Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #5)
3rd place, + 13.228s
“I think it was a great show for the spectators. There was a lot of action
especially in the first lap. Despite being faster than the drivers in front of
me I had to wait for mistakes of them because it is so difficult to overtake
here. Dindo (Capello) was very gentle, he did not block me when I was
catching him. Alesi fortunately made a mistake. It was quite a nice feeling
to give my French friend a little lesson.”
Rinaldo Capello (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #22)
5th place, + 32.756s
“Finishing fifth in my DTM debut race makes me feel really happy. I could
not expect more. In the beginning, I was even third, but my front brakes
overheated because the air intakes were blocked by paper. I let Mattias
(Ekström) pass but tried everything to keep Albers behind despite the
problems.”
Peter Terting (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Abt-Audi TT-R #23)
11th place, - 1 lap
“It’s quite a good result to finish 11th in last year’s car at my DTM
comeback after such a long break. An even better result would have been
possible if I had not been sent into a spin at the hairpin. This cost me
various places.”
Frank Biela (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #45)
13th place, - 1 lap
“Things went well before the brakes started to overheat. A bag had blocked
the air intakes. I had to come to the pits to remove the bag. After this the
car was running fine again.”
Christian Abt (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #11)
Retired (accident)
“I have to say sorry to the team, this accident was my fault. When I tried to
pass Janis, I lost the grip at the rear and touched the wall.”
Tom Kristensen (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #12)
Retired (accident)
“My start was better than Alesi’s and I was ahead of him. Turning into the
corner I got a knock on my right rear which sent me into a wild spin in front
of everybody. I would like to review the situation, but I don’t think it was my
fault.”
Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #6)
Retired (accident)
“I had a good start and passed two cars before the first corner. I left many
space on the inside because I expected somebody to be there. Despite
that I got touched in the right rear and spun. I will forget about Shanghai
and look forward to Nürburgring.”
Emanuele Pirro (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #44)
Retired (accident)
“I feel very sorry for the team and Audi. We had the potential to do a good
race but the three quickest Audis were eliminated on the first lap. I drove
around the accident on the first corner. Then I was side by side with the
second placed car going into the next corner. Unfortunately he pushed me
on the dirty part of the track and I was out.”
Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
“First of all congratulation to Mattias who once again showed a strong
performance and gave our team a good result in the ‘Shanghai adventure’.
Of course you can’t be satisfied when you lose three cars in a race. We got
in trouble with two cars right after the start. But that’s how street circuits
are: The smallest touch can mean the end of your race.”
Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest)
“Dindo drove a great races and could have even finished his DTM debut on
the podium if the air intakes of his brakes had not been blocked. Frank
was also running well before he had a similar problem. Of course it was a
real shame that Emanuele’s race was over as early as at the second
corner.”
Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
“Shanghai has created a great stage for the DTM in a very short time. The
race, however, naturally was not like we wanted it to be. We lost our fastest
three cars, which had started well and were running in good position, on
the first lap. That’s why we could not achieve a lot at the end. Mattias once
more has made the best out of the situation and fought his way to third
position.”
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