Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “’Well done’ to Mike (Rockenfeller) and Audi Sport Team Phoenix on this strong performance. They did everything right this weekend and deserve the win. Such commanding victories are only a very rare occurrence in the DTM. The lead of the standings is a nice reward for the entire Audi DTM squad that worked hard over the past few months to make the RS 5 DTM a winning car. This provides an additional motivation boost for the next races.”
Dieter Gass (Head of DTM): “Obviously, there is enormous joy in the Audi camp. Everything went superbly this weekend – particularly, of course, with Mike (Rockenfeller). He was in contention at the very front right from the beginning, even in qualifying. Today, he put the icing on the cake himself. That was a first-class racing performance from the first to the last lap. That he won the start was very important. In the beginning, he was running superbly on the option tires and worked out a small advantage. In doing so, he put himself and his team in a comfortable situation with respect to the race strategy. In the end, they all did a perfect job of putting it on track.”
Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM), 1st place
“Of course I’m happy and relieved that we put the things we’d been planning for on track. In the DTM, in the race, all sorts of things can happen. Obviously, we had a superb foundation with the great qualifying session yesterday. Then it was up to me to perform a good start, and that worked out too. Afterward, my team and I gave everything. I tried to push on each lap. I think you could tell that we had the race under control.”
Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM), 7th place
“After qualifying had not been so good here at Brands Hatch I’m happy about still having finished in the points. I’m hoping to be farther at the front when it comes to awarding the grid positions in the next round at Spielberg and will then be in contention for podium positions in the race as well.”
Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM), 9th place
“My start wasn’t one hundred percent, but it was at least okay. At the end of my first lap, I was fifth. Afterward, I was struggling with the option tire, which degraded quickly. That wasn’t foreseeable quite like that and of course kept us busy too. By contrast, the car was running well on the standard tire and the lap times fit – at least for a few laps. Strategically, we did all the right things, but unfortunately there was a mistake at the pit stop. As a rough estimate, that cost us the fourth place I was running in at the time. That’s painful because those would have been important points.”
Miguel Molina (Audi RS 5 DTM), 11th place
“This wasn’t what we’d been hoping for. In the beginning, we were battling for front positions but then the strategy wasn’t as good as we’d been hoping for. That’s why I lost a few places at the second stop. Unfortunately, that was the key phase of the race because overtaking is hardly possible at Brands Hatch.”
Jamie Green (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM), 15th place
“I was cautious at the start because I didn’t want to damage my car and lost a few places in the process. After my first early pit stop I came out again directly in front of the race leader, Mike Rockenfeller. Of course I let him pass. Directly behind him, I lost a lot of time on my fresh option tires because I could have driven faster. At the midpoint of the race I moved forward. After the last pit stop, I wasn’t able to do much anymore on standard tires. I’d like to congratulate Mike (Rockenfeller) on his victory.”
Filipe Albuquerque (Audi Financial Services RS 5 DTM), 17th place
“That was a completely botched weekend for me. It started in free practice. I then had a good strategy for the race but we were too slow. I was struggling with the car the whole time; we simply didn’t find the right set-up for my driving style.”
Adrien Tambay (Audi ultra RS 5 DTM), 18th place
“It began with a poor start where I lost a lot of places due to wheel spin. Afterward, I turned Andy (Priaulx) around, for which I’d like to say ‘sorry.’ Then of course the drive-through penalty that was due for the incident ruined my race. Now we’ve got to analyze this weekend, learn from it and very quickly start looking ahead to Spielberg.”
Edoardo Mortara (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM), 21st place
“That was a race to forget. I didn’t manage to drive off well from grid position nine. Still, I got in line in seventh place and kept this position for many laps. After my first – very late – pit stop the race stewards gave me a time penalty. I had to reduce my speed for five seconds. Of course that caused me to lose a lot of positions because at Brands Hatch the field is always very close together. Then, toward the end, I also received a drive-through penalty and had a defect on my car that forced me to retire.”
Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): “Congratulations to Mike Rockenfeller. He drove a commanding race. He simply had the best pace in the field. With our cars we managed fairly well to stay in the top ten. Of course we’re not completely happy and satisfied because we’d been expecting a bit more. That wasn’t possible today. Now we’ve got to continue to work in order to be in a good position for the next race.”
Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix): “It’s simply a great feeling when everything works out on the whole weekend. If you take the pole position, then have a good car for the race and the driver does everything right as well. The pit stop strategy fit too – and so, in the end, you stand at the very top. We’re going to enjoy this now but postpone the party because we’re still active at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.”
Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg): “Sincere congratulations to Ernst Moser, Mike Rockenfeller and Audi. A brilliant first place after a nice race. I’d rather not comment on our race.”
– End –