Audi defends DTM lead

At the DTM’s Italian round, Audi defended its overall lead. Although scoring no points at Mugello after a jump start, Audi driver Timo Scheider continues heading the leaderboard. Tom Kristensen clinched third place for Audi in an action-packed race. A total of five A4 DTM cars finished in the top eight, and thus in the points.

The chance for a possible third consecutive victory was forfeited by the drivers of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline straight from the beginning. The A4 of the quickest in qualifying, Timo Scheider, briefly started moving forwards when the starting lights were still red. The resulting drive-through penalty caused the leader of the DTM standings to drop to 17th place. With a remarkable recovery and captivating overtaking manoeuvres the winner of Oscherlsleben fought his way forwards again to tenth place.

Title defender Mattias Ekström did not make a perfect start either: the Swede dropped from fourth to tenth place, had to pit earlier than planned because he got stuck in traffic and, in the end, was happy to still have scored points after finishing sixth.

His team-mate Martin Tomczyk was entangled in a collision in the commotion in the first turn, causing the front bonnet of his A4 to come off. Only after one lap the German had to come in for an unscheduled pit stop and therefore lost ground without any chance of recovery.

The only flawless race of a driver of a new Audi A4 DTM was that of Tom Kristensen, who finished in third place. In the first third of the race the Dane put pressure on the second-placed Paul di Resta in the Mercedes. The duel was decided immediately after the first pit stop to the disadvantage of the Audi driver when Kristensen was slowed for almost a whole lap by a 2007-spec Mercedes, which had nothing to do with the outcome of the race. As a result, the Le Mans record winner lost Di Resta’s trail and the chance to fight for second place. Subsequently he concentrated on securing his third position against the field running behind him.

Oliver Jarvis, who in the A4 DTM of Audi Sport Team Phoenix in fifth place was the best driver of a car from last year, clinched the first points in his young DTM career. With Mattias Ekström, Markus Winkelhock and Alexandre Prémat in positions six to eight, a total of five Audi drivers finished in the points.