Jamie Green: “Winning for Audi took a weight off my shoulders”

Audi Sport Team Rosberg driver Jamie Green feels that the victory on the very first race of the 2015 DTM season on Saturday has made him turn an important corner in his racing career.

The Briton made a significant move at the end of 2012, when he left Mercedes after eight years, heading for Audi Sport. In this time, Green has become one of the fastest men for the Ingolstadt manufacturer, but was yet to produce a race victory.

On Saturday everything changed. Green got his Audi RS 5 DTM on pole position for the eighth time in his DTM career and, in the afternoon, took a domineering victory.

“Definitely, Saturday’s victory took a heavy weight off my shoulders,” Green told TouringCarTimes, with a big smile on his face. “The longer you go without a victory, the harder it gets and the more impossible it seems to get. It’s a big step in my career, because I was long time Mercedes driver and I need to establish myself as one of the top Audi drivers, and winning races is the way to do it. To achieve it so early in the year is important, because it gives us momentum for the rest of the season. And not only for me, but it’s also important for the team, because it gives us morale and confidence that things are going in the right direction.

Most drivers used slick tyres on Saturday very freely, counting on a rainy day on Sunday. But, at the time of the start of the second race, the track was dry. When asked whether it would have been a problem for the race to be unexpectedly dry, Green explained: “I wasn’t worried about the tyres, because I was quick in the dry. The problem was the rain, because we didn’t have the pace. I was quick in dry conditions, so I would have preferred Sunday’s race to have stayed dry.”

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Jamie Green is optimistic: “I’m now second in the championship with 25 points, so I definitely think I can challenge for the title.”