DTM: Audi's Martin Tomczyk wins at Spielberg

Marking Audi's second DTM win in a row this year, Audi Sport Team Phoenix driver, Martin Tomczyk took the checkered flag at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. Sunday's win also marks the the first DTM victory for Team Phoenix since 2000 and the first win for a year-old car. Joining Tomczyk on the podium was Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline driver, Oliver Jarvis taking third. Overall, an excellent result for Audi and now sets the record against Mercedes at two wins to one. Full press release and photos after the jump.

Ingolstadt/Spielberg, June 5, 2011 – 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.

The 29-year-old had laid the foundation for his fifth DTM success in total as early as on Saturday by setting the fastest time in a wet qualifying session. Tomczyk commandingly used the advantage of the pole position at the start. Up to his first mandatory pit stop he was able to continually enlarge the distance to his rivals and achieve a lead of almost three seconds. "I pushed at the start in order to gain enough of a distance from the others,” said the Audi driver after the race. "I was able to benefit from this gap at the end even though Ralf (Schumacher) came relatively close on the dying laps of the race. I’m simply happy today – we’ve earned this victory.”

With Oliver Jarvis on position three, two Audi drivers were again on the podium, as had been the case three weeks ago at Zandvoort. The Briton managed to keep Bruno Spenger, the leader of the standings, at bay in the final phase. With his third place and first podium result since switching to Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline he consigned the first two races of the season that had been disappointing for him to oblivion. "We had a test between Zandvoort and Spielberg which we made good use of,” said Jarvis. "Now I’m working together with my engineer much better.”

Mike Rockenfeller on position five and Timo Scheider on seven managed to fend off the attacks by Mercedes drivers as well. Both thus scored important points for the standings in which Martin Tomczyk as the best Audi driver is now ranking only three points behind Bruno Spengler. Mike Rockenfeller follows in third place.

After a slip in qualifying Miguel Molina recovered from position 17 on the grid to eleventh. Filipe Albuquerque on position twelve was the best-placed driver from Audi Sport Team Rosberg after this team colleague Edoardo Mortara, who had started from the second row, had been turned around by a Mercedes driver and dropped back to the rear of the field. In the end Mortara finished 16th.

Rahel Frey at her third DTM race drove very fast lap times but jump-started into the race which caused her to have to sit a drive-through penalty. She finished the race in 17th place.

Mattias Ekström experienced a weekend to forget. After his accident in qualifying he was complaining about the handling performance of his Audi A4 DTM in the race. After the first pit stop the Swede retired for safety reasons.

"We’ve experienced a grand DTM weekend in front of a great crowd of spectators,” commented Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "I’m particularly happy for Martin (Tomczyk). We already saw in the first two races that he’s doing a good job of handling the year-old car and that his team is very strong as well. That’s why his victory does not come as a surprise to me. But our rivals were strong too. That’s why I’m happy that Oliver (Jarvis), Rocky and Timo (Scheider) also managed to stay in front of the Mercedes drivers in the final phase. It was a tough battle.”

Quotes after the race:

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
"I’m very happy about this result. I’m particularly happy for Martin (Tomczyk). He drove a perfect race. Martin was really extremely strong this weekend and his team, Phoenix, did an outstanding job. I’m also particularly happy about Olly’s (Jarvis) third place. He had a difficult start into the season but has shown here that he’s back again. ‘Rocky’ and Timo (Scheider) managed to score points as well. In total, it’s a good result for Audi. Let’s continue this way at Le Mans ..."

Martin Tomczyk (Schaeffler Audi A4 DTM), 1st place
"I think this is a very special victory. Not only because it’s the first one for Team Phoenix with Audi in the DTM – but also because I’d promised it to Ernst (Moser) before the season. We couldn’t expect it to happen so early, so that it makes it all the better. The race today went the way a racer imagines a race to go: gaining a certain distance at the beginning and then controlling the race until the end. I’m simply happy!”

Oliver Jarvis (Audi Sport performance cars A4 DTM), 3rd place
"I can hardly believe it: my first podium in Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline! We had a great weekend; we were quick in wet as well as in dry conditions. I’m happy to be back in the group of front runners. The car was brilliant. We had a slow first pit stop and lost a position to Ralf (Schumacher) in the process. It was good to have a strong race. Hopefully we can continue exactly like this at the Lausitzring.”

Mike Rockenfeller (E-POSTBRIEF Audi A4 DTM), 5th place
"My start was good. Then the situation became pretty tight in turn 1. I was running wide. That was obviously the right thing to do to avoid a collision and I was able to maintain my position. From then on I had to fight and was not able to completely keep up with the pace at the front. Still, my guys kept me in fifth place with a great strategy. The points we’re taking home are important. It’s too bad that Bruno Spengler managed to move forward so much. Congratulations to Martin (Tomczyk), who drove a great race. An Audi victory is fantastic!”

Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi A4 DTM), 7th place
"The beginning was quite okay. Unfortunately, however, I lost a couple of small wings at the rear end of the car right in turn 2. But I managed pretty well. The race pace was good straight from the start. Mike (Rockenfeller), unfortunately, wasn’t quite as fast so that we lost touch with the front runners. Our pit stops weren’t completely on the mark. As a result, we finished the race only in seventh place. I’d have expected more. Strictly judging by our speed more would have been possible too. To be in front in the DTM simply everything has got to be right. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case today.”

Miguel Molina (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), 11th place
"The race was okay. We tried to attack straight from the start. The first pit stop was okay, we recovered a few positions. The second one wasn’t quite so good. But we’ve learned a few things here. Now I finally need a good qualifying session because our pace in the race was good again. We’re looking forward to our next run at Lausitz with optimism.”

Filipe Albuquerque (TV Movie Audi A4 DTM), 12th place
"Unfortunately, a car got in my way right in turn one. I had to run the kerbs and lost a few places. The first pit stop was okay, at the second one I lost some time. In the second stint I was struggling a bit with the brakes and then I had a good third stint. In free practice our speed had been much better than in the race today. I’m still lacking some experience.”

Edoardo Mortara (Playboy Audi A4 DTM), 16th place
"A difficult race. After the accident in turn 1 it was actually over for me. It was a silly maneuver on Engel’s part. We could have finished in the top five but that was no longer possible after the first turn. I was competitive here in wet and dry conditions.”

Rahel Frey (Glamour Audi A4 DTM), 17th place
"My third DTM weekend was definitely a positive one. We managed to catch up to the competition and were even a bit faster some of the time. My race pace was much better than it had been at the first two races, and also very consistent. Unfortunately, I was a bit overly eager at the start and received a drive-through penalty as a result. But we tried to make the best of the situation. At the end of the day, I’m pleased.”

Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), retirement
"From the beginning to the end this was a weekend to forget for me. It’s no doubt a great disappointment because I’d been pinning high expectations on the race at the Red Bull Ring. I’ll give everything to make sure that things will be going better again two weeks from now at the Lausitzring.”

Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)
"Well done’ to Martin Tomczyk and to the whole team. They really did a superb job here, and without making the slightest mistake. You need this in the DTM, we could see how tight the situation was becoming at the end. Martin had a very competitive package which put him in a position of being able to win. We need to continue to work hard with our cars to really achieve the best performance. You could see that we’re having a bit of a difficult time at the moment. That’s racing. A load has really come off my chest for Oliver Jarvis. He had a long, difficult period but did a flawless job today. I’m happy because that’s an important step for the next races. If he can sustain his motivation and performance we’ll still see many surprises.”

Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix)
"We did everything right throughout the weekend and in the race today as well. Ralf (Schumacher) put us under heavy pressure. Martin (Tomczyk) remained without any mistakes – as did the team. That’s how you can win races. I’m extremely happy and delighted for my whole team. Our pit stops were so good that we always made up a little more time. Now we’ve got to digest all this and come back to earth.”

Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg)
"The weekend had ups and downs. Obviously it had started out very well in the practice sessions. With a little more luck we could have even been farther at the front of the grid than on position four. It’s a shame that Edo (Mortara) was turned around at the start. When looking at his times on old tires, he was faster than Tomczyk after his tire change. So quite a bit would have been possible. It’s hard for a young racer to accept this. Then his Italian temperament got the better of him and he drove too far at the pit stop and damaged the stopping system. We tried to run a double strategy. Martin (Tomczyk) has shown what was possible. We can do that too. We’ve got to achieve this. Filipe’s pace wasn’t so bad either. He had the misfortune of being obstructed at his second stop by the damaged stopping system as well.”

Source: Audi Motorsport
Photos: Audi Motorsport and DTM Media