LUCAS Di GRASSI WINS IN THE AUDI SPORT TT CUP AT THE NORISRING

On the challenging city street circuit in the Franconian metropolis, the young talents delivered top-class motorsport as part of the DTM’s supporting program. In race two on Sunday, four drivers battled for victory up to the finish line. In the end, Lucas di Grassi won with his wealth of experience. As the Brazilian was classified in the guest entrants’ group, Joonas Lappalainen, in second place, celebrated victory in the race – not a new experience for the Finn. In his triumphs in the 2015 Audi Sport TT Cup at the Hockenheimring, the 18-year-old saw the checkered flag behind guest entrants René Rast and Marco Bonanomi in both rounds and, as a result, secured the respective victories as well.

In round one on Saturday, Dennis Marschall had kept the upper hand. The young German who had started from pole position kept a cool head at all times in temperatures of about 30 degrees centigrade and clinched success in commanding style. “That was a fantastic weekend,” says Project Leader Philipp Mondelaers. “We not only saw superb motorsport in the Audi Sport TT Cup once more but, in Lucas di Grassi and Bundesliga coach Michael Henke, had two outstanding celebrities in our field as well.”

Chris Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing, assessed the event positively too: “Following Audi Sport’s two fantastic successes in the DTM, the performances delivered by the young drivers in the Audi Sport TT Cup marked a tremendous conclusion of a very successful weekend.” After three of seven race weekends, Dennis Marschall has taken the lead of the overall Audi Sport TT Cup standings. The driver who finished last season in third place, with a score of 124 points, has a five-point advantage over Lappalainen. The previous front runner, Sheldon van der Linde, following his retirement in round two at the Norisring, dropped to third place with 106 points. In round four, the Audi Sport TT Cup will be celebrating a premiere. From July 15 to 17, a race weekend in the Audi one-make cup will be held at Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands for the first time.

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)

“Obviously, going home this weekend from the Norisring with two victories in our pockets after 14 long years is a dream. The entire squad is incredibly happy about this. After Edoardo Mortara’s victory on Saturday, I said that hopefully we’ve now broken the spell. On Sunday, we proved that this was definitely the case. In the second race, it was literally a tad harder once more. But Nico (Müller) really pulled this off in commanding style. I take my hat off to his convincing performance and his cool manner. Unfortunately, as a team, we didn’t manage to put the good individual performances on track as well. But that does not diminish the two victories.”

Dieter Gass (Head of DTM at Audi Sport)

“It was a fantastic weekend for us. Winning twice at the Norisring after such a long time without a victory for Audi is really special. I think we can have a beer or two on that. On Saturday, we even managed a one-two, although there were a few circumstances we’d have wished to have been different. Nico (Müller) drove like an old hand on Sunday. Simply superb. Now we have seven DTM winners in our squad. Our joy of having clinched these two victories clearly outweighs the fact that, especially on Sunday, we failed to score points with the other cars. But many of the scenes we saw were typical of the Norisring.”

Edoardo Mortara (Castrol EDGE Audi RS 5 DTM #48) position 1 / position 8

“On the whole, I had a nice weekend with a victory on Saturday and a total of 29 points. The Norisring used to be a track that didn’t suit us well. But this year, we showed good results here. I’m happy about being the first driver to celebrate two victories this season. My goal continues to be staying focused, extracting the maximum from the car and celebrating even more wins. This year, however, that’s extremely difficult because the whole field has become even closer.”

Nico Müller (Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM #51) position 21 / position 1

“The weekend was an emotional roller coaster for me but, obviously, the positive impressions outweigh the negative ones. On Saturday, I locked the rear axle and slid into ‘Rocky.’ And I wasn’t even about to attack him! I lost points and ruined his race just like mine. To come back on Sunday was fantastic. We had a strong qualifying session and were really fast in the race. My sincere thanks to the team! They gave me a car that was fast and, strategically, were constantly on top of things. Plus, the pit stop was fast. You can’t ask for more than that. Paying it back this way and saying thanks to the team for the hard work simply feels great. And standing on the top of the podium just makes you addictive anyway. That’s why we’re going to keep pushing all the way!”

Jamie Green (Hoffmann Group Audi RS 5 DTM #53) position 2 / retirement

“Saturday was a good day. After position three in qualifying, I benefited in the race from events in front of me and was happy with second place. On Sunday, I was hampered by slower cars in qualifying and didn’t find a good lap. Even in my second outing, I wasn’t able to improve my lap time. I was only two tenths of a second from pole, but that put me in position 16! Starting from such a position on the grid always makes for difficulties in the race. Most of the time, I was running close to Martin Tomczyk who finished tenth. I tried to overtake António Félix da Costa but he kept closing the door until both of our cars were damaged and I was forced to retire. It was a rough Sunday but at least I scored 18 points this weekend.”

Adrien Tambay (Speedweek.com Audi RS 5 DTM #27) position 7 / exclusion of the classification

“A positive weekend. Except for the first qualifying session, we were always fast. We had a good race on Saturday and managed to make up many positions. On Sunday, if it hadn’t been for the difficulties during the pit stop and da Costa hitting me, a podium would have been possible. The pace is right at the moment. Now I’m hoping for fortune to be on our side for a change. We’re going to continue working with concentration. I’m looking forward to Zandvoort and hope for more points and more podiums.”

Miguel Molina (Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM #17) position 18 / position 14

“My weekend wasn’t perfect. But I always try to take home some positives. On Sunday, I started from position 22 and advanced to 14th place. That was a pretty good recovery. We know that things at the Norisring are always particularly tight and that this is not my favorite weekend. Now I’m thinking about Zandvoort and hope to be stronger there again and to score good points for the championship.”

Timo Scheider (AUTO BILD MOTORSPORT Audi RS 5 DTM #10) position 17 / position 16

“On Saturday, we had a hard time in qualifying again and didn’t nail it down. That’s why more wasn’t possible in the race. On Sunday, qualifying was clearly better following a major conversion of the car. The situation in both sessions was very tight. I’ve never seen anything like it in 16 years of DTM. Even a few thousandths of a second often made a difference between several positions. Due to our starting base for the second race, we had hopes for points but, unfortunately, they were destroyed shortly before the end of the race. The pace, however, wasn’t so bad. That’s what we’re taking home as a positive from this weekend.”

Mike Rockenfeller (Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM #99) position 19 / exclusion from the classification

“The first race on Saturday was over quickly for me. I think positions five and six would have been possible for Nico (Müller) and me. But I’m not upset with him. He came to see me immediately after the race to apologize. These things can happen when you’re driving at the limit. I had big plans for Sunday but, after a good free practice session, there wasn’t a lot that was possible in qualifying. In the race we advanced as a result of many incidents. Timo (Scheider) and I were running in positions ten and eleven. When I tried to pass him in the final turn there was a misunderstanding that I’m responsible for. What happened to Nico on Saturday happened to me on Sunday. Unfortunately, I lost three grid positions for Zandvoort as a result of the incident. I can only apologize to Timo and chalk the weekend up to experience – and, of course, congratulate Edo (Mortara) and Nico (Müller) on their victories. It’s great that they managed to win for Audi at the Norisring after such a long time. Personally, I just have to look ahead.”

Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM #5) retirement / retirement

“I’m very happy with my pace in qualifying but going home from the Norisring without points is very disappointing. I can only chalk the weekend up to experience and look ahead. Zandvoort is one of the races I always like. We’re going to prepare for it well and try to strike back.”

Source. Audi