Audi emerged triumphant at the weekend (ending May 18th) at the latest round of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben.
Mike Rockenfeller took the lead in the overall drivers standings after coming in runner-up position in his Schaeffler Audi RS5 DTM of the Audi Sport Team Phoenix. Meanwhile, Audi also topped standings in the manufacturers’ and teams’ categories.
The race wasn’t exactly short of action, with rain and the safety car being called out. This resulted in drivers and teams having to take a gamble in when was the right moment to change tyres.
Speaking about his finishing position, Rockenfeller said: “The race was chaotic, I’m very happy with my podium finish. Halfway through the race, the situation for me didn’t look as though we’d be scoring points. ‘Thank you’ to all the people who made the decision to call me into the pits at the right time. I just tried to bring my car home undamaged.”
Initially, it seemed that Rockenfeller was not going to do so well as the harder standard tyres that he started the race on caused him to drop back to 19th place. After switching to rain tyres he managed to recover the lost ground and finished a mere 0.674 seconds behind Christian Vietoris.
It was Edoardo Mortara who managed to take away third place in his Audi RS5 DTM for Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline. He too suffered in the early stages of the race as he dropped back to 21st position but managed to make a comeback later on.
The new RS5 cars are hoped to bring home a third championship for Audi. Additionally, Rockenfeller will be aiming to defend his own championship title as he aims for the second one in a row this season.
This weekend’s race was the second time that the podium featured two Audi drivers, with the first occasion being the season opener at Hockenheim a fortnight ago.
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