Audi maintains DTM lead

In front of 140,000 spectators (throughout the weekend) Audi maintained its lead in the DTM standings in Nuremberg. Finishing the race in third place, Timo Scheider defended his overall lead and gave Audi its first Norisring podium since 2005. With Mattias Ekström in fourth, and Tom Kristensen in seventh place, two other Audi drivers scored points.

Scheider and Ekström were among the protagonists in a nail-biting DTM race at the Norisring, in which the first four cars were separated by merely 2.5 seconds when they crossed the finish line. The preliminary decision was made as early as in the qualifying and at the start: Ekström had to start the race from the unfavourable eighth position on the grid, while Scheider started with slightly insufficient revs when the red lights went off and dropped to seventh place on lap one.

The recovery made by both Audi drivers showed that the new Audi A4 DTM is also capable of winning on circuits that primarily demand top speed: Ekström and Scheider fought and made up ground to positions three and four and, in the final phase, caught up with the two leading Mercedes cars. The two Mercedes drivers, however, made no mistakes so that Ekström and Scheider had no overtaking opportunities. Instead, there was a team-internal duel in which Timo Scheider in the last corner pushed past Mattias Ekström. After five of eleven races, Timo Scheider continues heading the leaderboard with a one-point advantage over Norising winner Jamie Green.

In the early phases of the race, all four new Audi A4 DTM cars were circling the Norisring in a "formation flight". Martin Tomczyk, who had made a good start, lost positions, however, because his accelerator pedal repeatedly got stuck. Then, Tom Kristensen was on the heels of the leading Mercedes trio, before his A4 lost important aerodynamics components in tussles and the Le Mans record winner, due to the resulting overheating of his brakes and a cramped leg, was relegated to seventh place.

Last year’s A4 cars, which were the heaviest vehicles in the entire field in Nuremberg, had no chance for points. After a disappointing qualifying, Markus Winkelhock drove a good race, making up ground from position 17 on the grid to eleventh place. Oliver Jarvis, Mike Rockenfeller – who was moved to the rear of the grid – and Alexandre Prémat – who was struggling with clutch problems – occupied places twelve, 13 and 14.

Katherine Legge finished her Norisring début in the 2006-spec Audi A4 DTM in 15th place. Her team-mate Christijan Albers, after a strong starting phase, retired due to a steering problem.

The next DTM race is on the schedule only two weeks from now at Zandvoort (the Netherlands). Audi has not been beaten at this venue for the past two years and celebrated a one-two-three-four victory there last year.