■First points of the year for Martin Tomczyk■Timo Scheider in the points after recovery

Mike Rockenfeller was the best Audi driver at the third DTM round at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz. The 26-year-old racer from Audi Sport Team Phoenix clinched fourth place after battling in front of 79,000 spectators and headed straight for the 24-hour race at Le Mans immediately afterwards.

Rockenfeller held up to the pressure exerted by Hockenheim winner Gary Paffett in the first two thirds of the race. After the second mandatory pit stop the young German managed to put a distance between himself and his immediate rival and ultimate crossed the finish line with a four-second advantage over the Briton. In addition, "Rocky" shone by setting the absolutely fastest race lap.

"Mike (Rockenfeller) showed a great performance in the 2008-spec car, he was very strong here throughout the weekend," commented Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "But that is only small consolation for the fact that we lost our best-placed cars in the championship as a result of a brand-internal collision on the first lap – that’s a nightmare which mustn’t happen."

Valencia winner Mattias Ekström, who had started into the race from position three, was hit in the rear by Alexandre Prémat shortly after the start and forced into a spin. David Coulthard in the next car was unable to avoid a collision. Ekström’s car was so heavily damaged by the impact that the Swede was forced to retire in the pits. For Alexandre Prémat, who clearly admitted being at fault in the incident, the race was over prematurely as well.

In addition, title defender Timo Scheider became entangled in the collision between Prémat and Ekström. After having dropped to 15th place the German managed to fight his way back into the points again. More than eighth place, however, was no longer possible for the two-time DTM Champion who had shone with a strong race simulation during the warm-up in the morning.

The vehicles of Martin Tomczyk, Oliver Jarvis and Miguel Molina were damaged in the commotion on the starting lap as well. Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) in sixth place scored his first points this year nevertheless. Markus Winkelhock (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) completed the top ten after a strong fighting race into which he had started from position 15.

Next weekend, the 24-hour race at Le Mans is on the agenda for Audi. The DTM will continue at the Norisring in Nuremberg on July 4.

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)

"As early as after qualifying we saw that we’d be having a difficult time. But what happened in turn three was a nightmare. Something like this mustn’t happen on the first lap, particularly not among brand colleagues. Now all we can do is look ahead and make sure that something like this never happens again. We’ll tackle this right away. Mike Rockenfeller’s performance was a positive aspect. As the best Audi driver, he managed to clinch fourth place and posted the fastest race lap."

Mike Rockenfeller (S line Audi A4 DTM), 4th place

"I had a good start and got through well. I was running in fourth place and Gary (Paffett) was behind me. Then the safety car period came. At the end of it, Jamie was extremely slow in the penultimate turn. A huge gap to the two front runners opened up, we almost couldn’t see them anymore. That was frustrating of course. On the first two sets of tires I had to fight a lot because Gary was on my heels and putting on a lot of pressure. On the third set of tires I was running really well and drove away from Gary. The team did a tremendous job. Both pit stops were superb. The strategy was right. It was a good race for me."

Martin Tomczyk (Red Bull Cola Audi A4 DTM #6), 6th place

"I only gained my positions because three of my colleagues in front of me either retired or lost places. Obviously, that’s not good. I wasn’t able to attack today. I was only able to keep the pace of the others, but not to attack."

Timo Scheider (GW:plus/Top Service Audi A4 DTM), 8th place

"We had a normal start. I made it through the first corner fairly well. After turn 2a, we filtered into the counter-straight. Then Prémat came shooting by on the outside and hit ‘Eki’ on the inside who in turn caught me. That put me in last place. The car was damaged but our pace was good. I bungled one of the pit stops by stalling the engine. At the second stop something got jammed at the left rear. I did manage to overtake seven people, which was fun – at least those that I passed on the track."

Markus Winkelhock (Playboy/GW:plus Audi A4 DTM), 10th place

"At the beginning I got away very well and drove toward the inside. Ninth place up to the safety car period was quite okay. My pace was better than it had been before throughout the weekend. The car was more fun as well. We managed to make this step at a late stage of the game but I’m going home with a better feeling and to the next race than I would have if the weekend had ended the way it began. The strategy wasn’t perfect. I could have been in front of Schumacher. But I’m pleased to have moved forward to tenth place from 15th."

Oliver Jarvis (Tabac Original Audi A4 DTM #2), 11th place

"I had a first-rate start. I was driving on the inside into the first turn. I think I was running in sixth or seventh place. But then ‘Eki’ and Prémat got into each other’s way. They spun in front of me. I had to stop and my car was hit in the rear in process, which damaged the body. A piece of the bodywork was scraping the left rear wheel. For about 200 meters I was overtaken by everyone until this part of the body broke off. Even after that happened, it was a difficult race. The car was no longer in balance. I had to battle all the way to the end and wasn’t fast enough anymore."

Miguel Molina (Audi Bank A4 DTM), 13th place

"The start was very good. In the third turn I damaged the front of my car. I touched a rival. As a result, the car lost a lot of its aerodynamic effect at the front. That made the race pretty difficult. In the end, the only positive thing is that I finished. Now I’m positively looking ahead toward the Norisring."

Katherine Legge (Glamour Audi A4 DTM), 14th place

"Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see the lights at the start. All the others drove away, some of us started with a delay. Then the big chaos broke out. I decided to take things easy and to find a clear passage. Unfortunately, my tires picked up so much dirt during the safety car period that I wasn’t able to do anything on the next 10 to 15 laps. So it was just about making up lost ground again at that point. During the final stint my times were pretty good. We would have had to be good in all phases of the race to achieve a better a result."

Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), retirement (accident)

"That was a very short race. I had a poor start. But after the first turns I thought everything was quite okay. Then the rear of my car was hit and I spun. I thought this wouldn’t have any major consequences except that my car was stopped. But then David Coulthard hit me as well."

Alexandre Prémat (TV Movie Audi A4 DTM), retirement (accident)

"That was a catastrophic race because, unfortunately, there was an accident on the first lap. I apologize to ‘Eki’ and to Audi. I thought I had everything under control. But that wasn’t the case. That’s a shame for him, for me and, above all, for Audi."

Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)

"We’re all totally disappointed. Our pace wasn’t so bad. But if you don’t have the drivers under control among each other you’ve got a difficult time. It doesn’t help to lose both of our best cars as early as on the first lap. With Martin (Tomczyk) we still made the best of the situation. He moved forward from tenth to sixth place. We couldn’t achieve a lot more than that. Timo Scheider moved forward from the last to eighth place. He scored one point."

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix)

"I’m very happy for ‘Rocky’ and for the team about having provided the best Audi driver with a fourth-place finish. But we do have very mixed emotions. If we eliminate ourselves and, what’s more, if one of my cars is involved, that makes me very angry. The overall results could have been much better for Audi."

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg)"Markus’ (Winkelhock) car was only running well in the race. Considering this, he showed an incredible performance. He was driving sensational times at the end. Katherine (Legge) had some problems in the first third of the race and was even in the gravel trap once. But she was driving good lap times at the end as well. She was consistently quick. She could have done better if she hadn’t lost so much time in the early stages."

EuroSpeedway Lausitz (D), June 6, DTM, round 31 Bruno Spengler (Mercedes) 52 laps in 1h 12m 32.740s2 Paul Di Resta (Mercedes) + 4.542s3 Jamie Green (Mercedes) + 5.323s4 Mike Rockenfeller (Audi A4 DTM) + 8.350s5 Gary Paffett (Mercedes) + 12.358s6 Martin Tomczyk (Audi A4 DTM) + 15.288s... 8 Timo Scheider (Audi A4 DTM) + 26.430s10 Markus Winkelhock (Audi A4 DTM) + 42.619s11 Oliver Jarvis (Audi A4 DTM) + 47.559s13 Miguel Molina (Audi A4 DTM) + 1m 02.319s14 Katherine Legge (Audi A4 DTM) + 1m 13.593sStandings after 3 of 10 rounds: 1 Spengler, 26 points; 2 Di Resta, 17; 3 Paffett, 16; 4 Ekström, 13; 5 Green, 12; ... 6 Rockenfeller, 12; 7 Scheider, 8; 8 Prémat, 6; 9 Tomczyk, 3; 11 Molina, 2.Next race: Norisring (D), July 4