Head of Audi Motosport Dieter Gass was delighted that one of the new Audi RS 5 DTM’s claimed victory on the opening weekend at the hands of Jamie Green.
Following the pre-season tests Gass admitted that they were quietly confident that their car would be fast out of the box but the didn’t want to be complacent.
“It’s fantastic that we achieved our first victory with the new Audi RS 5 DTM right on the first race weekend.” said Gass. “After the tests we were sure that we’d have a powerful car again this year. Still, we obviously didn’t know where we stood in comparison with our competitors.
“My thanks go to everyone who worked extremely hard in the past months and on this weekend. They can all leave Hockenheim with satisfaction and be happy about a tremendous showing of the DTM. You could hardly wish for more action and suspense.”
Team Director of Audi Sport Team Rosberg, Arno Zensen revealed his relief following the heavy impact that Rene Rast received in the second race of the weekend.
“We’re happy that René Rast was not injured in his accident on Sunday.” said Zensen. “It was great that on his first race weekend with us he immediately started from the front row.
“It’s a shame that this went unrewarded after he already drove a sensational race on Saturday: starting from the pit lane and finishing sixth is a strong performance. We still have to find out why the door opened on the formation lap.”
Zensen added, “Jamie’s (Green) victory was a sensation. He was driving in a different world on Sunday. The team, too, did a superb job.”
Credit: DTM Media
Despite a top five finish Team Director of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Hans-Jürgen Abt is looking forward to challenging for victory throughout the season and more specifically the next race at Lausitzring.
“Obviously, fifth places is not what we’re aiming for. We’re going to work hard to be stronger at the Lausitzring in two weeks’ time.” said Abt.
While generally happy with the rule changes for the new season, Audi Sport Team Phoenix Team Director Ernst Moser revealed he has issues with the new Indianapolis-style restart that was used for the first time on Sunday.
“I’m a little unhappy about the Indianapolis-style restart on Sunday.” said Moser. “As a result, the field was mixed up pretty much. We still need to work on this. Everything else was good.”
