25 years after his title win with Audi, the president of the German Motorsport Association (DMSB) was at the wheel of a modern DTM race car for the first time. “Simply incredible,” beamed ‘Strietzel’ following his first laps in the RS 5 DTM at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. “If I had a hundred thumbs, all of them would be pointing upwards today. I wouldn’t have imagined a modern DTM car to be so impressive. Really fascinating!”
Stuck had won the DTM in 1990 in the production-based Audi V8 quattro and raced GT3 cars before the end of his career. For Phoenix Racing, the former World Sports Car Champion periodically takes guests around the Nürburgring-Nordschleife in the Audi R8 LMS. “That’s a lot of fun as well but the step from a GT3 car to the DTM is bigger than I thought. You can feel the enormous downforce. This means you have to press your buttocks together quite a bit. Bringing the tires and brakes up to operating temperature isn’t easy. But once everything’s warm, the Audi RS 5 DTM is really nice to drive. Just a little more power output wouldn’t hurt.”