Jamie Green vows to be ‘Mr. Norisring’ again this weekend

The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters heads for the Norisring this weekend, host of the fourth round of the 2016 season. Audi Sport will be at home at the calendar’s only street circuit, a spot where the Ingolstadt manufacturer won 14 years ago for the last time.

The four-ring squad last saw victory at the Nuremberg track back in 2002, when Laurent Aiello pipped Mercedes’ Bernd Schneider for the win after an epic battle. Dieter Gass, head of DTM for Audi, hopes to reward their fans this year: “Not having won in such a long time at the Norisring is all the more painful. The many ‘Audians’ traveling to Nuremberg every year deserve finally seeing an Audi victory again, even though, as always, it’s going to be extremely difficult again.”

Talking about Norisring means talking about Jamie Green. The Briton from Team Rosberg is a four-time winner in Nuremberg, a track he thoroughly enjoys: “When it comes to riveting racing and gripping overtaking manoeuvres the Norisring is the best race track of all. That was even the case in the days before DRS wing flaps and now it’s even more so. Racing on this circuit is primarily about braking, slow turns and driving with low downforce in ways we don’t normally see in the DTM. Because there are only straights and extremely slow corners you can get closer to the car in front of you at the Norisring. As a result, the duels are closer and more thrilling than they are on any other DTM race track.”

Mattias Ekström is the best-placed Audi driver in the standings, after three rounds, in third place, 12 points behind leader Robert Wickens. The Swede’s only win at the Norisring was taken away two years ago after a parc fermé infringement. The Team Abt Sportsline hopes to score his first proper victory at the street circuit this weekend: “It continues to be the race I’d tremendously love to win. This year, I’ll try to take the big trophy home once more. However, it’s going to be a close race again.”

Audi Sport currently lies in second place in the Manufacturers’ standings, 30 points behind BMW Motorsport. The eight RS 5 DTMs on track will start the weekend with a weight of 1,120 kg.

The on track action at the Norisring starts on Friday at 17:00, for the first free practice session.