NEWS: Audi DTM Double Podium @ Nürburgring
Audi's 2014 motorsport season keeps on getting stronger – with a double podium this weekend, with P2 and P3 in a DTM race at the Nürburgring, with Mike Rockenfeller and Edoardo Mortara.
And jot could have been more for the Audi A5 DTM cars, after four Audi RS 5 DTM cars retired after collisions in the race.
Mike Rockenfeller (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) and Edoardo Mortara (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) took the podium places in front of 80,000 spectators, in the seventh DTM race of the year – which was all decided right at the start.
While
Edoardo Mortara on the more slippery inside dropped from second to third
place, Mike Rockenfeller was able to improve from third to second place
behind the quickest in qualifying, Marco Wittmann. These positions
remained unchanged up to the finish. 1.2 seconds behind Wittmann,
‘Rocky’ in the Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM crossed the finish line in
second place, followed ten seconds later in third place by Edoardo
Mortara in the Audi Sport Audi RS 5 DTM.
“I’m happy about second place,” said Mike Rockenfeller after having
clinched his so far best result in his DTM home race. “‘Thank you’ to
Team Phoenix and Audi. Marco Wittmann controlled the race. I only came a
bit closer towards the end. Maybe I could have grabbed him if the race
had lasted five laps longer. But you’ve also got to accept that he was
simply stronger than we were this weekend.”
Rockenfeller and Mortara were the only two Audi drivers to convert their good grid positions into points at the Nürburgring. Adrien Tambay in his Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM dropped to 16th place in the starting commotion and in the end, in eleventh place, barely missed scoring a point. Jamie Green in the Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Rosberg advanced to fourth place after the start, but was subsequently relegated to position 15 after his Audi had been damaged in several incidents of body contact.
The other four Audi drivers had to park their Audi RS 5 DTM cars early following collisions. Mattias Ekström was hit by Timo Glock’s BMW right on the starting lap, with the rear suspension of his Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM being damaged in the incident. Miguel Molina suffered a puncture in a contact at the start and had to park his Audi Sport Audi RS 5 DTM after just four laps as well. Timo Scheider’s AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM on lap seven was pushed into the Financial Services Audi RS 5 DTM of his brand colleague Nico Müller by Mercedes driver Robert Wickens. Both Audi drivers had to retire shortly afterwards.
“Having two drivers on podium in the DTM is basically a good result,” said Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport. “Congratulations to Mike (Rockenfeller) and Edo (Mortara). Obviously, it’s not satisfactory that only these two managed to make use of their good grid positions. There were a couple of scenes today we need to carefully look at again. Losing four out of eight cars due to collisions is painful.”
Despite his retirement, Mattias Ekström continues to rank in second place of the standings. Edoardo Mortara, with the same score, trails him in third place. In the manufacturers’ standings, the gaps practically remained unchanged at the Nürburgring. With 284 points and an 18-point gap Audi continues to have chances of winning the manufacturers’ title. Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “When you’ve got five cars in the top six on the grid, positions two and three are not enough. We clearly fell short of our potential today. We’re going to use the break between now and the Lausitzring to look better in the last three races of the season. In the drivers’ classification, a preliminary decision was made. But in the manufacturers’ classification, everything is still possible.”
Following a three-week break, the next battle for points will take place at the Lausitzring on September 14.
Rockenfeller and Mortara were the only two Audi drivers to convert their good grid positions into points at the Nürburgring. Adrien Tambay in his Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM dropped to 16th place in the starting commotion and in the end, in eleventh place, barely missed scoring a point. Jamie Green in the Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Rosberg advanced to fourth place after the start, but was subsequently relegated to position 15 after his Audi had been damaged in several incidents of body contact.
The other four Audi drivers had to park their Audi RS 5 DTM cars early following collisions. Mattias Ekström was hit by Timo Glock’s BMW right on the starting lap, with the rear suspension of his Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM being damaged in the incident. Miguel Molina suffered a puncture in a contact at the start and had to park his Audi Sport Audi RS 5 DTM after just four laps as well. Timo Scheider’s AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM on lap seven was pushed into the Financial Services Audi RS 5 DTM of his brand colleague Nico Müller by Mercedes driver Robert Wickens. Both Audi drivers had to retire shortly afterwards.
“Having two drivers on podium in the DTM is basically a good result,” said Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport. “Congratulations to Mike (Rockenfeller) and Edo (Mortara). Obviously, it’s not satisfactory that only these two managed to make use of their good grid positions. There were a couple of scenes today we need to carefully look at again. Losing four out of eight cars due to collisions is painful.”
Despite his retirement, Mattias Ekström continues to rank in second place of the standings. Edoardo Mortara, with the same score, trails him in third place. In the manufacturers’ standings, the gaps practically remained unchanged at the Nürburgring. With 284 points and an 18-point gap Audi continues to have chances of winning the manufacturers’ title. Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “When you’ve got five cars in the top six on the grid, positions two and three are not enough. We clearly fell short of our potential today. We’re going to use the break between now and the Lausitzring to look better in the last three races of the season. In the drivers’ classification, a preliminary decision was made. But in the manufacturers’ classification, everything is still possible.”
Following a three-week break, the next battle for points will take place at the Lausitzring on September 14.
Comments
Post a Comment