After a four-week summer break the battle for points in the DTM, the most popular international touring car series, will finally resume at the Nürburgring from August 6 to 8. Clearly, the car to be beaten in the Eifel is the Audi A4 DTM.
Each of the three most recent events held on the 3.629-kilometer short-version of the Nürburgring saw an Audi A4 DTM start from the pole position. Three victories in the past five years speak a clear language as well. Particularly impressive was last year’s performance when Audi celebrated a commanding one-two-three-four win and significantly outdistanced its rivals from Stuttgart.
The squad around Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich now aims to continue this outstanding exploit. “I’m sure that we’ve got several irons in the fire to have some say in the battle for victory at the Nürburgring again this year,” assures Dr. Ullrich. “Our goal is to make up ground in the standings with a strong performance by the whole team.”
In this endeavor Dr. Ullrich can not only rely on the Nürburgring having suited the Audi A4 DTM well so far. Most of his drivers, too, are looking forward to the race in the Eifel with particularly eager anticipation – above all this applies to Martin Tomczyk, who won the 2007 and 2009 races after having started from the pole position and who posted the fastest race lap in 2008. In 2009 the driver from Rosenheim, Bavaria, who lives in Switzerland, was the front runner in each of the practice sessions, which even got his team colleagues thinking. No wonder that Tomczyk himself calls the race at the Nürburgring his “season highlight.”
Home round for one team and two drivers
For Audi Sport Team Phoenix, Mike Rockenfeller and Timo Scheider, the race is a highlight as well because the Nürburgring has traditionally been a home round for all three of them. The distance between the Phoenix team base in the Meuspath industrial park and the entrance to the paddock is less than three kilometers. In addition, team director Ernst Moser’s driver line-up includes a native of the Rhineland – Mike Rockenfeller. The Le Mans winner grew up in Neuwied, about 50 kilometers away from the “Ring.” The roots of the current champion, Timo Scheider, are not far away from the Nürburgring either: he was raised about 70 kilometers from the venue, in Braubach on the Rhine.
Timo Scheider versus Hans-Joachim Stuck
As many as two weeks before the DTM race, Scheider received a foretaste of the 3.629-kilometer short version of the Nürburgring. On the weekend of the Truck Grand Prix the reigning DTM champion competed in the Audi A4 DTM against former DTM champion Hans-Joachim Stuck in the MAN Truck. Stuck had made a bet that he would be able to beat anyone in his truck. While he had made a flying start to the race in his truck with an approximate output of 735 kilowatts, Scheider made a standing start. But Stuck was unable to make use of his advantage: in the end Timo Scheider won in his 340-kilowatt Audi A4 DTM.
Special topographical and meteorological characteristics
With respect to the set-up of the Audi A4 DTM the Nürburgring does not require any extreme solutions like the Norisring most recently did. “We are starting into the Eifel weekend with the same set-up as last year,” explains Dr. Martin Mühlmeier, the Technical Director of Audi Sport. “The modifications consist of adapting the tires, which are new this year, to this track.” In addition, the “Ring” requires the engineers and strategists to practice the art of improvisation primarily in two areas. The topography of the circuit causes interruptions in radio communications between the drivers and teams on each lap. And the unpredictable weather in the Eifel has repeatedly played a crucial part in determining the outcome of the races in recent years.
