Audi Sport go to Oschersleben as leaders and favourites
The Motorsport Arena Oschersleben hosts the seventh round of the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season this weekend. Audi Sport and Mattias Ekström lead their respective Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ standings, arriving into the Magdeburg as the men to beat.
Mattias Ekström’s RS 5 DTM will be once again the heaviest car in the field, together with fellow Audi drivers Edoardo Mortara and Mike Rockenfeller. This wasn’t a huge obstacle for the Swede in Spielberg and Moscow, where he managed a win, two podiums and 50 points. The Team Abt Sporsline driver leads the standings with 126 points, only six more than his closest rival, Mercedes’ Pascal Wehrlein. Ekström hopes finish on the podium: “It’s great to be traveling to Oschersleben as the leader of the standings, but I’d like to leave again as the leader as well. But winning there won’t be easy. My goal is to clinch two podiums. Positions in the top five would be okay, but scoring points twice the minimum.”
The Ingolstadt manufacturer has won at Oschersleben four times, having visited the podium regularly over the past few years. The Motorsport Arena will also see the return of Timo Scheider to the number 10 Team Phoenix RS 5 DTM, after having been excluded from participating in Moscow due to the events in Spielberg.
Audi Sport leads the Manufacturers’ standings with 416 points, 28 more than Mercedes AMG. Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Ingolstadt, hopes the work done during the pre season testing will prove fruitful on their return to Oschersleben: “That’s why we’ve already gathered a lot of information about the set-up of the cars. But we know that due to its curbs the track will be extremely hard on the material and overtaking difficult despite the drag reduction system. That’s why the two qualifying sessions will be even more important. In the race, turn one will be a key section, which is why most of the spectators are sitting there.”
Action at the Motorsport Arena starts on Friday at 15:15 CEST (GMT + 2) for the first free practice session.
