Photo: DTM Media

Fifth for Ekström and Scheider in Nürburgring 24h

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DTM Audi drivers Mattias Ekström and Timo Scheider finished fifth in the Nürburgring 24 hours last weekend, driving an Audi R8 LMS for Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline.
“We had a really good rhythm in the early stages of the race and so, I was convinced that we would be able to become a factor in the battle for the overall win,” said Ekström.

The duo was right in the top of the race at the beginning but fell outside the top three after a collision when Marco Werner was behind the wheel.

“But then, these minor incidents – technical issues and close encounters with other cars out there on the track – made us lose the beat. We lost contact to the front runners and never succeeded in closing the gap again. Having finished fifth in the overall rankings and third in the class isn’t exactly what I would call a solace,” said Ekström.

Current DTM championship leader Martin Tomczyk took part in the race with an Audi TT RS for Team Raeder Motorsport, securing the class victory and 14th overall.

Fellow DTM Audi driver Miguel Molina took part in the race for Team Raeder Motorsport as well in a second Audi TT RS, but was forced to retire due to turbo problems.

Edoardo Mortara drove for Volkswagen in the race with a Golf24. But the Italian was forced to retire after a crash with a slower car.

“At the end of my stint, with just a few more metres to go to the pit-lane entrance, I had an accident while passing a slower car. I thought he also was going to pit. We collided while steering in and it ended with me crashing heavily into the crash barriers. I’m really, really sorry for my team-mates and the entire Volkswagen team. It was my mistake. But I’m okay and definitely will be able to contest the DTM race at the Norisring,” said Mortara.

Soon to become DTM participants BMW claimed seconds place overall in the race with Jörg Müller, Augusto Farfus, Uwe Alzen and Pedro Lamy behind the wheel of an BMW M3 GT.

“The Nordschleife just is the greatest track in the world. I dreamt about racing here when I was a kid. BMW has given me the opportunity to do this. Now I’m here on the podium for the second time after our victory last year. The level of competition has become even higher compared to 2010. It felt like an ultra-long world touring car race here. Although we couldn’t repeat last year’s win, second place is a fantastic result,” said Farfus.