New Audi RS 5 DTM leaves strong impression

“We are generally very content and we’ve learned a lot. Obviously, the results should not be overrated. Experience has shown that no-one puts all their cards on the table in pre-season testing,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass. “Even so, it’s nice to see all your cars at the top of the time sheets. Due to the modified cars and the new turbo engines we had slightly more work than we normally do before a season, but we can still be happy on the whole. We’ll only know at Hockenheim where we truly stand. It’s going to be extremely exciting.”

Audi was present at the Lausitztring test with all eight race cars plus a test vehicle of the Audi RS 5 DTM. Factory drivers Loïc Duval, Robin Frijns, Jamie Green, Nico Müller, René Rast and Mike Rockenfeller completed 6,642 kilometers (1,414 laps) in total from Monday to Thursday. In addition, Audi’s customer team, WRT Team Audi Sport, with its two DTM rookies, Jonathan Aberdein and Pietro Fittipaldi, drove 469 laps.

“That together with our teams, Abt Sportsline, Phoenix, Rosberg and WRT, we managed to get all cars ready for the test was a major feat and strong performance by the whole squad,” says Project Leader Andreas Roos. “As a result, we were able to gain a small advantage over the competition. It is normal that some minor issues emerge with new cars during the first tests. We managed to resolve nearly everything on site and gathered a lot of valuable findings.”