Audi Press Release
- Extremely close time gaps at the Red Bull Ring
- Jamie Green in the top ten as the only Audi driver
- Only 91 thousandths of a second short of pole position
“Being the best Audi driver in sixth place is obviously not what we’d been hoping for,” said Green. “I’m happy that we made it into Q3. It shows that we did a good job. My car was basically good and I was only struggling a little in turn 1. My second lap would have been the fastest one but I had a bit of oversteer in the first corner. I’d like to thank my team that did a good job.”
Green was the only Audi driver to manage the leap into the top ten on Saturday evening in summer temperatures. Timo Scheider in the AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Phoenix as the second-best Audi driver will be starting from position 14. Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM) as the fastest driver of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline will be sharing the eighth row with his team-mate Miguel Molina (Audi Sport Audi RS 5 DTM).
Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM) in 14th place was the second-best Audi driver in qualifying but, due to a grid penalty imposed at Moscow, will be moved by three positions towards the rear of the grid. He will be tackling the race from the ninth row together with Nico Müller (Audi Financial Services Audi RS 5 DTM).
Adrien Tambay (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM) and Edoardo Mortara (Audi Sport Audi RS 5 DTM) in 20th and 21st place were already eliminated in the first qualifying segment (Q1) – an unusual experience for both drivers.
“Naturally, this wasn’t a qualifying session to our liking,” said Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport. “Even in free practice, there were indications that we’d be having a difficult time here. The time gaps in qualifying were minimal. Jamie (Green) was only 91 thousandths of a second short of clinching the pole position. He and his team made the best of what was a difficult situation for us today. It’ll be a tough race for us, but the points are only awarded tomorrow and we’re not giving up.”
For the race on Sunday (start at 13.30 local time) heat and thunderstorms have been forecast. Audi has won two of the previous three DTM rounds at the Red Bull Ring.
Photo credit: Audi Media
