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM occupied exactly the same places on the front row as they did a year ago. At that time, Molina held the lead for 24 laps before dropping down to fourth place.
“This time I’m not going to let victory slip through my fingers,” remarked Molina before backing up his words. He dropped behind Jamie Green at the start, before the Audi driver made a clean overtaking maneuver entering Turn 1 to retake the lead on lap eight. Afterwards, he increased his lead to around 2.5 seconds before crossing the finish line in convincing style as winner.
“We are very competitive here at the Lausitzring, my car was just as quick in the race as it was in qualifying,” said Molina. “My second victory in the DTM feels just as good as my first at the Nürburgring. It’s absolutely fantastic to win in such a close championship as the DTM. I hope that I can score a lot of points again tomorrow.”
Jamie Green could not quite match the speed of Miguel Molina in the race, but kept the Mercedes-Benz from Robert Wickens in check throughout the race. With his second consecutive podium finish, last year’s Lausitzring double winner scored important points.
With Mattias Ekström in the Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM in sixth place, Edoardo Mortara in the Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM in eighth and Nico Müller in the Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM in tenth position, Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline brought all four cars home in the points as it had in the season opener at Hockenheim.
Ekström started from seventh on the grid and overtook Lucas Auer’s Mercedes-Benz eight laps before the checkered flag. Despite brushing the wall lightly, Edoardo Mortara fought from 14th on the grid to eighth and thus maintains second position in the standings. In the manufacturers’ classification, Audi scored the most points on Saturday and in doing so made huge inroads into BMW’s lead.
“This is a great result for Audi,” said Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport. “After the first two events didn’t go quite so well for us, we can well use this one-two and the points. Five cars in the points is an excellent performance.”
Timo Scheider (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM), Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM) and Adrien Tambay (Speedweek.com Audi RS 5 DTM) finished 17th, 19th and 20th and did not score points.
Ekström shines again in comeback drive
Only 14 days after his swift attack in Spielberg, Mattias Ekström inspired the DTM fans once again with another fantastic comeback drive: in Sunday’s race at the Lausitzring, the Swede from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline fought his way from ninth on the grid to second and, in doing so, put himself in the thick of the title battle as best placed Audi driver in the points before the Norisring race on June 25–26.
During the successful maiden Motorsport Festival at the Lausitzring and the stunning backdrop of 67,500 spectators, Ekström remained true to his motto “Go hard or go home”. In his Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM, Ekström made up two places immediately at the start, and later prevailed in a brand internal duel with Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Rosberg) and, as in Spielberg, delayed his tire change as long as possible. Ekström only entered the pits on the 31st of 46 laps and with his fresher tires took second place from the Canadian Robert Wickens in a Mercedes-Benz just before the end of the race.
“This is what racing is all about,” said a delighted Ekström after crossing the finish line. “My car was good in qualifying, but it was only enough for ninth on the grid. However, in the longer races on Sunday you can achieve a great deal with experience, strategy as well as the necessary pace. This was the case today.”
Jamie Green produced yet another strong performance: the Briton won an exciting duel with his countryman Gary Paffett in a Mercedes-Benz and only missed the podium by 0.348 seconds after finishing fourth. The Audi driver recorded a 1m 17.840s to set a new lap record.
Nico Müller in the Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM finished eighth on Sunday at the Lausitzring to ensure that three Audi drivers scored points and that Audi made up 65 points on BMW in the manufacturers’ classification. In the drivers’ classification with Ekström (46 points), Green (45 points) and Edoardo Mortara (44 points), three Audi drivers are now ranked in the top five.
Starting from 22nd on the grid, Mortara also produced a notable comeback drive, during which he made up no less than ten positions. At his pit stop on lap 32 he was involved in an incident in which a mechanic from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline was injured and was transported to a nearby hospital for further checks, where a broken right foot was diagnosed.
Timo Scheider (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM) and Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM/both Audi Sport Team Phoenix) finished 16th and 17th. Rockenfeller started the race from the second row as best Audi driver. However, because his car rolled forward briefly before the start he was handed a drive-through penalty.
Saturday’s winner Miguel Molina also had to drive through the pits in his Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM, after colliding earlier with Augusto Farfus’ BMW under braking for turn 1. The Spaniard finished 19th one place ahead of Adrien Tambay (Speedweek.com Audi RS 5 DTM).
“Mattias (Ekström) and Jamie (Green) produced excellent performances again today,” said Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport. “With the one-two yesterday and second place today, we can be very pleased with this weekend. We saw that the performance of the Audi RS 5 DTM is good. The incident in the pits was obviously very unlucky. We wish the mechanic concerned a quick recovery.”
DTM Lausitzring: Comments from Audi Sport
The Motorsport Festival at the Lausitzring celebrated a successful premiere with 67,500 spectators in attendance. The third DTM weekend of the year was also a great success for Audi Sport.
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
“It goes without saying that we kept an eye on events during the Motorsport Festival at the Lausitzring from Le Mans. It was great to see the packed grandstands and that the joint appearance of the DTM and ADAC GT Masters was well received by the spectators. We are of course particularly pleased that Audi made such a strong showing in front of the many fans. Of more importance is the fact that the incident in the pits had no serious consequences. Also from Le Mans best wishes and a speedy recovery to the injured mechanic.”
Dieter Gass (Head of DTM at Audi Sport)
“It was a very good weekend for Audi. The one-two finish on Saturday was of course the highlight. On Sunday we struggled a little in qualifying. After the best Audi was effectively out of the running after the jump start at the start of the race, we still recorded a good team result with second, fourth and eighth positions. Due to the fact that Lucas Auer won, a driver that is not so high in the standings, it was almost like a victory for us. The accident with our mechanic subdued the mood slightly. Something like this should not happen. But you can’t criticize Edoardo (Mortara). We hope that our injured colleague makes a full recovery.”
Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM #53) 2nd position / 4th position
“The weekend went exceptionally well for me. Second yesterday, fourth today and 30 points on this weekend – I’m very pleased with this. This is exactly what I needed to move back into striking distance in the drivers’ classification. It was a big jump forwards to fourth place. Maybe second could have been possible on Sunday, but I made a couple of small mistakes. This can happen quickly when you drive on the limit. We still have twelve races ahead of us and aim to score points consistently. We’ll try to do this at the next race around the Norisring, even though it won’t be easy there as is always the case.”
Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM #5) 6th position / 2nd position
“My car felt good the entire weekend – which is why the qualifying positions were all the more disappointing. In the shorter race on Saturday, I couldn’t do better than sixth. In contrast, the race on Sunday was fantastic. I made a reasonable start and to begin drove at the same pace as all the others. When the pit stops started I knew: Now it’s happy hour! I was fast, and after my pit stop rejoined the track just behind Jamie (Green) and Gary (Paffett). I was faster and overtook both of them. Then I hunted down Robert (Wickens) and overtook him as well. After a disappointing qualifying it was a fantastic race for me. It was only after the race that I heard that one of our mechanics had been injured during a pit stop. These things also hurt me. I hope that Werner recovers quickly and will be with us again soon!”
Miguel Molina (Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM #17) 1st position / 19th position
“We had a perfect Saturday with my second DTM victory. After the season didn’t start as planned, we are now competitive and fight for a top 10 position in the championship. Unfortunately, Sunday didn’t go as planned: Augusto (Farfus) pushed me into the wall, I stood on the brakes and just as I wanted to swerve around him he also braked, I couldn’t do anything. I think the blame can be apportioned 50:50. I thought it was unnecessary to block me like this as I had DRS and could have overtaken him easily.”
Nico Müller (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM #51) 10th position / 8th position
“So, my motto was unfortunately: free practice great, qualifying bad. I was at the front in every free practice, in qualifying not any more. I don’t fully understand why it was like this. Both the races were then okay. On Saturday tenth, on Sunday eighth from 15th on the grid. That was a strong race, I made some good maneuvers. I’m happy to take the points. Now it’s a question of getting us into a good starting position in qualifying and then hopefully they’ll be buckets of points.”
Edoardo Mortara (Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM #48) 8th position / 12th position
“A terrible weekend, hopefully the last of its kind this year. Such an accident like today in the pit lane just shouldn’t happen. We all have to question ourselves and work hard with our pit crews so that such an incident doesn’t happen again. I’m depressed and can only hope that our mechanic makes a speedy recovery.”
Timo Scheider (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM #10) 17th position / 16th position
“That was a pretty bad weekend for me. We simply lacked the pace in many places. A few unanswered questions still remain as to why this is so. We changed the car overnight. It didn’t help in qualifying, but at least in the race. This was the only positive point this weekend.”
Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM #99) 19th position / 17th position
“In keeping with the season so far a very sobering weekend. Especially on Saturday. Qualifying went better on Sunday when I was fourth on the grid and best Audi. And then I jump the start – for the first time in ten years DTM. Right now when we needed a good result to get out of the hole. Obviously the race was as good as over afterward. A real shame because much more was possible. I hope that everything falls back into place again soon.”
Adrien Tambay (Speedweek.com Audi RS 5 DTM #27) 20th position / 20th position
“I can’t say a lot. I lost the flicks twice in the race through light contact. I wasn’t quick enough in both races, and there was nothing I could fight for as a result. In qualifying on Saturday everything went quiet well. I’ll quickly forget this race and now look forward to the Norisring.”
Press release Audi Sport
