With Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM) in ninth place and Miguel Molina (Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM) in position ten, all four drivers from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline scored points on Saturday. Ekström and Molina were involved in wild position battles, in which Ekström’s car in particular was severely damaged, nearly throughout the race.
For Audi Sport Teams Phoenix and Rosberg on the other hand the season opener proved disappointing. Timo Scheider (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM) and Adrien Tambay (Speedweek.com Audi RS 5 DTM) became entangled in collisions shortly after the start and were forced to retire at an early stage. Mike Rockenfeller’s (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM) 100th DTM race, following several incidents of contact, ended early after just four laps due to a damaged suspension. Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM) was forced off track in the hectic early stage. A drive-through penalty caused the championship runner-up to lose further ground. In the end, he had to settle for 15th place.
“Congratulations to Edo (Mortara) and Nico (Müller) who were extremely strong today,” said Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport. “We worked hard in winter, but didn’t know where we really stand. That makes starting the season so successfully even sweeter for the whole squad. The fans, too, got their money’s worth today. There was plenty of action, gripping duels and overtaking maneuvers. That’s exactly what we intended to achieve with the changes to the regulations.”