DTM

Oschersleben: Audi Friday practices report

Martin Tomczyk quickest Audi driver Audi are well set for yet another DTM race, the round at MOTOPARK Oschersleben: Martin Tomczyk in his Audi A4 DTM clocked the third best time in Friday's tests, making the 22-year-old contender the quickest of ...

Published: Oct 31, 2004, 4:18 PM

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Martin Tomczyk quickest Audi driver

Audi are well set for yet another DTM race, the round at MOTOPARK Oschersleben: Martin Tomczyk in his Audi A4 DTM clocked the third best time in Friday's tests, making the 22-year-old contender the quickest of the Audi drivers' squad. Leader of the standings Mattias Ekström was merely one tenths of a second slower than his team-mate. In blazing heat and anticipating similar temperatures on Sunday, the Audi drivers primarily focussed on their setup for the race as well as completing several long runs.

Quotes after Friday's tests

Martin Tomczyk:

"Right in the first test this morning, there was hardly anything for me to criticise about the setup of my A4. That's why we were able to concentrate on minor details and are now set for the qualifying and the race almost perfectly. I chose not to participate in the chase for time at the end in favour of keeping another set of tyres in reserve."

Mattias Ekström:

"To be honest: I thought we'd be having an easier time here and being quicker in making it to the front. But we're all within close reach of the front runners and know exactly what's left for us to work on tomorrow morning. If the qualifying session features the same distribution of power as today's tests did, spectators will be in for a thrilling hour."

Tom Kristensen:

"My A4 looks confident for tomorrow. Today, we only worked on the race setup and didn't try to set a fast time at the end of the session. I'm happy with the work and changes we have done today. The MOTOPARK is a very tough challenge for the car and driver."

Christian Abt:

"My long run was very good, so we're well set for the race. Merely for the qualifying there are still a few things we must do in tomorrow's free practice session. If temperatures on Sunday continue to be as high as today, the race on this tight circuit will be pretty tough. For me, personally, that's not a problem, though."

Emanuele Pirro:

"Although we changed a lot of things on the car today, I haven't found the optimum setup for this track yet. I simply don't feel completely comfortable yet. Considering this, my lap time wasn't all that bad. The thing that counts now is to find the right setup by tomorrow."

Frank Biela:

"Driving with used tyres, I was rather satisfied. In the second session, the track was a bit more slippery. That's why I didn't improve my time as much as I'd been hoping to. There are two or three corners that aren't quite right yet, and that's what we're going to work on."

Hans-Jürgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline):

"If tomorrow we see another fight between the three, Audi, Mercedes and Opel, that's as close as today's, the fans may well be in for what could turn out to be the most thrilling race day of the season. My four boys are all very close to each other and fighting at the front, Martin has clocked the third best time of the day - that means we're extremely well prepared to attack in tomorrow's qualifying."

Ralf Jüttner (Technical Director Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest):

"Today, we ticked off a large number of items on our to-do list. Particularly the mid-field is very close, and we're not lacking much. We still have a few small improvements to make on the cars by tomorrow, and then we'll have a realistic chance to make it into the top ten in the qualifying."

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport:

"The extremely high track temperatures here at the MOTORPARK put a lot of stress on the tyres. That's why we primarily concentrated on the long runs today to be on the safe side for the race. I'm sure that we have a very good setup and that the weekend can be a very good one for Audi."

Martin Tomczyk
Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #6
2nd / 6th place, 1m 21.793s (64 laps)

Mattias Ekstrvm
Audi Sport Team Abt / Audi A4 DTM #5
3rd / 5th place, 1m 21.906s (69 laps)

Tom Kristensen
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #12
4th / 8th place, 1m 22.216s (65 laps)

Christian Abt
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline / Audi A4 DTM #11
11th / 11th place, 1m 22.283s (62 laps)

Emanuele Pirro
Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #4
9th / 12th place, 1m 22.359s (48 laps)

Frank Biela
Audi Sport Infineon Team Joest / Audi A4 DTM #45
15th / 15th place, 1 m22.694s (68 laps)

-audi-

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