AUDI TRAVELS TO THE LAUSITZRING WITH TAILWIND
As the leader of all three classifications (drivers’, manufacturers’ and teams’), Audi heads to the second DTM weekend of the year – with a premiere: On Saturday, May 30, at the Lausitzring, a DTM race will be held on Saturday night for the first time – aired on prime time immediately before the DFB Cup final in Berlin, which is only about 130 kilometers away.
With two victories and two pole positions, Audi managed a near-perfect start to the new DTM season. The squad headed by Dieter Gass would like to pick up where it left off in the opener, although the Head of DTM at Audi Sport cautions against excessive expectations. “We had a very good opening DTM weekend and we want to again fight for top places at the Lausitzring. However, the field is incredibly close and we do not underestimate our competitors. Mercedes have traditionally been strong at the Lausitzring. BMW will try to come back. And we have to add between five and ten kilograms of performance weights to our cars following the two victories at Hockenheim.”
Additionally, the 3.478-kilometer Lausitzring with its mix of fast, semi-fast and slow turns, plus a long start-finish straight with top speeds of about 240 km/h, is a race track that Audi was frequently struggling with in the past. An Audi driver crossed the finish line as the winner there only twice (in 2005 and 2011) – in one event with an extremely small advantage. In 2005, Mattias Ekström prevailed in a gripping duel against Gary Paffett in the Mercedes-Benz. “Gary was on my heels during the whole race,” the Audi driver recalls. “I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.” Ten years later, there might well be a repeat of the duel between the two most successful active DTM drivers.