A lap around Spielberg with Audi’s Edoardo Mortara

In 2012, Edoardo Mortara was, in terms of wins, Audi’s most successful driver with two victories.

His second came at Zandvoort, but his first – and the first of his DTM career – was at Spielberg, where the third round of the 2013 DTM season takes place this weekend.

Before the cars take to the track on Saturday morning for practice, the Italian took the time to explain what is essential for a quick lap around the Austrian circuit.

“From the start/finish line, you want to have a good exit from the last corner. The first straight is quite long, and then you get to the first corner which is quite fast.

“The funny part of this first corner is that you’re normally trying to use all the track available and a little bit more. You have some carpets and kerbs outside of the first corner and you have to use them and pretty much everything that you can.

“Also you need to organise, as there are two little kerbs which you need to avoid on the exit of the corner. You need to be able to drive, I would say, on the limit.

“Then we get to the biggest straight on the circuit. If you didn’t have a good exit from the first corner, then you can expect some problems; if you’re followed by some competitors, or you’re following some people, you want to have a good exit to overtake them in the second corner.

“The second corner is very tight and you can use either first gear or second gear. What is difficult in the second corner, is that it’s going quite uphill. When you get to the apex, usually you get one wheel, the right rear, up in the air and it’s always very difficult to get good traction and a good exit from this corner.

“On the exit of the second corner, we’ve got the third straight, which goes downhill and is pretty long. You then get to the third corner which is pretty tricky, because it’s quite tight in the entrance and then it opens, so you want to have good minimum speed but it’s always difficult because you cannot see the exit. Also, on the exit you get some kerbs that you want to use if you want to get out of here well.

“Then we get to the part of the track that I like the most; this double left and quite quick right. In this double left, you want to keep as much minimum speed as you want, using all the track and even a little bit more with outside kerbs and carpets. This part of the circuit is very, very important, especially the exit for the small straight that follows. There also you use pretty much all of the track, and some kerbs inside and outside. It’s quite a fun part of the track, actually

“And the finish after this small straight, you get like two fast rights; the first one is the fastest and it’s also probably the fastest on the circuit.

“You use fifth gear, it’s quite bumpy and very difficult to keep an inside line there and because it’s going down hill, you always tend to understeer a little bit there. Then on the exit they made it quite fun for us drivers because they painted a red mark that you cannot actually overtake, so you need to stay in control here, which is always quite difficult for the last corner.

“The last corner is very important, especially the exit because you then have a long straight. It’s a fourth gear corner going down hill and it’s important to be very precise there. You’ve got some high kerbs on the inside of the corner and if you touch them, obviously you’re going to bounce off track, and the outside kerb is also quite slippery, so you want to use it, but not too much.”