Mike Rockenfeller: “Tyre care was key to get to the podium”

Mike Rockenfeller had a very good start of the DTM season in Hockenheim, being the best man for Audi Sport and scoring his first podium since Moscow 2015.

The 2013 champion qualified in 16th place on the grid, but worked his way through the race to finish third and best placed Audi driver in the final classification. “A few things worked in our favour, like some people having incidents, and that was a help, but yes, I had a really, really good race”, said Rockenfeller.

Tyre management was the key to the results, with the Team Phoenix driver having pitted on lap 9: “The first part of the race went ok but, during my second stint, my tyres wouldn’t last and I couldn’t defend myself from Timo (Glock). I thought that I wouldn’t make it to the end of the race with that set. I started to feel a vibration with six or eight laps to the end of the race, so I was lucky to not have any problems.”

DTM went back to a single slick compound in 2016, after three seasons with soft and hard compounds, being compulsory to use both of them during the race. Rockenfeller believes that the change in the tyre compound works in his favour: “I was always good managing tyres and had good results when it was important to do so. This was important today, but I’m also grateful for having a good car and a good team.”

Mike Rockenfeller is third in the standings with 15 points on his account, 13 points behind leader Lucas Auer.