- Last race for the top seller before the model change
- Martin Tomczyk travels to Hockenheim as new champion
- Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline battles for team title
43 pole positions, 31 fastest race laps, 34 victories and five champion’s titles – this is the impressive track record of the Audi A4 DTM since its debut in April 2004 at Hockenheim. The venue at which AUDI AG’s top seller contested its first DTM race will now also see the final grand appearance of this successful model.
The DTM finale at the Hockenheimring from October 21 to 23 will mark the 84th and – for the time being – last racing commitment for the Audi A4 DTM in the most popular international touring car racing series. In 2012 a set of new Technical Regulations will come into effect in the DTM, which provides for the fielding of two-door coupes. The A4 DTM will be replaced by the A5 DTM that celebrated its world debut at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt in September and will be doing a “trial” lap at Hockenheim together with its future competitors directly before the start of the DTM race.
Continue reading ‘Grand finale for the Audi A4 DTM’
- Bavarian driver secures his first DTM title early, at Valencia
- Biggest triumph achieved with a fighting spirit, humor, coolness and teamwork
- Audi Chairman Rupert Stadler: “Title crowns Audi’s successful motorsport year”
With a third place at the penultimate race of the season at Valencia Martin Tomczyk converted his first match ball: The 29-year-old driver from Rosenheim, Bavaria, is the 2011 DTM Champion and thus celebrates the biggest triumph in his motorsport career. The exploit also marks the first time in DTM history for a champion to sit in a so-called year-old car.
- Audi driver on grid position one at DTM race at Brands Hatch
- Martin Tomczyk has good starting base as well
- Five Audi A4 DTM cars on the first five rows
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline is jubilating at Brands Hatch: At his 48th DTM event (Sunday starting at 2:40 p.m. CEST live on “Das Erste”) Mike Rockenfeller secured the pole position for the first time. Title contender Martin Tomczyk from Audi Sport Team Phoenix in third place achieved an excellent qualifying result as well.
On the track that with a length of 1.929 kilometers is the shortest one of the year Rockenfeller was in a class of his own in the crucial fourth qualifying segment (Q4): The 2010 Le Mans winner relegated ex-champion Gary Paffett to second place by 0.198 seconds – a world of difference at Brands Hatch.
Continue reading ‘First pole position for Mike Rockenfeller’
- Fourth success for Audi in the 2011 DTM
- Impressive performance by the two-time DTM champion
- Five Audi A4 DTM cars on the top seven positions
In the duel against Mercedes-Benz Audi has raised the score of victories to 4-2. In front of 86,500 spectators (throughout the weekend) Mattias Ekström in the Audi A4 DTM of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline was in a class of his own at the Nürburgring. From the pole position the Swede 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.
Continue reading ‘Audi driver Mattias Ekström commandingly wins’
- Mattias Ekström at the Nürburgring again on grid position one
- Strong: Six Audi A4 DTM cars on the top eight grid positions
- First pole position of the year for Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
Jubilee for Audi: Mattias Ekström clinched the 60th pole position in the DTM for the brand with the four rings at the Nürburging. In changeable weather the Swede from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline set the fastest time by far in Saturday’s qualifying. With six A4 DTM cars on the top eight grid positions Audi showed a strong overall team performance.
Mattias Ekström is back: A week after winning the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS together with Timo Scheider and Greg Franchi the Swede secured the pole position for the sixth round of the DTM. Ekström last started into a race from the top grid position exactly one year ago, also at the Nürburgring.
- Touring car series visits Munich’s Olympic Stadium
- Races featuring knockout format to be held on two days
- Audi drivers Albuquerque and Ekström with experience advantage
Show event instead of summer break. On July 16 and 17 racing fans can experience a highly special spectacle that has never existed like this before: At Munich’s Olympic stadium the DTM stars from Audi will compete against their rivals from Mercedes-Benz – in races featuring a knockout format and in their original cars from the current DTM season.
Continue reading ‘Audi is ready for DTM debut in Munich’
- From position ten to three in the rain in Nuremberg
- Early race stop deprives Audi of chance for victory
- Four Audi A4 DTM cars score points at “home round”
The dream of achieving victory at its “home round” on the Norisring did not come true for Audi this year either. Still, the squad around Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich had good reasons to be happy with its performance at the fifth round of the 2011 DTM season and another podium result for Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Phoenix).
Audi again came very close to clinching the long awaited victory at the Norisring. But this time the weather thwarted the plans of the brand with the four rings. After the race had already been started behind the safety car due to heavy rain it was stopped early after 64 of 82 laps because there was too much water on the track.
Continue reading ‘Tomczyk shines again in year-old Audi’
- Audi driver wins at the Red Bull Ring in front of sold out stands
- First success of a year-old Audi car in the DTM
- First DTM triumph for Audi Sport Team Phoenix
Audi has raised the score in the duel with Mercedes-Benz in the 2011 DTM after clinching victories to 2-1. After Mike Rockenfeller at Zandvoort, Martin Tomczyk prevailed at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg in front of sold out stands and a turnout of 48,000 spectators (throughout the weekend). It was the first victory by Audi Sport Team Phoenix in the DTM, the first in the DTM for Ernst Moser’s squad since 2000 and the first for a year-old Audi car.
Continue reading ‘Victory for Martin Tomczyk and Audi at the Red Bull Ring’
- First DTM victory for Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller
- Martin Tomczyk in year-old A4 on podium too
- Five Audi racers on eight point-scoring positions
A great motorsport weekend for Audi: A few hours after a 1-2-3-4 success of the Audi R8 LMS at the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller clinched the first victory of the 2011 DTM season at Zandvoort (the Netherlands) for Audi.
For Audi this marked the fifth exploit at Zandvoort since the brand’s return to the DTM with a “factory” commitment in 2004, for Mike Rockenfeller its was the first ever triumph in the most popular international touring car racing series. The 2010 Le Mans winner laid the foundation for his win by making a perfect start which allowed him to push himself between Bruno Spengler and Jamie Green. By making an early first pit stop “Rocky” managed to overtake Spengler as well. He then managed to gain a lead of up to three seconds in a perfectly setup A4 DTM of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline and to control the pace at the front of the field.
Continue reading ‘Audi recaptures Zandvoort’
A busy schedule for Audi Sport: The DTM season opener at Hockenheim, the debut of the Audi R18 TDI at Spa-Francorchamps and the next DTM race immediately following at Zandvoort (The Netherlands) on May 15 – the squad around Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich is certainly not suffering from boredom these days.
Audi has fond memories of the DTM’s Dutch round on the outskirts of Amsterdam. The brand with the four rings has always been strong on the track in the dunes along the North Sea coast in the past. Particularly impressive was Audi’s showing in 2008 when the four current-specification Audi A4 DTM cars of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline occupied the top four places and the best Mercedes-Benz finished with more than a 20-second gap.
Continue reading ‘Busy schedule for Audi Sport’
