Ekstrom Scores Audi’s Fourth DTM Win in 2011

Mattias Ekstrom and his Audi A4 DTM car of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline managed to convert their poll position at the Nurburgring this weekend into a commanding win. From the start the driver achieved an advantage of 5.533 seconds over the leader of the standings, Bruno Spengler, and celebrated his 15th DTM victory that was never at risk in the race.

Ekstrom’s victory was a long time coming, as it’s been 63 weeks or 441 days last scored such a victory, as the last DTM race won by the Audi driver had been at Valencia at the end of May 2010. “That was a very long time,” said the Swede after his triumph at the Nürburgring. “This success feels incredibly good. I’m very happy for the team that

suffered a great deal of misfortune in the first half of the season. This weekend Audi Sport and Abt were right on the mark. All I had to do was drive ...”

“Overall, it was a great team performance,” added Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Mattias Ekström and his A4 DTM were in a league of their own this weekend. And Team Abt showed perfect pit stops. It’s a shame that Martin Tomczyk lost a few points. But we’re happy that after the body contact with Jamie Green on lap one he was able to even finish the race.”

Up to the last few laps, Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline’s Mike Rockenfeller was running in second place before. Under pressure from Bruno Spengler, the wheels of his Audi A4 DTM locked as he was braking into turn one. “I was having problems with grip on the rear wheels and changed the brake balance,” explained Rockenfeller. “But that’s not meant to be an excuse. I’m sorry for the team – something like this simply mustn’t happen on the penultimate lap.”