Mattias Ekström: “The strategy was key today”

Audi Sport driver Mattias Ekström had a solid weekend at the third round of the 2016 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season, held at the Lausitzring this weekend. The Swede scored points in both races, with a podium finish on Sunday, to present his candidature for the title.

Ekström qualified in ninth place on the grid, in a session when he suffered blocking from Mercedes AMG’s Christian Vietoris.

In the race, the Swede delayed his pit stop as much as possible to gain ground and recover positions. In the latter part of the race, and with fresher tyres than his competitors, Ekström climbed up to second place, crossing the line 3.763 seconds behind winner Lucas Auer.

The strategy was already proven fruitful in Spielberg. “For some reason that I don’t know, I can continue to go fast and do good lap times with old tyres”, Ekström said to TouringCarTimes. “So the strategy is that, hold out as much as I can and then fight for positions and recover ground with new tyres. It works for me, so there is nothing more to say.”

The Swede added: “The strategy was very important here, as it’s difficult to overtake. This track wasn’t the best for us, so we had to find a way of being competitive to get the best possible result.”

The results achieved this weekend have sent Ekström to third place in the standings, with 46 points in his account, 12 behind championship leader Robert Wickens. The Swede is also the best placed driver for Audi Sport in the table. “I’m happy to get this result and be back to the top of the championship, it’s important to keep up with the points”, added Ekström.

The next round of the 2016 DTM season takes place at Norisring, from the 24th to the 26th of June.