Quotes after the race at Budapest

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “My congratulations from the test day at Le Mans specifically go to Miguel Molina, but also to the entire Audi squad that converted a less than optimal qualifying session into a strong race result. For the DTM, this was a great comeback to Hungary. I think the spectators and the many Audi employees from the plant in Győr got ‘their money’s worth’ and will be pleased to return to the Hungaroring next year. And our drivers showed that overtaking is definitely possible there.”  

Dieter Gass (Head of DTM): “We saw a thrilling DTM race with many position battles and a surprisingly large number of overtaking maneuvers at the Hungaroring. Most of them were fair as well. For Audi, the results, compared to yesterday’s qualifying, are very good. We clinched positions two, four and five and have a total of six Audi cars in the top ten. Miguel (Molina), following his difficult start, clinched a brilliant podium result on finishing the race in second place – we can be pleased with that.”

Miguel Molina (Audi Sport Audi RS 5 DTM), 2nd place
Tires: option/standard

“Obviously, this second place feels very good now, following the first two races. We all deserve this result. We’re well sorted, are on a high level and are going to battle hard for victory in the next races too.”

Edoardo Mortara (Audi Sport Audi RS 5 DTM), 4th place
Tires: option/standard

“It was both a difficult and a good race. I advanced from twelfth to fourth place, that’s a nice result. I’m not proud of my action with Timo (Glock) – I was very rough on him. I can certainly understand that he’s upset. But when you start from the rear you’ve got to take a risk. You’ve got to fight for your result.”  

Adrien Tambay (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM), 5th place
Tires: standard/option

“The beginning of the race on standard tires was difficult. I had to let a few cars that were running on option tires pass, which was hard for me. I subsequently gave my best. It was a great fight. I’m happy that I was able to overtake a few drivers towards the end. Fifth place is simply brilliant.”

Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM), 7th place
Tires: standard/option

“These races with varying tire strategies feel strange. For a long time, you hardly see any other drivers and overtake only few of them. And then, on the final lap, I overtook an amazing three cars. My aim was to finish the race and to score points – and I managed to do that. I’m hoping for us to be able to build on today’s result.”

Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM), 9th place
Tires: standard/option

“It was a bit disappointing. I felt that from the beginning to the end we weren’t quick enough. In addition, my car was difficult to drive. We’re hoping for better fortune in the next race.”

Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM), 10th place
Tires: option/standard

“Tenth place is a disappointment. The whole weekend was disappointing. I wanted to drive a different set-up here. That didn’t work out. It doesn’t suit my style of driving. We learned our lesson from this. We’re going to look ahead now and pursue the approach we used in the first races and last year.”

Nico Müller (Audi Financial Services RS 5 DTM), 12th place
Tires: standard/option

“Being bumped out on the final lap was frustrating. Timo (Glock) knew perfectly well that I was running on option tires and was three seconds faster per lap. It’s painful to lose such good points. But I’m taking the positive aspects with me. I was running very fast on option tires and am going to try and profit from that in the future.”

Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM), retirement
Tires: option

“The starting phase was a bit unfortunate for me. I had one or two incidents of body contact. According to the info I received, Gary Paffett, on spinning, hit my rear wing with his. As a result, my rear wing had a hole in it and a carbon part was hanging downward. Furthermore, there was an impact on the left rear axle which damaged the suspension. At that point, I realized that it would become a difficult race with a crooked steering wheel right on lap one. After ten laps, I had to park the car with a broken suspension.”

Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “It was a super-thrilling race, ‘well done’ to the whole team. The drivers did a superb job and all our cars are in the top ten, that’s a strong team result. When you deliver a zero-defect job as we did today and we see thrilling on-track battles I’m happy.”

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix):
“It’s a shame for Timo (Scheider). He had to risk a lot on the first laps to get past the drivers on standard tires. His car was damaged in the process and subsequently the suspension broke: an early, unfortunate retirement. With Rocky (Mike Rockenfeller) everything went according to plan, we were just lacking a bit of speed. Those were exactly the seconds we’d have needed in the end to keep fifth or sixth place in which we were running during parts of the race. Consequently, the cars on option tires were practically able to ‘eat us up’ in the end. But we stuck to our line of regularly scoring points, even though it was just one this time. Now we’re going to try and do better again at the Norisring.”

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg): “What a shame: a lot more would have been possible today. ‘Well done’ to Nico (Müller). He drove a great race today and could have finished further in front. I don’t understand the incident with Timo Glock. That was simply a shame. Jamie (Green) drove a good race as well and scored his first points.”

– End –