- Audi wins both DTM races at the Norisring
- Two wins within 24 hours following a 14-year barren spell
- Youngster from Switzerland celebrates first DTM triumph
Audi has another DTM winner: youngster Nico Müller (24) won a turbulent DTM race at the Norisring on Sunday, causing Audi to triumph twice within the space of 24 hours in its “home round” in Nuremberg.
Following “Forza Italia” with Edoardo Mortara’s victory on Saturday, it was “Hopp, Schwiiz!” on Sunday. In his 36th DTM race, the youngest Audi factory driver celebrated his first ever victory in the DTM. In front of an impressive crowd of 123,500 spectators (throughout the weekend), the Swiss at the wheel of his Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM delivered an impeccable performance on Sunday. Having started the race from grid position three, he improved to second place right in turn one. Subsequently, Müller put pressure on pole sitter Tom Blomqvist and overtook the BMW also thanks to a quicker pit stop. In the final stage, Müller controlled the pace and kept his cool even when a safety car period shortly before the finish ruined his advantage of 2.5 seconds.
“Winning my first DTM race for Audi here at the Norisring of all places is simply an incredible feeling,” said Müller, for whom two Bunnies of his sponsor, Playboy, kept their fingers crossed on Sunday as well. “Following the disappointing result yesterday, we made the right changes to the car. My RS 5 DTM was fantastic today and my pit stop was super-fast. Thank you to Audi Sport, thank you to Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline and thank you to everyone who believed in me – first and foremost Dieter Gass! I’m overjoyed!”
Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport, was happy for his protégé as well: “Nico (Müller) drove like an old hand today and showed why we took him on board at Audi. Nico has had a strong season so far and has now crowned it with his first victory in the DTM. That we’ve been able to win both races at the Norisring following a 14-year barren spell is fantastic. Obviously, it’s a shame that we lost a few points today. But we’re not going to let this spoil our partying mood in any way.”
With Saturday’s winner Edoardo Mortara in the Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM in position eight only one other Audi driver finished Sunday’s race in the points. The Italian trails the new front runner, Marco Wittmann (BMW), in second place of the standings with a two-point deficit. The teams’ standings are led by Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline. In the manufacturers’ classification, Audi is in second place with a 34-point deficit.
Mattias Ekström experienced another disappointment. Following his retirement the day before, the Swede impressively came back with a best time in the second qualifying session, but damaged the radiator of his Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM in the starting commotion and, as a result, remained without any points at the Norisring.
Jamie Green scored no points on Sunday either. Following his second place on Saturday, he found no clear lap in qualifying with the Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Rosberg. Having started from position 16 on the grid, he was forced to retire in the race following a collision and a puncture. Neither did his teammate Adrien Tambay in the Speedweek.com Audi RS 5 DTM see the checkered flag. The Frenchman was running in the top six before being forced off track by a rival.
Audi Sport Team Phoenix went home without points as well after Timo Scheider (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM) and Mike Rockenfeller (SCHAEFFLER Audi RS 5 DTM) collided shortly before the end of the race, which caused them to lose possible points. Miguel Molina in the Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM advanced from position 22 on the grid to 14th place.
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
“Obviously, going home this weekend from the Norisring with two victories in our pockets after 14 long years is a dream. The entire squad is incredibly happy about this. After Edoardo Mortara’s victory on Saturday, I said that hopefully we’ve now broken the spell. On Sunday, we proved that this was definitely the case. In the second race, it was literally a tad harder once more. But Nico (Müller) really pulled this off in commanding style. I take my hat off to his convincing performance and his cool manner. Unfortunately, as a team, we didn’t manage to put the good individual performances on track as well. But that does not diminish the two victories.”
Dieter Gass (Head of DTM at Audi Sport)
“It was a fantastic weekend for us. Winning twice at the Norisring after such a long time without a victory for Audi is really special. I think we can have a beer or two on that. On Saturday, we even managed a one-two, although there were a few circumstances we’d have wished to have been different. Nico (Müller) drove like an old hand on Sunday. Simply superb. Now we have seven DTM winners in our squad. Our joy of having clinched these two victories clearly outweighs the fact that, especially on Sunday, we failed to score points with the other cars. But many of the scenes we saw were typical of the Norisring.”
Edoardo Mortara (Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM #48) position 1 / position 8
“On the whole, I had a nice weekend with a victory on Saturday and a total of 29 points. The Norisring used to be a track that didn’t suit us well. But this year, we showed good results here. I’m happy about being the first driver to celebrate two victories this season. My goal continues to be staying focused, extracting the maximum from the car and celebrating even more wins. This year, however, that’s extremely difficult because the whole field has become even closer.”
Nico Müller (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM #51) position 21 / position 1
“The weekend was an emotional roller coaster for me but, obviously, the positive impressions outweigh the negative ones. On Saturday, I locked the rear axle and slid into ‘Rocky.’ And I wasn’t even about to attack him! I lost points and ruined his race just like mine. To come back on Sunday was fantastic. We had a strong qualifying session and were really fast in the race. My sincere thanks to the team! They gave me a car that was fast and, strategically, were constantly on top of things. Plus, the pit stop was fast. You can’t ask for more than that. Paying it back this way and saying thanks to the team for the hard work simply feels great. And standing on the top of the podium just makes you addictive anyway. That’s why we’re going to keep pushing all the way!”
Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM #53) position 2 / retirement
“Saturday was a good day. After position three in qualifying, I benefited in the race from events in front of me and was happy with second place. On Sunday, I was hampered by slower cars in qualifying and didn’t find a good lap. Even in my second outing, I wasn’t able to improve my lap time. I was only two-tenths of a second from pole, but that put me in position 16! Starting from such a position on the grid always makes for difficulties in the race. Most of the time, I was running close to Martin Tomczyk who finished tenth. I tried to overtake António Félix da Costa but he kept closing the door until both of our cars were damaged and I was forced to retire. It was a rough Sunday but at least I scored 18 points this weekend.”
Adrien Tambay (Speedweek.com Audi RS 5 DTM #27) position 7 / exclusion of the classification
“A positive weekend. Except for the first qualifying session, we were always fast. We had a good race on Saturday and managed to make up many positions. On Sunday, if it hadn’t been for the difficulties during the pit stop and da Costa hitting me, a podium would have been possible. The pace is right at the moment. Now I’m hoping for fortune to be on our side for a change. We’re going to continue working with concentration. I’m looking forward to Zandvoort and hope for more points and more podiums.”
Miguel Molina (Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM #17) position 18 / position 14
“My weekend wasn’t perfect. But I always try to take home some positives. On Sunday, I started from position 22 and advanced to 14th place. That was a pretty good recovery. We know that things at the Norisring are always particularly tight and that this is not my favorite weekend. Now I’m thinking about Zandvoort and hope to be stronger there again and to score good points for the championship.”
Timo Scheider (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM #10) position 17 / position 16
“On Saturday, we had a hard time in qualifying again and didn’t nail it down. That’s why more wasn’t possible in the race. On Sunday, qualifying was clearly better following a major conversion of the car. The situation in both sessions was very tight. I’ve never seen anything like it in 16 years of DTM. Even a few thousandths of a second often made a difference between several positions. Due to our starting base for the second race, we had hopes for points but, unfortunately, they were destroyed shortly before the end of the race. The pace, however, wasn’t so bad. That’s what we’re taking home as a positive from this weekend.”
Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM #99) position 19 / exclusion from the classification
“The first race on Saturday was over quickly for me. I think positions five and six would have been possible for Nico (Müller) and me. But I’m not upset with him. He came to see me immediately after the race to apologise. These things can happen when you’re driving at the limit. I had big plans for Sunday but, after a good free practice session, there wasn’t a lot that was possible in qualifying. In the race we advanced as a result of many incidents. Timo (Scheider) and I were running in positions ten and eleven. When I tried to pass him in the final turn there was a misunderstanding that I’m responsible for. What happened to Nico on Saturday happened to me on Sunday. Unfortunately, I lost three grid positions for Zandvoort as a result of the incident. I can only apologise to Timo and chalk the weekend up to experience – and, of course, congratulate Edo (Mortara) and Nico (Müller) on their victories. It’s great that they managed to win for Audi at the Norisring after such a long time. Personally, I just have to look ahead.”
Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM #5) retirement / retirement
“I’m very happy with my pace in qualifying but going home from the Norisring without points is very disappointing. I can only chalk the weekend up to experience and look ahead. Zandvoort is one of the races I always like. We’re going to prepare for it well and try to strike back.”
Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
“For once, I’m not at the race track and then we win our home race at the Norisring … But seriously, I’m incredibly proud of our whole squad. We’ve been working to repeat our 2002 victory for so long and often came really close. And now it worked out twice. Awesome! Edo (Mortara) won on Saturday under great pressure and Nico (Müller) drove a fantastic race on Sunday. The pit stops were sensational too. I’m sorry for Eki. He was the fastest Audi driver in both qualifying sessions and was struck by major misfortune in both races. That he’s being attacked so hard by some is not justified. But then, if you dish it out, you have to be able to take it.”
Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix)
“A big ‘well done’ to Audi and Saturday’s and Sunday’s winners. They finally managed to lift the curse of recent years and win this race. Respect for Edo (Mortara) and Nico (Müller)! For us, both days were fair to middling. On Saturday, ‘Rocky’ unfortunately spun in the race and dropped to the rear of the field. Timo (Scheider) wasn’t able to advance either. On Sunday, too, our grid positions were nothing to write home about. We used two different strategies and our two cars advanced from 13th and 17th on the grid to positions nine and ten. Unfortunately, our two cars touched and we lost both of them. That’s disappointing because our performance curve was pointing upward at the Norisring. Now I have to re-motivate the team. Afterwards, we’re headed for our prime circuit at Zandvoort.”
Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg)
“I was very pleased with the result on Saturday. On clinching another podium place, Jamie (Green) proved his class once more. And Adrien (Tambay) managed to finish in the top ten from position 17. Sunday on the other hand was a day to forget. Adrien was running well again until he was forced off track by da Costa. Obviously, that was a real shame. At Zandvoort, we’re going to attack again.”