Audi Clinch Double Bictory at Zandvoort As Well
In front of a record turnout of 73,000 spectators Audi celebrated their second one-two victory in a row in the DTM. Having clinched his third victory in the season, Audi driver Mattias Ekström took another step towards winning the DTM title this year. With two races remaining, the Swede in his Audi A4 DTM now has a 13-point lead. This means that as early as in the penultimate round at Brno on 19 September he will be playing his first “matchball”. At Zandvoort, Ekström was the dominant driver: having gone into the race from pole and having pulled off a perfect start, he took the lead right away. The Swede was setting the pace at the front of the field until the race was stopped due to a crash and restarted later. Following the restart, the Audi driver mastered the decisive ten-lap sprint with a superior performance as well, clinching a start-finish victory. Martin Tomczyk – having worked his way up from fourth to second place after the start – was the second driver to lock in Audi’s 1-2 victory at Zandvoort. Tom Kristensen finished sixth, although a spin that was no fault of his own had caused him to fall behind considerably. Emanuele Pirro – finishing seventh – scored points, too, and Frank Biela barely missed scoring a point. Christian Abt in his Audi A4 DTM was also fighting at the front of the field, but had to retire early because his fire extinguisher went off during the second pit stop. Quotes after the race Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #5) Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #6) Tom Kristensen (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #12) Emanuele Pirro (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #44) Frank Biela (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #45) Christian Abt (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #11) Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “Today truly put everyone’s nerves to the test, and our boys kept cool. Mattias rendered another absolutely brilliant performance, and the whole squad did a super job. All I can say is, I’m simply happy.” Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director, Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest): “This was a highly eventful race, and there were a lot of discussions. We probably had a bit of luck, but our racing speed today was quite okay, too. After a long, unsuccessful period we have finally scored two points again, and that inspires hope for the last two races.” Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “Aside from Peter Dumbreck’s accident it was a super race. The fact that nothing happened to him shows how safe the DTM cars are. We have achieved a great result here and have every reason to be highly satisfied. Our A4 handled Zandvoort extremely well, and we were strong here during the whole weekend. The crews did a great job, the pit stops were perfect. Our goal for this race had been to expand our lead, and we have achieved this. Now, we’re going to do everything we can – through good work – to secure the title in the last two races.” |