First victory for Audi in the DTM race in Nuremberg since 2002
Edoardo Mortara on winning takes lead of the standings
Jamie Green completes Audi one-two
In the first of the two DTM races at the Norisring, Edoardo Mortara kept a cool head in sweltering heat and, 14 years following the brandâs most recent success at the Norisring, finally gave Audi a victory again.
With that, the Italian from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline not only made thousands of Audi fans lining the city street circuit around Nurembergâs Dutzendteich lake cheer. At the wheel of his Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM, he took the lead of the overall standings again as well and is the first driver to have won two DTM races this year.
âWinning at the Norisring as an Audi driver is simply fantastic,â Mortara said after the hot battle at temperatures of about 30 degrees centigrade in the shade. âIt was a difficult race because I had pressure from behind the whole time. That makes me all the happier.â
Jamie Green, on taking second place in the Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Rosberg, even perfected an Audi one-two. In a photo finish, the Briton crossed the finish line, trailing his brand colleague by just 0.531 seconds and 0.372 seconds ahead of Mercedes-Benz driver Paul Di Resta. âObviously, Iâd have liked to still attack Edo (Mortara), but I felt that was too risky because the rearward gap wasnât very large,â said Green. âI didnât want to jeopardize Audiâs victory.â
The Audi squad had laid the foundation for this triumph in qualifying. With Mattias Ekström, Jamie Green and Edoardo Mortara in grid positions two, three and six, three Audi RS 5 DTM cars started Saturdayâs race from the first three rows.
In the first third of the race, it was initially Mattias Ekström who gave Audi fans rise to dream of victory. In his Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM, the Swede fought duels with the two leading Mercedes-Benz cars. In an attempt to bump Robert Wickens from second place, on braking into turn one on lap 20, a collision occurred between Ekström and Wickens which caused Ekström to slide into the leader, Christian Vietoris. âI feel incredibly sorry for Christian,â said Ekström. âHe was totally faultless in getting entangled in the tussle between me and Wickens.â
âThat Mattias (Ekström) wouldnât do anything like that on purpose should be clear to anyone,â said Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport. âWeâd have preferred to celebrate our first Norisring victory since 2002 in a slightly different way. But âthatâs racing.â The collision between Wickens and Ekström was a racing accident of the kind that frequently happens at the Norisring. Eki has often thrilled us with his overtaking maneuvers. This time, it went wrong, which wasnât his fault alone. We wouldnât even be discussing it at all if it hadnât affected a third driver, Christian Vietoris, who was not involved in the maneuver.â
In the shadow of events at the front of the field, Adrien Tambay drove a great race as well. The Frenchman in the Speedweek.com Audi RS 5 DTM advanced from position 15 on the grid to seventh place and thrilled the fans with numerous overtaking maneuvers.
Timo Scheider (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM/Audi Sport Team Phoenix), Miguel Molina (Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM), Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM) and Nico MĂŒller (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM) in positions 17, 18, 19 and 21 scored no points. Rockenfeller and MĂŒller were running in positions eight and nine when MĂŒller made a braking mistake at the end of the start-finish straight and hit the rear of Rockenfellerâs car. âClearly my fault,â the youngster apologized.
As a result of Edoardo Mortaraâs victory, Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline took the lead of the teamsâ standings as well. In the manufacturersâ standings, Audi, before race two on Sunday (start at 13:10/live on âDas Ersteâ), is trailing leader of the standings BMW by only 13 points.
