Preparations for the DTM season are almost finished. What do you like the most about the new Audi A5 DTM?

I prefer the new Audi A5 DTM to the previous A4 DTM. My feeling is that the handling really suits me. It has more grip that its predecessor. So far I’ve tested the car at Valencia and at Hockenheim. However, it’s also clear that with such a completely new design like the A5 DTM we still have to get to know it better in certain situations and how it behaves with specific circuit peculiarities to be able to judge it exactly. This is why I’m looking forward to the start of the season.

There have also been some personnel changes. Audi Sport Team Rosberg has employed Ossi Oikarinen as new Technical Director. Your impression?

Ossi Oikarinen brings know-how from 14 years in Formula 1, which you really notice. He’s very experienced, it’s great fun working with him and he gives the entire time a lot of confidence through his knowledge and how he works.

What’s on your personal agenda before the season starts?

Obviously my physical fitness. Also, motorsport once again dominates the entire day after having devoted the winter break to my studies which I will complete at the end of the year. I’ll also treat myself to a short holiday before the appointments come thick and fast from the middle of April. I flew to Abu Dhabi on Easter Saturday for a few days.

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On the third of the four ITR test days at the Hockenheimring, Mike Rockenfeller set the fastest lap time. On his fastest lap, the Audi driver crossed the line in 1:33.027 minutes, thus being 0.146 seconds faster than Mercedes-Benz junior Christian Vietoris who made his first appearance in the Hockenheim tests, today. Third position on the time sheets was secured by Audi’s rookie Adrien Tambay.

Apart from Vietoris, Jamie Green (Mercedes-Benz) and Bruno Spengler (BMW) also completed their first test laps, on Wednesday. The two former team-mates finished fourth and fifth respectively. Meanwhile, Andy Priaulx (BMW), Susie Wolff (Mercedes-Benz), Joey Hand (BMW) and David Coulthard (Mercedes-Benz) also joined the test action only today. Rockenfeller was not only the quickest of day three but also the one who completed the biggest number of laps. His 122 laps at the 4.567-kilometre Grand Prix circuit represented a total mileage of 557.174 kilometres.

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Four weeks prior to the first season round of the 2012 DTM, the three manufacturers Audi, new entrant BMW and Mercedes-Benz presented themselves to the media at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg. In a press conference at the occasion of the final test session before the season opener, Audi’s head of motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt and Mercedes-Benz’s head of motorsport Norbert Haug reported about the new era in the DTM.

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich

“This surely has been one of the most exciting winter seasons I have ever experienced in motorsport. All three manufacturers went to the limits of their performance potential. But it was certainly worth the effort, because with the new regulations, we have created a great basis for the 2012 DTM together. In spite of the control parts, there was sufficient room left for every one of the partners to realize its ambitions. From over 4,000 parts on a DTM car, only 50 are identical for all manufacturers.”

Jens Marquardt

“For us as a newcomer in the series, the past 16 to 18 months were very exciting. Time has shown that three manufacturers standing together while considering their own interests, together with the DMSB, have been able to establish common regulations. Safety has been improved, costs have been reduced, that was our goal.”

Norbert Haug

“With the third manufacturer and the new regulations, we have achieved a good basis for the DTM. The cars in the DTM have always been spectacular, but the coupés just that little bit more dynamic. We are looking forward to the first race of the season, because that is when it counts. Fans can expect a thrilling season. Pre-sales for the Hockenheim season opener is going really well, as usual. Here, we have already had 35,000 fans in the paddock only. Somehow, Hockenheim is the gamete of the DTM.”

Additional quotes:

Michael Kramp (press spokesman DMSB)

“The new safety cell in the DTM cars certainly is unique. In this area of development, the aim was to optimize safety and to reduce costs. That has been achieved. The safety cell withstands a force of 36 tons. Just to compare this: the FIA requires a resilience of three tons in case of T-bone crashes for sports cars.”

Michael Eckert (Senior Race Tires Engineer, Hankook)

“Contrarily to last year, we had the task of developing an entirely new tyre. This is a ‘real competition tyre’, that combines safety, performance and consistency in an ideal way. After the experience gained last year, the grip of the rain tires was considerably enhanced thanks to a modified profile and a new rubber compound.”

On the first of four test days at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, the official starting numbers for the 2012 season were allocated. The first DTM race weekend of the season takes place at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg from April 27th till 29th. One week before that, on April 22nd, the DTM presents itself to the fans in Wiesbaden.

Starting number – Team – Driver:

 1 - BMW - Martin Tomczyk
 2 - BMW - Joey Hand
 3 - Audi - Mattias Ekstrom
 4 - Audi - Timo Scheider
 5 - Mercedes-Benz - Jamie Green
 6 - Mercedes-Benz - Ralf Schumacher
 7 - BMW - Bruno Spengler
 8 - BMW - Dirk Werner
 9 - Audi - Mike Rockenfeller
10 - Audi - Miguel Molina
11 - Mercedes-Benz - Gary Paffett
12 - Mercedes-Benz - Christian Vietoris
15 - BMW - Andy Priaulx
16 - BMW - Augusto Farfus
17 - Audi - Rahel Frey
18 - Audi - Adrien Tambay
19 - Mercedes-Benz - David Coulthard
20 - Mercedes-Benz - Robert Wickens
21 - Audi - Edoardo Mortara
22 - Audi - Filipe Albuquerque
23 - Mercedes-Benz - Roberto Merhi
24 - Mercedes-Benz - Susie Wolff

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The quickest on Tuesday was Filipe Albuquerque in the Audi A5 DTM. The Portuguese set the fastest lap time of the day (1:33.318 min) in the morning session. His fellow Audi driver Miguel Molina secured the second position on the time sheets, 0.132 seconds behind Albuquerque.

Mercedes-Benz ace Gary Paffett who had been the quickest on Monday, with his new AMG Mercedes C-Coupe, came third. In addition, the Briton also covered the highest mileage on the 4.567-kilometre track by completing a total of 101 laps. Behind Paffett, the two DTM rookies Robert Wickens and Roberto Merhi (both Mercedes-Benz) finished fourth and fifth respectively. Meanwhile, Dirk Werner took the new BMW M3 DTM to sixth position, on the second day of testing at Hockenheim.

While BMW and Mercedes-Benz contested day two with the same driver line-up as day one, the Audi camp was represented by four additional drivers: the aforementioned Albuquerque and Molina as well as two-time DTM Champion Mattias Ekstrom (2004 and 2007) and Switzerland’s Rahel Frey.

The tests will be continued on Wednesday and Thursday with morning sessions from 09:00 to 12:00hrs and afternoon sessions from 14:00 to 18:00hrs.

DTM enthusiasts can witness all the Hockenheim test action as the grandstand ‘Sud H’ is opened throughout the tests. Tickets are available for €6 and include a ticket for the ‘Motor-Sport-Museum’ at the Hockenheimring. The DTM season kick-off on 29th April also will be held at the Hockenheimring. Tickets are available here.

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One date in particular influenced the work of the engineers and technicians at Audi Sport in a major way over the past few months: the homologation of the new Audi A5 DTM on March 1.

Exactly 59 days before the racing debut at the Hockenheimring on April 29 the rule now is “rien ne va plus.” As of the electronic transmission of all relevant design drawings, CAD data, descriptions and photographs to Deutscher Motor Sport Bund (DMSB) for approval (“homologation”) the key technical areas of the new DTM vehicles – including aerodynamics – have been frozen. This means that the concept Audi is using to start the “title defense” project in the 2012 DTM has been finalized.

• Eight more weeks to go before the new DTM era starts
• Technology largely frozen after homologation on March 1
• Preparation of race cars has begun

Like its two competitors, Audi had been testing the final version of the new A5 DTM in top-secret conditions excluding the general public over the past few weeks. “More than ever before, even the minutest detail will count this year in the DTM,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Obviously, you want to keep the things you’ve worked out over the past few months under wraps for as long as possible.”

The new DTM regulations prescribe more shared parts than in the past and impose further restrictions on aerodynamics as well. The Audi engineers are convinced nonetheless that they have come up with interesting and innovative detailed solutions again in this area in which Audi has consistently been a trendsetter over the past few years. And these solutions were covered by so-called “bubble wrap” (camouflage) of the type their colleagues in production pre-development use to disguise their secret prototypes.

This hide-and-seek game is over now. When comparing the first A5 DTM as it was unveiled to the world’s public at the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA) in September 2011 with the vehicle that has just been homologated the changes that have been made are obvious at first glance. The single-frame radiator grille and the air intakes on the sides of the front spoiler in combination with the characteristic LED daytime running lights of the production A5 give the A5 DTM an extremely dynamic look. The three-dimensional aerodynamics components in the lower third of the vehicle flanks are small works of technological art. And the rear section as well exhibits innovative ideas.

Audi factory driver Filipe Albuquerque was the first to have the chance of getting an idea of the overall package. At the end of February, the Portuguese had the honor of completing the first test kilometers at the wheel of the A5 DTM with chassis number 003 that both in terms of weight and aerodynamics reflected the (near-) final version. “I expected quite a bit of it,” said the winner of the 2010 Race of Champions at which he defeated Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel among others. “But I wouldn’t have thought that the step would be so big. Particularly in fast turns the new A5 DTM handles like a formula car. Truly fascinating! I think I’d have to readjust quite a bit if I switched back to the old A4 DTM …”

The homologation on March 1 also gave the starting signal to the three Audi factory teams that are now beginning to prepare the race cars at Audi Sport in Ingolstadt. Four of the new A5 DTM vehicles can be seen at the official track tests in Valencia (Spain) from March 20 to 22 – then sporting the design of the various sponsoring partners as well.

Yet the work of the technical staff has by no means come to a halt. The remaining days before the Hockenheim season opener will primarily be dedicated to fine-tuning work and efforts to maximize the potential of A5 DTM in combination with the new Hankook tires.

- Audi Motorsport

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