Hockenheim - April 30, 2006
76,000 spectators witness thrilling
76,000 spectators witnessed a nerve-wracking DTM weekend at the
EuroSpeedway Lausitz, in which the Audi drivers Tom Kristensen and
Mattias Ekström played staring roles during the race. While the Le Mans
record winner, in his Siemens A4 DTM, shone once again during his fight
through the field to claim second as he did at the season opener in
Hockenheim, ex-DTM Champion Mattias Ekström was again plagued by
bad luck: The Swede had to retire his Red Bull A4 from second position
with an empty tank two laps before the finish.
DTM weekend Ex-Champion Mattias Ekström unlucky again
Ekström had already forced his way from third to second at the first
corner. A perfect strategy with two late pit-stops brought the Swede into an
excellent position from which to push for victory. A problem with the
refuelling tank at the second pit-stop meant that Ekström was left without
sufficient fuel in the closing laps to finish the race.
Le Mans record holder second at EuroSpeedway
Benefiting from this was Tom Kristensen, who, after initially dropping
from fifth to sixth at the start, subsequently – as at Hockenheim – fought
his way up to third place after posting constantly fast lap times, a good
strategy and perfect pit-stops. The Dane was immediately behind
Ekström when he ran out of fuel.
Also inheriting a point as a result of Ekström’s bad luck was Martin
Tomczyk, who finished eighth in his Red Bull A4 ahead of Timo Scheider,
Pierre Kaffer and Frank Stippler. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was thirteenth
after two bad pit-stops. Vanina Ickx finished her second DTM race ahead
of her team mate Olivier Tielemans in 16th position. Christian Abt was
forced to retire after losing the right-hand front wheel following his second
pit-stop.
Quotes after the race
Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
"As at Hockenheim we put ourselves in a position where we were able to
battle for the lead despite having started from two grid positions that
weren’t exactly ideal. Unfortunately Mattias (Ekström) ran out of fuel. The
final refill didn’t quite work as it should have. Tom (Kristensen) also had
the right pace. In the end the deciding factor was whether the one or other
driver could take new or used tyres at the final pit-stop. We are obviously
not happy that only one of our A4s was right at the front at the chequer.”
Tom Kristensen
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, Siemens Audi A4 DTM #7
2nd place, + 1.428s
"That was a good race for me, the strategy and pit stops were perfect,
which shows me that I can rely one-hundred per cent on my team. My A4
was very fast, and I was able to overtake several other drivers, which was
great fun. Unfortunately, we only had a single set of new tyres with which
we could play with in the race. We could have won today if we’d had a
second set. Even so I was quicker at the end than the leaders and
Mattias, who was directly in front of me. I didn’t try to overtake him, but
then he suddenly slowed down, which was lucky for me and means more
important points. A pair of second places isn’t such a bad start to the
season.”
Martin Tomczyk
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, Red Bull Audi A4 DTM #4
8th place, + 26.468s
"The race, unfortunately, was not very thrilling for me. Now we need to
analyse why my car was so difficult to drive. At least I did score one point
even though that only happened because Mattias retired. I am sure that
we will strike back at Oschersleben.”
Timo Scheider
Audi Sport Team Rosberg, Gebrauchtwagen plus Audi A4 DTM #16
9th place, + 27.601s
"I had a sensational start and immediately gained a few places. The race
went well, and so did the first pit stop. The second set of tyres was good
also, but I got caught behind Jean Alesi and ruined my tyres. We wanted
to overtake him in the pits but he stopped on the same lap. Unfortunately,
we had a problem during the second pit stop and dropped behind
because of that. We lost a seventh place today that we almost had in our
pocket.”
Pierre Kaffer
Audi Sport Team Phoenix, Castrol Audi A4 DTM #14
10th place, + 30.003s
"I look back on my race with mixed emotions. We did a good job
throughout the weekend and I feel very comfortable being part of Audi
Sport Team Phoenix. My start and the pace in the race were good but,
unfortunately, that little bit of racing luck was not on our side today. I feel
that we’re very close and therefore look forward to the next race already.”
Frank Stippler
Audi Sport Team Rosberg, S line Audi A4 DTM #15
11th place, + 32.903s
"The result could have clearly been better even though the drivability of my
car wasn’t as convincing as usual today. We had the same
turn-in-oversteer as we did in the qualifying practice. My start was good
but in the midst of my Audi colleagues I wasn’t able to take any risk, of
course. That’s why I lost a bit of ground in the first corner. I had a hard
time overtaking and lapping from my position during the course of the
race. With a better qualifying result, the situation would have been
different.”
Heinz-Harald Frentzen
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, Veltins Audi A4 DTM #6
13th place, + 47.436s
"This wasn’t a good day for our team. I didn’t get up to the right speed the
whole weekend. We carefully need to analyse the reasons."
Vanina Ickx
Futurecom TME, Original Zubehör Audi A4 DTM #20
16th place, - 1 lap
"In the beginning of the race there was a misunderstanding with my
team-mate. Then I received a drive-through penalty and lost another lap.
Added to this was a poor pit stop. I do hope that I’ve finally put my
misfortune behind me now.”
Olivier Tielemans
Futurecom TME, Futurecom Audi A4 DTM #19
17th place, - 1 lap
"I’m disappointed because I had a bad start. Then Vanina and I had a
collision, which was too bad of course. I apologised to her. When my
team sent me a radio message later, I understood it to mean that I was
supposed to pit, which I did of course. What they’d really meant, though,
was for me to turn on the pit stop lamp in the side window – a
misunderstanding.”
Mattias Ekström
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, Red Bull Audi A4 DTM #5
18th place, - 2 laps (lack of fuel)
"My race was going well for a long time. At some stage I wasn’t quite as
fast as Mika Häkkinen and Bernd Schneider, but we had opted for another
strategy. It was very close. We were able to overtake Häkkinen in the pits
but to Schneider we later lost a place. I could have finished as the
runner-up but, unfortunately, retired
due to lack of fuel. Scoring no points in two races now makes it very
difficult for me in the Championship.”
Christian Abt
Audi Sport Team Phoenix, Playboy Audi A4 DTM #12
Retired 29th lap (lost right front wheel)
"I had a very good start and was already behind Tom Kristensen when
Alex Margaritis hit me. After that I wasn’t able to drive any more good
times. Unfortunately, the right front wheel wasn’t tightened properly during
my pit stop. Nevertheless, I’m optimistic because we took a great step
forwards during the qualifying. In the race you also need a bit of luck, and
that was simply lacking in my case today.”
Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
"The weekend was fair to middling for us but considering our starting
positions we got Tom Kristensen to finish far at the front. I feel very sorry
for Mattias (Ekström), though. The reasons for his retirement we need to
analyse carefully. We’ve managed extremely quick pit stops. Apparently
this reduces the flow time of the fuel in a critical range.”
Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix)
"The race started well. With the first stop, we enabled Pierre to move
forwards. When he got into traffic, we made him pit but at that time our
competitors were changing their tyres as well. Unfortunately a front wheel
got jammed at Pierre´s car, which caused us to lose one or two points.
Christian even had a bigger misfortune than this, because his A4 was
lowered although the wheel had been tightened – then he lost it. That is a
very sobering experience and a poor result.”
Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg)
"Timo Scheider would have finished in seventh place, but we made a
strategic mistake. Frank lost some time in the beginning. After his tyre
change he was quick but he was repeatedly held up in traffic and ruined
his tyres in the process. His times were okay but with the result I’m of
course not satisfied.”
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