Mike Rockenfeller cleared to take part at the Moscow Raceway

Audi Sport driver Mike Rockenfeller has been given the green light to compete at the Moscow Raceway this weekend, after a promising start to the weekend when he was a respectable third place in yesterday’s Free Practice 1.

Ahead of the first session, Rockenfeller, who has been undergoing physiotherapy and is racing with a special orthopaedic shoe, said: “It’s great that I can be here in Russia and be able to race. The foot is still broken but so far so good, so let’s see how it is when I get in the car. We are taping the foot and then using a special shoe made by Alpinestars to keep it all together.”

Rockenfeller had to adapt his driving technique as he used to do back in his LMP1 days or, more as he has more recently in GT racing at the wheel of the Audi R8 LMS, with Audi Sport modifying the pedal configuration of his RS 5 DTM.

“After ten years braking with the left, now using the right foot for the gas and the brake will be the biggest challenge. Also, getting the feeling for the clutch with the left foot, for the start of the race, so I’m keen to see how these things go when I get in the car.”

The first free practice session was a successful trial for Rockenfeller, finishing in third position, just under a tenth of a second behind fellow Audi driver Jamie Green. The 2013 champion is now ready to tackle the rest of the weekend, with scoring his third victory at the Moscow Raceway as a target: “For me there was no question mark, but the team had question marks. There is no doubt, I can race.”