Photo: DTM Media

Championship lead for Audi after Valencia

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Audi has had a tough DTM season so far with no drivers in the title fight for the drivers’ championship. But Audi are in fight for the manufacturers title where the German manufacturer took the lead after the race at Valencia.
“We’ve achieved one of our two main aims and that was to clinch the lead in the manufacturers’ championship. We had a superb team performance. We weren’t able to win the race but secured the subsequent positions right from the start,” said Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport.

While Audi were out of the race victory fight, they claimed positions two to five with Adrien Tambay as top Audi driver with his best result so far in DTM.
“It was a fantastic race. In the beginning, it was hard; I had a bad start. Then I was quicker than Filipe (Albuquerque) but it was difficult to overtake him on the track. The guys did a great job at the pit stop. I want to thank everyone at Abt and Audi. In the second stint, I exerted a lot of pressure. Afterwards, I had to stay really focused through to the end. I’m very happy to be on podium for the first time,” said Tambay.

Mattias Ekström scored his third third position of the season and moved up to fifth position in the championship, four points from Mike Rockenfeller in fourth.
“My team managed a fantastic first stop and I was able to pass Rockenfeller. In the second stint, I was driving faster than Filipe (Albuquerque) in front of me. Then we stopped one lap in front of him and also managed to pass him. My car had perfect balance, the stops were perfect and so was the strategy. Because “Edo” (Mortara) retired I even managed the leap onto the podium. This trophy goes to my team,” said Ekström.

Rahel Frey secured her best ever finish in the DTM with seventh position from 15th on the grid and had an eventful race with, among other things, a heated battle with Andy Priaulx.
“I’m totally pleased. I advanced from position 15 to seventh place, which is something I hadn’t expected myself. I gave everything; it was a very fierce battle. And today I scored my first DTM points. I’ve always received fantastic support from Audi and the team. I managed to convert this support, for which I’m very thankful, into a result – and that’s worth a lot to me.