Audi Sport looks ahead after difficult weekend at Oschersleben
Audi Sport arrived in Oschersleben, host of the seventh round of the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season, knowing they would face difficulties because of the performance weights accumulated due to their results this season so far. After scoring only six points during the weekend, the Ingolstadt manufacturer has lost the lead in the standings and is already looking to the future.
Audi had won seven of the 12 races disputed before returning to Germany. It was a matter of time before the performance weights took their toll on the RS 5 DTMs. Engineers at Ingolstadt calculated in 0.6 seconds per lap the effect of the performance equalisation rule applied to them, knowing the task at hand would be difficult.
The four-ring manufacturer lost two cars right at the start today, when a multi-car collision at the start forced Miguel Molina and Nico Müller to retire.
Mattias Ekström also had a weekend to forget. After yesterday’s woes, The Swede qualified in 18th place for the grid, but was only able to recover up to 11th place, leaving Oschersleben without any points. Ekström, however, remained upbeat about his prospects: “First time in my DTM career I can be happy with zero points. Next race we have 10kg less to carry in the car. Now we charge the batteries and look forward to next race.”
Jamie Green painted the positive picture for Audi. The Briton started the race from 14th place on the grid and recovered to finish eighth, scoring the only points for the Ingolstadt manufacturer today. Green acknowledged the hand of his team in today’s result: “This was one of the best races in my career. The quick pit stop was another key to scoring points. ‘Thank you’ to my team!”
Dieter Gass, Head of Audi DTM, was also looking to the future, looking at what can be done now the performance weights will be less for the RS 5 DTMs: “All of our drivers are now allowed to unload between 7.5 and ten kilograms. We need to make optimum use of this at the Nürburgring. Here at Oschersleben, we were with our back against the wall due to the performance weights. That’s hard to digest, but that’s how the rules are in the DTM this year. We’re very happy that this weekend is behind us and are looking ahead.”
Audi Sport has now lost the lead in the Manufacturers’ standings, dropping to second place, 66 points behind the new leaders. Mattias Ekström now trails Mercedes Pascal Wehrlein by 14 points in the Drivers’ standings.
Next appointment for the DTM is the round at the Nurburgring, from the 25th to the 27th of September.
