• Hans-Joachim Stuck and Mattias Ekström together on tour• Marc Basseng and Florian Stoll take ADAC GT Masters podium • Interview with Audi factory driver Jamie Green
Fantastic opportunity for autograph hunters: Mattias Ekström and DTM legend Hans-Joachim Stuck are on tour together over the coming days. Close at hand: Stuck’s Norisring winning car from 1990 and the current Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM in one-off special white retro design.
Stuck and Ekström on tour
Mattias Ekström and Hans-Joachim Stuck go on a tour together before the Norisring weekend (27/28 June). The reason is the 25th anniversary of Audi’s debut win in the DTM race at the Norisring. On Monday (22 June), the two DTM Champions sign autographs from 11.00 in the Audi Forum Ingolstadt. After the DTM press conference in the Franken Center in Nuremberg, Stuck and Ekström will be available from 18.00 in the early evening for autographs and souvenir snap shots. Finally, on Tuesday, they are guests at the Audi Forum Neckarsulm from 11.00. Always on hand: the Audi V8 quattro, with which Hans-Joachim Stuck won at the Norisring in 1990, and the current Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM in one-off special white retro design. Podium finish for Marc Basseng and Florian Stoll in ADAC GT Masters
In difficult weather conditions, Marc Basseng and Florian Stoll took a podium finish in the Audi R8 LMS ultra (kfzteile24 MS Racing Team) at Spa-Francorchamps during the third ADAC GT Masters weekend. In Sunday’s wet race, which was shortened to 51 minutes, the German duo started a stirring drive from the sixth row of the grid, and fought their way up to third place. Andreas Weishaupt (C. Abt Racing) celebrated his first victory in the ADAC GT Masters gentlemen classification in the second race alongside Christer Jöns. Tough weekend for Audi customer teams at Le Castellet
In the third round of the Blancpain Endurance Series (BES) at Le Castellet, southern France, the Audi customer teams had a disappointing weekend of incidents and punctures. Both the #1 Audi R8 LMS (Audi Sport Team WRT) with René Rast, Mike Rockenfeller and Laurens Vanthoor as well as the #5 Phoenix Audi R8 LMS (Phoenix Racing) with Marcel Fässler, Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies were running in the top 10 during the six-hour race, but lost a lot of time. Marco Bonanomi, Filip Salaquarda and Frédéric Vervisch from Audi customer team I.S.R. Racing finished ninth in the best R8 LMS ultra. Jean-Karl Vernay, Robin Frijns and Laurens Vanthoor travel at the end of July to the highlight of the season, the 24 Hours of Spa, third in the BES standings just two points behind. Vanthoor and Frijns still lead the Blancpain GT Series after six of twelve race weekends. Audi completes DTM test at the Lausitzring
Audi completed a two-day DTM test at the Lausitzring on Wednesday and Thursday. Despite changeable weather conditions Audi Sport reeled off a total of about 1,800 kilometers with two test vehicles of the Audi RS 5 DTM. The two DTM Champions Mattias Ekström and Mike Rockenfeller used the tests to further optimize the basic set-up of the Audi RS 5 DTM that has been unbeaten so far in the 2015 season. On Thursday afternoon, youngster Antonio Giovinazzi (Italy/21) took over the cockpit from Mike Rockenfeller. The leader of the Formula 3 European Championship had left a strong impression in a young driver evaluation conducted by Audi Sport and at the Lausitzring received another opportunity to gather experience in the DTM car.
A word from ... Jamie Green
The Briton comes to the Norisring as DTM championship leader.You current record this season boasts three wins after two race weekends. Your expectations for the coming weekend at the Norisring are surely not set for second place... Not only I, but also Audi as a whole had a fantastic weekend at the Lausitzring. We couldn’t be any happier. Obviously, we would be delighted if things continue in the same vein. But there are also some reasons to be cautious. Which ones? They begin with the peculiarities of the street circuit in Nuremberg. At the Norisring it’s about top speed. This requires a completely different aerodynamic emphasis than at tracks where we only drive with a lot of downforce. Another factor is the success ballast that we have on board. My car weighs 1137.5 kilograms. Our lightest competitors carry around 32.5 kilos less. We are only successful if we keep our feet firmly planted on the ground and keep focused in our work. You have a special relationship with the Norisring. You’ve won here four times already, a year ago you were second and best Audi driver. Why are you so good in Nuremberg? My driving style is such that I brake very late. This appears to be particularly beneficial on the street circuit at these high speeds. You have to drive very precisely between the walls and crash barriers, be consistent and this for 70, 80, 90 laps long. The smallest mistake can end in tears, because there are no run off areas here like there are on permanent tracks. Your racing form is dominant this year. How do you explain the excellent results? There are no fundamental changes. In principal, the Audi RS 5 DTM is identical to last year. We refined the set-up during the winter and these technical developments suit me. We understand our car even better. However, we should never forget that we have strong competitors and the championship positions can change quickly in the DTM. The best thing would be to lead the rankings after the last race and not after the fourth ... Coming up next week
22/06 Nuremberg (D), DTM press conference with Mattias Ekström 22/06 Ingolstadt (D), autograph session Mattias Ekström and Hans-Joachim Stuck in Audi Forum 23/06 Neckarsulm (D), autograph session Mattias Ekström and Hans-Joachim Stuck in Audi Forum 26–28/06 Road America (USA), Pirelli World Challenge, race 11, 12 and 13 27–28/06 Norisring (D), DTM, race 5 and 6 27–28/06 Norisring (D), Audi Sport TT Cup, race 3 and 4 27–28/06 Imola (I), Italian GT Championship, race 5 and 6 27–28/06 Okayama (J), GT Asia, race 3 and 4 28/06 Dijon (F), V de V Endurance Series, round 4 28/06 Watkins Glen (USA), Tudor United SportsCar Championship, round 5