Eighth place for Jamie Green in Sunday’s race at Oschersleben Meager amount of points scored in both races Audi drivers allowed to unload weight
A meager amount of points scored, but a more effective ‘weight diet’ for Audi in the DTM: Following the two races at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, the Audi RS 5 DTM cars will be allowed to unload weight for the final spurt in the thrilling battle for the title.
After having clinched seven victories in the first 12 races, the Audi drivers had to compete with high additional weights at Oschersleben. Following Miguel Molina’s ninth place on Saturday, Jamie Green in the Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Rosberg in position eight was the best Audi driver.
“This was one of the best races in my career,” said the Briton who had battled his way into the points from grid position 14 with remarkable overtaking maneuvers. “The quick pit stop was another key to scoring points. ‘Thank you’ to my team!”
During his overtaking maneuvers in the early stage, Green had the Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM of Mattias Ekström in tow. Ekström, after starting from position 18, finished in eleventh place. The Swede remained without points twice at Oschersleben and is now trailing Pascal Wehrlein by 14 points in second place of the drivers’ standings. But he will have a lighter car than his fiercest rival in the battle for the title for the first time again at the Nürburgring in two weeks from now.
“All of our drivers are now allowed to unload between 7.5 and ten kilograms,” says Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport. “We need to make optimum use of this at the Nürburgring. Here at Oschersleben, we were with our back against the wall due to the performance weights. That’s hard to digest, but that’s how the rules are in the DTM this year. We’re very happy that this weekend is behind us and are looking ahead.”
Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM), Adrien Tambay (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM) and Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM) finished Sunday’s race at Oschersleben in positions twelve, 14 and 19. Edoardo Mortara parked his Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM early after 21 laps, following damage to his car in the starting phase. For Miguel Molina (Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM) and Nico Müller (Audi Financial Services Audi RS 5 DTM) the race ended early in the commotion in turn one when Mercedes driver Christian Vietoris hit Molina’s rear wheel and Müller was only able to evade them by an excursion into the gravel trap.
The next DTM weekend is coming up soon, at the Nürburgring from September 25 to 27.
DTM Oschersleben: Audi Sport quotes
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
“We’d have liked to show the many spectators at Oschersleben more than ninth place on Saturday and eighth place on Sunday. Due to the weight situation it was a rough weekend for our whole squad that worked as hard as always. Now we need to forget about Oschersleben and fully concentrate on the Nürburgring. In terms of weight, we’re finally going to be battling on a near-equal footing again with our competitors there. Our title chances are still intact. We’re facing a thrilling final spurt in the DTM.”
Dieter Gass (Head of DTM at Audi Sport)
“All of our drivers will now be able to unload between 7.5 and ten kilograms. We need to make optimum use of that at the Nürburgring. Here at Oschersleben, we were with our back against the wall due to the performance weights. That’s hard to digest, but that’s the way the rules are in the DTM this year. We’re very happy that this weekend is behind us and are looking ahead.”
Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM #53) retirement / position 8
“Even though I was racing a little outside the limelight, Sunday’s race has been one of the best in my career. Like all Audi drivers, I was struggling with the high performance weights on board. Still, I worked my way through the field and, from position 13, made up five places. Although I lost one of the front winglets in the starting tussle, which cost me some downforce at the front, I managed two successful maneuvers against Spengler and Vietoris. In addition, my team delivered a superb pit stop, which no doubt played a crucial part as well in scoring points. Now we can reduce some weight, which should be helping us in the final spurt for the title.”
Miguel Molina (Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM #17) position 9 / retirement
“For me personally, it was obviously a nice feeling to be the best Audi driver in both qualifying sessions. Our score in the races could have been better. More points would have been possible. Especially the quick retirement on Sunday due to the tussle in turn one was a shame. But I’m looking ahead: I like the Nürburgring and am ready to attack there again.”
Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM #5) position 14 / position 11
“Even in my 15th year in the DTM, I keep experiencing new things. Here at Oschersleben, for instance, I can find a positive for the first time in my career in not having scored a single point. Because that means I can unload ten kilos of success ballast for the next weekend, which will give me the chance to attack the competition again. Our RS 5 DTM is a strong car and fast on all tracks. So, we’ve got everything it takes to strike back at the Nürburgring. We’re going to keep our cool and our concentration and are hoping for two race days without any special incidents or changeable weather.”
Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM #10) position 12 / position 12
“Oschersleben was a mini comeback for me which, after the difficult weeks, was preying on my mind. I’m happy that I managed to pull of the weekend as well as I did. The two qualifying sessions weren’t perfect. That’s something we need to work on. That I was fast in both races is a positive. We can build on that and see what we can still do better in order to finish the last two DTM weekends of the year as successfully as possible.”
Adrien Tambay (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM #27) position 17 / position 14
“There’s not much to say about my Oschersleben weekend. I had two races without any special incidents and a good pit stop on Sunday – it’s just that speed was missing all the time. I’m hoping for us to find something before the Nürburgring and do better again there.”
Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM #99) retirement / position 19
“The weekend can be summed up quickly: forget about it and look ahead. We knew before that we’d be having a hard time with our weight at Oschersleben. My car was pretty good, but with such a high weight you’ve simply got no chance at Oschersleben. My qualifying performance on Sunday and the quickest pit stop in the second race were positives. Now I’m looking forward to our home round at the Nürburgring.”
Edoardo Mortara (Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM #48) retirement / retirement
“Obviously, after a weekend with two retirements, it’s hard to find any positive aspects. These two race days were no doubt an exceptional situation before we return to somewhat normal conditions at the Nürburgring. I’m expecting all three brands to be close together there and that the fans can look forward to seeing some thrilling duels. The track has always suited me well. That’s why I want to be in contention at the front no matter what.”
Nico Müller (Audi Financial Services Audi RS 5 DTM #51) retirement / retirement
“Due to the weight situation we didn’t travel to Oschersleben with really high expectations – but I wouldn’t have minded seeing the checkered flag. Instead, I retired early due to two incidents I was not at fault in. On Sunday, that was particularly frustrating because I made a good start. But days like these just happen. We’re going to forget about this now and are determined to attack again in the final spurt.” Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg)
“Three times we lost cars due to accidents in turn one that weren’t our fault – that’s quite a blow. But Jamie Green’s strong race on Sunday is more than consolation. I think I’ve never before been so happy about four points. Jamie recovered from position 13 to eighth place and defended it across several laps up to the finish against a clearly lighter rival who, to top it off, was able to use DRS. With that, he proved his class once more.”
Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
“For us the weekend at Oschersleben had been billed as ‘limiting damage.’ At least we managed to do that to some extent. Mattias (Ekström) has lost the overall lead, but on the next weekend at the Nürburgring will be lighter for instance than his rival Pascal Wehrlein for the first time this season. So, the fans can look forward to two races in which our drivers will finally be battling with similar weapons again. Compliments to my whole squad that isn’t disheartened even in rough times and always remains positive. Now we’re going to focus on preparing for our next race and then leave no stone unturned to recapture the lead of the standings in the Eifel.”
Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix)
“In view of the weights on board of our Audi cars we’d been expecting a difficult weekend, but in reality it was even tougher than we thought it would be. Now we need to analyze why that was the case. That we’ll be lighter for our team’s home round at the Nürburgring is a positive. We’re set on attacking again there and supporting Audi with a good performance in the battle for the title.”
