Mike Rockenfeller disappointed to not win at the season opener

Audi Sport Team Phoenix’s Mike Rockenfeller was the best-placed driver for the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer during the first race of the DTM season at Hockenheim, but he wasn’t satisfied with the result as the 2013 champion felt more than second place was possible.

Rockenfeller qualified in second place on the grid, but his start was poor and left him on the back foot.

“I made a mistake at the start, I didn’t get things right and it was a disaster,” Rockenfeller told TouringCarTimes.

Rocky fell to fourth position and managed to recover up to second place, but had to concede to a much faster fellow Audi driver René Rast.

“We decided to start the race with a new set of tyres as we were expecting a lot of rain, and leave the ones used in qualifying for our stop,” he said. “During the first part of the race I didn’t have any grip and I lost a lot of time so, when René came behind, I made a way for him as I was losing time.”

The 35-year-old made his compulsory tyre change with seven laps to go, and was a lot more competitive in the closing stages of the race, recovering to finish in second place.

“My pace was really good, I had grip again, and I was able to save the result,” added Rockenfeller.

Fellow Audi driver Robin Frijns also visited the podium in third place, but had a similar experience to Rocky.

“We also put new tyres on, leaving the ones used in quali for after the pit stop,” Frijns told TouringCarTimes. “I had no grip, no traction and I was sliding around a lot. When I changed the tyres, the pace was good again.”

The track was drying out and, with 12 laps to go, Race Direction declared a change of climatic conditions, allowing drivers to mount slicks, an option rejected by Audi and Frijns.

“The track wasn’t dry, it had a greasier feeling,” he said. “Still, it was improving 4-5 seconds a lap and yes, perhaps towards the end it was ready for slicks.”

The other side of the coin for Audi was René Rast, who was running in second place and challenging BMW’s Marco Wittmann when a gearbox issue forced the Team Rosberg driver to retire six laps from the end of the race.

“Of course that was extremely unfortunate,” said Audi boss Dieter Gass. “René was battling for victory and put a lot of pressure on Marco. Today was a race in very difficult conditions from lights to flag. In Mike and Robin we put two drivers on the podium, plus Loïc (Duval) in fifth place. Overall, that’s a good result.”