DTM: Audi with strong qualifying performance

Audi Press Release

•          Six Audi RS 5 DTM cars on the first five rows of the grid
•          Mike Rockenfeller achieves new track record at Oschersleben
•          Jamie Green on front row for the first time for Audi

Ingolstadt/Oschersleben, September 14, 2013 – With a strong qualifying performance Audi has worked out a good starting base for round eight of the DTM at Oschersleben (Sunday, starting at 13:15 live on ‘Das Erste’). Leader of the standings Mike Rockenfeller in the Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Phoenix, on position four, will be starting the race clearly in front of his two fiercest rivals in the battle for the title. 

Rain showers in the first two qualifying segments made for changeable conditions when being out on track at the right moment was of paramount importance. Rockenfeller proved his strong nerves in this situation yet again. When at the end of Q1 the black and white checkered flag was shown the leader of the standings was only in 18th place and would thus have been eliminated early. But ‘Rocky’ only needed a single lap to improve to second place. 

The leader of the standings confirmed his strong form with positions three, one and four in the subsequent segments of qualifying. Setting a time of 1m 20.129s in Q3, he achieved a new track record that was not equaled in Q4 – not even by the leader of the standings himself, who secured position four on the grid.

Right in front of Rockenfeller, Jamie Green (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM) will be starting the race from the front row. The Briton from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline only had to admit defeat to title defender Bruno Spengler in the BMW. “I’m very pleased with position two on the grid,” said Green. “It wasn’t easy today, especially with the rain in Q1 and Q2. My engineer Alex (Stehlig) did a good job because we were always out on track at the right time – and that was crucial. My Q4 lap wasn’t perfect; in turn 10, I was running a bit far on the outside. That cost nearly a tenth of a second.”

Position six on the grid was secured by Filipe Albuquerque in the Audi Financial Services RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Rosberg. Miguel Molina (Audi RS 5 DTM), Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM) and Adrien Tambay (Audi ultra RS 5 DTM) took positions eight, ten and eleven but will all move up by one position as Mercedes-Benz driver Gary Paffett received a five-position grid penalty following a violation of the regulations. Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM) and Edoardo Mortara (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM) are starting the eighth DTM race of the year from positions 13 and 17.

“With six Audi cars in the top ten we can be very pleased,” commented Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport. “The RS 5 DTM was fast right from the beginning today and managed to set a new track record in qualifying. Mike (Rockenfeller) showed strong nerves throughout the qualifying session and has created a good starting base for tomorrow while his two fiercest rivals are relatively far at the rear. I’m happy for Jamie (Green) as well. He’ll be starting from the front row as an Audi driver for the first time.”

Photo credit: Audi Sport Communication / Media