Audi Driver Ekström Fastest of the Day at Brno
Clearly achieving the day’s best time, Audi driver Mattias Ekström has entered the crucial phase of the fight for the DTM title at Brno. Shortly before the end of the second test on Friday afternoon, the leader of the standings in his Audi A4 DTM was clocked at 1m 54.121s, putting the Swede almost half a second ahead of the runner-up in the tests. The other Audi drivers, too, found the demanding circuit in the Czech Republic to suit them well right from the start. In the first test in the morning, all of the six Audi A4 DTM cars finished among the top ten. Quotes after Friday’s tests Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #5) Tom Kristensen (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #12) Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #6) Emanuele Pirro (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #44) Christian Abt (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #11) Frank Biela (Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #45) Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “So far, everything has been going exactly according to plan: the team and drivers are going about their work in a fully focused and professional manner, without letting anything distract their attention. Even though Friday’s times are not necessarily conclusive, our performance indicates that we are capable of competing at the very front of the field here at Brno as well. That’s the most crucial prerequisite for going into the title fight this weekend.” Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director, Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest): “We worked very methodically today and pulled off our whole programme. The drivers are quite satisfied with their cars. Emanuele was part of the very front most of the time. The results are encouraging. I do hope that we’ll be able to apply them on the track tomorrow.” Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “As expected, the cars of all three manufacturers are very close to each other at this venue. Today, we primarily prepared for the race, working out good set-ups in the process. Our long runs went quite well. Overheating of the tyres will probably be an issue in the race here, but I think we’re well set to handle this.” |