Audi insists it will not favour Jamie Green at Norisring

Audi has insisted it will not favour Jamie Green for its home race at the Norisring, despite the Briton’s success around the Nuremberg circuit.

Green, who switched to Audi’s Abt Sportsline team over the winter from HWA Mercedes, has won around the 2.3 kilometer track four times since 2008.

His signing prompted talk that his track record could finally end Audi’s dry spell around its home circuit, which extends back to 2002, when Laurent Aiello took victory in an Abt prepared TT-R.

Abt team boss, Hans-Jurgen Abt, claimed before this weekend’s race, that whilst Green’s success around the Norisring will be used “to give our squad the crucial impulse in the right direction”, he will not be the focal point of the team’s effort this weekend.

His opinions were echoed by Audi’s head of DTM, Dieter Gass, who said: “I’m not only focused on Jamie with his past Norisring victories in this respect.”

“We’ve got a strong team in general and will try to get as many of our guys to the front of the field.”

Green was also similarly keen to play down expectations, despite his Norisring record, and having scored the first points of his Audi career last time out at the Lausitzring.

“The characteristics of the Norisring can’t be compared with any other track,” he said. “That’s why it’s difficult to make a prediction.

“Naturally, I’ve got a special relationship with this race, but even though I’ve won there four times that’s no guarantee for anything.”

The Norisring lies almost 90 kilometers from Audi’s headquarters in Ingolstadt.