DTM pre-season tests at Hockenheim successfully completed
8,699 test kilometers in total on four days
Dieter Gass: “Can hardly wait for the season to start”
For four days Audi Sport prepared in pre-season tests at Hockenheim for the new DTM season that will start on the German Grand Prix circuit on May 7 and 8.
“Following a long winter and this final pre-season test, I can hardly wait for the season to finally start,” said Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport, at a DTM press conference held on the occasion of the pre-season tests at Hockenheim.
“Last winter, we again did a lot of detailed work on our Audi RS 5 DTM. That was mainly hard and meticulous work in the set-up area, as that’s all that the regulations permit at the moment. The test went well. But we’re only going to see in qualifying for the first race at Hockenheim how good a job our competitors did. It’s going to be a real thriller because in the DTM everything is done to have a balanced field and to deliver spectacturlar races to the fans.”
At the only official DTM pre-season tests, all eight Audi drivers tested on at least two days. In addition to seven race cars fielded by Audi Sport Teams Abt Sportsline, Phoenix and Rosberg, Audi Sport deployed two test vehicles of the Audi RS5 DTM fitted with additional sensors – to test Hankook tires for the 2017 season, among other things.
Audi set two best marks. The absolutely fastest lap during the test (1m 32.964s) was achieved by the two-time DTM Champion Mattias Ekström on Thursday during the tire test for 2017. In regular testing operations for the 2016 season, Mike Rockenfeller, the 2013 DTM Champion, was the front runner, setting the best time of 1m 33.197s in the Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Phoenix on Friday morning.
However, as usual in a DTM test, Audi Sport was not mainly focused on absolute lap times. In addition, the weather varied on all four test days. Only on Wednesday and Friday, the sun was shining throughout. In contrast, the drivers testing on Tuesday and Thursday were struggling with rain and a slippery track some of the time. Temperatures heavily varied from day to day as well.
Much more important than the lap times is the positive feedback our drivers provided,” says Dieter Gass. “That shows that our work in winter was headed in the right direction. And, obviously, having had four days nearly without any major incidents and completing a total of 8,700 test kilometers is positive. This is going to help us in our further preparation before the season opener.”
Tickets for the DTM races are available online at www.audi-motorsport.com. The season opener at Hockenheim on the second weekend in May will include the Audi Sport TT Cup and the FIA World Rallycross Championship.
Quotes by the Audi drivers
Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM #99)
1m 33.197s/244 laps (Wed/Fri)
“It was time to finally drive a DTM car again. But the test was good for everyone: the team, the mechanics, the engineers – and especially of course with respect to working together with my new race engineer, Arnau (Niubó). We had quite a bit on our agenda and managed to check off a lot of the items on our list. That’s going to help us for this season. Last year, we were somewhat uncertain in terms of the set-up. Now we’ve got a clear line. That provides more confidence and felt good here. Every time I was in the car, I was competitive. We’ve had clearly worse ITR tests before…”
Edoardo Mortara (Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM #48)
1m 33.222s/233 laps (Wed/Fri)
“Day one was fair to middling. We had a few minor difficulties. That’s why we spent a little less time on track than planned. Day two, on the other hand, was very positive. It was one of the best test days I’ve ever had in the DTM. We’ve come up with some good approaches to optimize the set-up for my driving style. I’m leaving Hockenheim after these two days with a positive feeling.”
Timo Scheider (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM #10)
1m 33.285s/208 laps (Tues/Thurs)
“I’m happy that after a six-month break, my level was so good. We happened to test on the two days on which it was raining at first, but also had dry conditions in the afternoon on both days. That meant two things rolled into one. We were able to test both situations and were fast in both. I think this has been my best pre-season test in many years. Now we’re going to see at the Hockenheim season opener how well prepared we are this year.”
Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM #5)
1m 33.300s/230 laps (Wed/Fri)
“I did a very large number of laps and we learned a lot – not just things that make you faster. We also tried a few things that have told us that we don’t need to try them anymore. I’m very happy with the test, looking forward to a few days off, the analysis of the data we gathered here and, of course, to returning to Hockenheim for the season opener in four weeks from now. The tire tests for 2017 were interesting, too. I had three very positive days here and can hardly wait for the season to actually start.”
Miguel Molina (Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM #17)
1m 33.413s/217 laps (Tues/Thurs)
“It was nice and important to finally be sitting in the car again after such a long winter break. It was good to personally feel all the changes and improvements that were made in winter while driving. These were two good days. The weather conditions weren’t perfect and interfered a little with our test schedule. Still, we gained good findings. I think we’re ready for the first race. Now, it’ll be about getting everything right on the mark from the beginning.”
Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM #53)
1m 33.539s/186 laps (Wed/Fri)
“We had a few items on our list which Audi Sport Team Rosberg and Audi Sport had prepared for the test and we learned even more than we’ve known about our car. I was fortunate to have good weather on both days and able to drive a lot of laps on a dry track. We managed to check off all the items on our list and gather a lot of data which we’re now going to analyze. The long runs we did were promising, too. It was a shame that I missed that last hour on Friday because I had a little off-track excursion in the finish turn. Fortunately, we had almost completed our program.”
Adrien Tambay (Speedweek.com Audi RS 5 DTM #27)
1m 33.616s/192 laps (Tues/Thurs)
“I feel very comfortable in my new team. We work together superbly. The way we work is the right fit. We were fully focused on extracting the best from the two test days we had. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were pretty changeable on both days. That’s why on a dry track we weren’t able to check off as many items on our list as we’d been hoping. But the lap times on day two were okay. We’ll see where wew stand in the first race. Until then, we’re going to be busy analyzing data and gathering strength for the season opener.”
Nico Müller (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM #51)
1m 33.637s/180 laps (Tues/Thurs)
“The test was very food even though we more or less lost a day due to the weather. As a result, our testing program was somewhat shortened. But the things we tried were pretty positive. The guys at Audi Sport and at Abt did a great job over the winter and teased out a few more hundredths from the car. We’re hoping for this to help us be in contention at the front this season. I feel ready like never before and very comfortable at Abt as well. The season can start as far as I’m concerned.”
Tire test 2017
Mattias Ekström, 1m 32.964s/118 laps (Thurs)
Timo Scheider 1m 33.709s/91 laps (Fri)
Nico Müller, not clocked/3 laps (roll-out Wed)
Basic info about Audi in the 2016 DTM
All the basic information about Audi’s commitment in the 2016 DTM including driver portraits, profiles and Technical Data is available for downloading at the Audi MediaCenter.
