Audi Motorsport drivers quotes after the race at the Red Bull Ring
Four and five - the best positions claimed by Audi drivers in the race at Spielberg
Photo by: XPB Images
Ingolstadt/Spielberg, June 2, 2013 After making strong recoveries, Mike Rockenfeller and Mattias Ekström as the best Audi drivers clinched positions four and five. Quotes after the DTM race at Spielberg (Austria).
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): Its great that despite the adverse weather conditions in Austria so many spectators traveled to Spielberg. The crowd at the Red Bull Ring was truly impressive. And the fans saw another fantastic DTM race here. For us, it was a bit unfortunate today, though. Were also far from agreeing with some of the decisions made by the race directors.
Dieter Gass (Head of DTM): Basically, we can of course not be pleased with this result. We didnt travel to Spielberg to finish fourth and fifth. We did expect more than that and on Saturday things were looking as though this would be possible. Rocky (Mike Rockenfeller) and Mattias (Ekström) squeezed the maximum out of the situation. With a strong performance and a good strategy, they managed to finish in fourth and fifth place. The problem was that we lost the three Audi cars we had at the front of the grid during the course of the race and thus an absolutely good result.
Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM), 4th place
Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM), 5th place
My Audi was very good, especially on option tires. On the whole, it was a big step in the right direction today. It was good to advance and score a few points. We can be pleased with the result. Ill remember the weekend with a horrible Saturday and an amazing race.
Adrien Tambay (Audi ultra RS 5 DTM), 11th place
Im pleased with my race. Wed selected a very good strategy, managed the option tires well and I was often able to overtake. Maybe we could have finished in seventh place if I hadnt had a problem with the transmission some of the time. Now Im very much looking forward to the next race.
Miguel Molina (Audi RS 5 DTM), 14th place
The race was good, but my start wasnt perfect. Afterward, I was all the way at the rear. My pace in the race was right, and so was the strategy. Unfortunately, we only managed to finish in 14th place. But we know that weve got a lot of potential. Once everything works well from the beginning to the end, well be able to battle for the top spot on the podium.
Edoardo Mortara (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM), 15th place
I had a superb start and was able to overtake Marco (Wittmann). But unfortunately I got off the track too far and had to give up my position again. Last year, Martin (Tomczyk) overtook another car at exactly the same place but wasnt punished for it. I dont understand that. Still, we had a very good car and a good pace. I was able to keep up with the two BMWs in front of me for a long time until the collision with Wittmann. After that, my race was ruined. That was very upsetting!
Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM), 16th place
Its frustrating not to finish the third race weekend in succession without a satisfactory result after a good qualifying session. Right after the start, Filipe (Albuquerque) caught me on the inside and I lost a few positions. Although afterward I was able to make up some ground again one of my tires suddenly started to lose air and I had to pit with a puncture. Unfortunately, we then lost the wheel nut at the last pit stop. None of this was in my hands and Im hoping that this string of misfortune will end one day.
Filipe Albuquerque (Audi Financial Services RS 5 DTM), 17th place
It was a difficult race. I hadnt expected ending up so far at the rear. Obviously, it was due to the strategy. Weve now got to analyze what went wrong and prepare for the next race.
Jamie Green (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM), 18th place
I had a good race because initially I moved to the front from the last row of the grid. Our pace was competitive, that was positive. The problem was that we had a poor first pit stop; one of the rear wheels wasnt tightened properly. We lost around ten seconds. We were unfortunate again, but I believe I did a good job.
Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): Congratulations to BMW. They delivered a great show. We were closely behind them with Mattias Ekström. From position 15 to fifth place was a big step forward and our strategy was very good. Timo (Scheider) had problems with one of the option tires. He lost air and that caused him to lose a lot of ground. Unfortunately, our pit stop wasnt optimal either. Were going to work on this in order to further improve.
Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix): Its incredible that we managed to advance from 13th to fourth place. If Mike Rockenfeller hadnt have had so much traffic a podium would even have been possible. Everything was right on the mark: Rocky drove an amazing speed, the strategy was right and the crew delivered fast pit stops. Miguel (Molina) drove a good race as well, but stalled his engine at the start and then had to follow the field. Afterward, he was really good and still finished in 14th place.
Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg): From the start on, the race was a bit unfortunate. In my opinion, Edo (Mortara) was in front in turn one. We dont know if it was an advantage to drive around on the outside. Weve got to live with the decision by the race directors. But the action with Marco Wittmann was a bit much, he drove into Edos car three times. Afterward, the car was crooked and we had a puncture. I cant understand that this incident wasnt investigated. Afterward, the race was ruined for Edo. If you look at where Wittmann finished in the end quite a bit would have been possible for him. Filipe (Albuquerque) was stuck in traffic. We should have switched from the standard back to the option tires as well.
Audi Motorsport
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