It has been a year of change for the Leicester driver, who made his change of allegiance in the DTM late last year, switching from Stuttgart to Ingolstadt for 2013, as Audi Sport look to their new experienced addition to help make things right after a disappointing performance at the season opener in Hockenheim.
Jamie Green may be new with the brand with the four rings, but his welcome experience on the Brands Hatch track could help Audi’s impressive record continue since 2006, which includes wins from his Abt Sportsline teammate Mattias Ekstrom, Timo Scheider and Martin Tomcyzk, as well as several podiums from the likes of Mike Rockenfeller, who finished third last year.
“Mr Norisiring,” along with his two British countrymen, Mercedes-Benz’s winner last year, Gary Paffett, and BMW’s Andy Priaulx, will be fighting it out with the other 19 drivers around the Indy configuration of the 1.929km circuit, which is the shortest in terms of lap distance, but has the highest turnover at 98 laps.
Green is also the first British driver to represent Audi Sport since the departure of Olly Jarvis after the 2011 season, and looks to repeat the performance of 2006, where he lost out on the win. Brands Hatch has traditions stamped along its illustrious history, but Jamie is looking forward to the challenge ahead, even though going to his home race so early in the season may be a bit more difficult than usual: “It’s always very special for me to race in front of a crowd of my fellow countrymen – after all, this doesn’t happen very often. It’s a bit unfortunate that we’re traveling to the UK right for our second race of the season because I’m still in the process of gelling with Audi and my team. But I’ve personally had to experience the fact that Audi was always strong at Brands Hatch in the past – so I’m optimistic that we’ll be in contention for a good result.”
So with a new horizon ahead of him in the DTM, as home soil beckons, can Jamie and the other Audi drivers make some welcome headway with the new RS5 DTM, as the cars will roar back into life once again this coming Saturday for practice and qualifying, with the home crowds cheering their drivers on….
