Photo: Audi MediaCenter

Audi prepares full force for the season finale at Hockenheim

Audi Sport started the year dominating the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Master season and, even at half point, looked like the strongest contender for this year’s crowns. But, after three discreet appearances, Mattias Ekström is 37 points away from the lead, with Audi in third position in the manufacturers’ standings. The Ingolstadt squad promises to deliver a “maximun attack at Hockenheim.

Audi Sport hopes that their winning tradition at the Baden-Württemberg track will be on their side this weekend, where the ninth and final round of the 2015 DTM season is due to take place. Nonetheless, Audi has won the last three races at Hockenheim and their RS 5 DTM has been the strongest car this season, winning half of the races so far.

Mattias Ekström, who seemed all set to take his third DTM title, now trails Mercedes’ Pascal Wehrlein by 38 points, with a maximum of 50 in play. The Swede knows he has to win both races to maintain the fight until the end, but is pragmatic about the situation: “Realistically, we have no chance of clinching the title. But we’ve seen a lot happening in the DTM this year. It’s great for the fans that four drivers from all three brands still have chances of clinching the title. If our rivals should be faltering, we’ll be there to grab whatever there’s up for grabs.”

Fellow Audi driver Edoardo Mortara has slim chance of taking the title, being one point closer than Ekström. The Italian knows it’s a long shot, but is happy to have been in contention so far in the season: “Obviously, my chances of taking the title shrunk at the Nürburgring. But for me it’s great to still be in the title race for the first time in my DTM career before the last weekend. It shows me that I’ve been making progress compared with the previous years. Hockenheim has always been a track I’ve felt comfortable on. I’m hoping for a positive ending of the season and am going to battle hard.”

Audi Sport is third in the manufacturers’ standings, 82 points behind BMW. With the performance weights unchanged from Nürburgring, the Ingolstadt squad already knows what to expect in terms of car balance and performance.

Dieter Gass, Head of DTM for Audi Sport, has done his maths and knows that Audi’s chances go through winning and getting as many cars as possible in the top ten: “We’re going to mobilize all our forces once more and battle for the championships despite the chances are minimal. We’ve always been strong at Hockenheim, come rain or shine.”

Whatever the result, Gass expects the DTM field to deliver a great show at Hockenheim: “There are good overtaking opportunities at Hockenheim. The performance among the three manufacturers has been very balanced in the most recent races, even when deducting the weight difference. That’s why the fans can look forward to two interesting races in which we’d like to sell ourselves as best we can.”

The DTM 2015 season finale kicks off in Hockenheim on Friday at 15:25 for First Free Practice.