Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #5)
1st / 7th, 1m 39.687s (58 laps)
“This will be a tough weekend. Our competitors are very quick, and there’s
quite a colourful mix of Audi, Opel and Mercedes at the front of the field.
We’ve worked out an optimum setup for the race, and tomorrow morning,
we’ll have to do some more work to prepare for the qualifying.“
Tom Kristensen (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #12)
2nd / 10th, 1m 40.166s (61 laps)
“This is my first stint at the Eurospeedway, and I find the circuit absolutely
impressive. Driving through the pit lane past the huge grandstands
immediately makes you think of Indianapolis. The circuit, though, is very
hard to come to grips with, as there’s really just one racing line and the
track on either side of it is very dirty. Still, my A4 was very fast right from the
start.“
Emanuele Pirro (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #44)
4th / 12th, 1m 40.312s (65 laps)
“Though it’s new to me, I immediately felt comfortable on this circuit and
have an overall positive feeling this weekend. This morning, we made
some good progress with the A4 and in the end clinched fourth place. In
the afternoon, we tried a few things that didn’t work out so well, though.”
Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #6)
5th / 9th, 1m 40.421s (50 laps)
“I got along very well today. We were also satisfied with the long run in
preparation for the race. Unfortunately, with my new tyres I didn’t clock the
times I’d wanted to – but the qualifying isn’t until tomorrow.”
Christian Abt (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #11)
13th / 14th, 1m 40.466s (57 laps)
“We’ve acquired a lot of data today and have made quite a few strides with
our setup. At the EuroSpeedway, even the smallest mistake will cost you
enormous time, that’s why everything has to fit perfectly in tomorrow’s
qualifying – and we’re headed in the right direction.”
Frank Biela (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #45)
18th / 17th, 1m 40.939s (60 laps)
“The circuit is anything but easy. In the fast corners, like Turns 1, 2 and 3,
the car’s balance must be one hundred per cent right, if not, you lose a lot
of time. That’s what we worked on today. With used tyres, things were
going quite well for me, but with new ones I wasn’t able to improve all that
much. That has to change tomorrow.“
Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
“Generally speaking, we can be satisfied with both tests. Particularly the
first one went very well for us. The time Mattias clocked in the morning is
certainly respectable. In the afternoon, we tried out a number of things and
are now well set for tomorrow.”
Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest)
“With Emanuele, in the morning, things went exactly the way you’d like to
see them: we improved the car step by step, and in the end, were
rewarded by a good result. In the afternoon, he did a long run. On Frank’s
car, just before the end of the first test, there was a short circuit in the main
switch, that’s why he wasn’t able to take out a new set of tyres in the
morning. The qualifying will be tough, but our goal continues to be among
the top ten.“
Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
“We tried out various downforce versions today and gained some very
valuable findings for tomorrow. The long runs, as well, produced pretty
decent results. We implemented the things we’d planned. Although the
results of the first test session looked better for us than those of the
second, one shouldn’t overestimate these times.”
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