Audi Driver Tom Kristensen Fastest Again
The first foreign event of the 2004 DTM, at Estoril (Portugal), started with a fastest time for Audi. Tom Kristensen recorded a lap time of 1m 34.770s at the beginning of Friday’s two 90-minute test sessions at the wheel of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline’s Audi A4 DTM, a time that remained unchallenged for the rest of the day. The Dane had been fastest in the official DTM tests at Estoril in March. Quotes after Friday´s tests Tom Kristensen (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM #12) Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt Audi A4 DTM #5) Christian Abt (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi A4 DTM #11) Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Abt Audi A4 DTM #6) Emanuele Pirro (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest Audi A4 DTM #44) Frank Biela (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest Audi A4 DTM #45) Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “We did not chase times today but worked exclusively for Sunday. On this track, the tyre wear is an important topic so we needed to collect as much data as possible. We showed today good team work and split up our programme amongst all four drivers. With all their data, we are well prepared for the weekend.” Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest): “We still have work to do but we are not unhappy. Compared to Hockenheim, the gap to the front has become a little smaller. Frank was immediately fast on old tyres, Emanuele found a good set-up in the afternoon. Unfortunately it began to drizzle exactly in the moment we went out again on fresh tyres.” Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “17 cars within a second – this shows how competitive the field is. All cars completed their programmes without major problems. Tom was fastest, Mattias drove a very good ,long-run’ – we have a very good basis.” |