1-2 Victory and DTM Title for Audi
Audi works driver Mattias Ekström achieved a dominant victory in the penultimate race of the DTM season at Brno, locking in his title even before Europe’s most popular touring car series will draw to a close this year. 35,000 spectators had turned out at the demanding circuit in the Czech Republic throughout the weekend to witness another impressive performance of the Audi A4 DTM and Audi’s third consecutive 1-2 victory, completed by Tom Kristensen’s second-place finish. Emanuele Pirro – who came in fifth – claimed the best result of the season so far for Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest. Audi Sport Team Abt secured an early first place in the DTM teams’ standings as well, despite the fact that Martin Tomczyk’s chances for a second-place finish were destroyed when he was forced to retire after being touched by a rival. In addition, Audi have assumed the lead in the manufacturers’ standings prior to the finale at Hockenheim on 3 October. With their early title win in the DTM, AUDI AG are continuing their impressive series of superior exploits in motorsport. Last weekend, the Audi R8 celebrated its 50th victory in its 60th sportscar race. Now, the brand’s return to the DTM at factory level has resulted in Audi immediately claiming the title with the A4 DTM car. Quotes after the race Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #5) Tom Kristensen (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #12) Emanuele Pirro (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #44) Christian Abt (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #11) Frank Biela (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #45) Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #6) Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “Congratulations to Mattias. He joined us in 2001, immediately became a member of our family and absolutely deserves this exploit. From a wholehearted team player, whose first-ever DTM victory in 2002 secured our title, he has evolved to the level of a worthy champion. I want to thank every one of our mechanics for their professional performance, without which we wouldn’t have been able to achieve this triumph. Today, we’ve managed to claim the team championship title in the DTM – and that’s the best reward of all.” Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest): “I share Audi’s and Mattias’ happiness about the championship title. And, of course, I’m happy about the fact that we had a good race as well. Emanuele has deserved the fifth place he clinched. His start was absolutely fantastic, and the team did perfect work: we had four good pit stops and the right strategy. It’s too bad, though, that Frank – yet again – was a victim of bad luck in a major way.” Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “I feel that Mattias is a truly deserving DTM champion. He has earned the title on his own merits, by applying his driving skills. Of course he has also had the benefit of a team fully backing him, and a quick and reliable car – the Audi A4 DTM – as well as a drivers’ squad supporting him to the extent possible. For Audi this is a marvellous feat to have claimed the title right in the first year of their DTM comeback. The entire squad can be rightfully proud of this. The sporting spirit continuously displayed by Audi in motor racing is transferred to our production models as well.” |