Audi Sport delighted with Ekström’s ‘impeccable’ race
Audi Sport recovered at the Red Bull Ring this weekend during the fifth round of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season, after having lost ground against their rivals in Norisring and Zandvoort. The Ingolstadt manufacturer has a reinforced lead in the championship as a result.
Rain and fog made the drivers’ job more difficult today, and Mattias Ekström was able to achieve the pole position for Race 2 being just 0.005 seconds faster than team-mate Mike Rockenfeller.
In the race, the Swede had a long battle with Gary Paffett, prevailing in the end, achieving his second win of the season and jumping to the front of the Drivers’ standings. Ekström couldn’t be happier: “The conditions were extreme and that’s why the race was pretty exciting because it would have been easy to make a mistake. “I had to give everything because Gary came closer and closer towards the end. My aim was to finally mount the podium at the Red Bull Ring. That it became the top step right away is obviously twice as sweet.”
Edoardo Mortara was third, becoming the highest scoring driver of the weekend, thus keeping his challenge for the title alive. Mike Rockenfeller was fourth, with Timo Scheider finishing in sixth after his controversial last lap incident with Mercedes’ Robert Wickens and Pascal Wehrlein. Jamie Green had another difficult day, finishing in 18th position.
After the visit at the Red Bull Ring, Audi Sport leads the Manufacturers’ standings with 407 points, having extended their advantage over Mercedes AMG to 76 points. In the Drivers’ table, Mattias Ekström leads with 111 points, 13 more than Edoardo Mortara.
