Another Audi one-two-three-four win at Zandvoort

Audi showed a dominant performance at the sixth DTM round at Zandvoort and, like last year, celebrated a one-two-three-four victory in the Netherlands. It was the new Audi A4 DTM’s best result so far and Audi’s 45th victory in the DTM. One day before his 30th birthday, title defender Mattias Ekström celebrated his second exploit of the season, after winning the season opener at Hockenheim. Following the twelfth DTM triumph of his career, the two-time champion is now the best Audi driver in DTM history.

Mattias Ekstr̦m had prepared the ground for his victory the day before: by clinching his dominant tenth pole, he had secured the top grid position, which he perfectly converted into the lead in the race straight at the start. During the two pit stops the Swede Рwith his Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Рdefended his lead as well, ahead of his team colleague Timo Scheider, who had started the race from position two on the grid.

Towards the end of the round staged on the North Sea coast Timo Scheider increasingly made up ground, but Ekström clinched his second win of the season with a 0.270-second advantage over his team-mate. Scheider extended his lead in the standings from one to five points. He is followed in the championship by Mattias Ekström, who bumped Mercedes driver Jamie Green from second place.

Tom Kristensen, who had started from position three, drove the fastest race lap of 1m 33.729s in the first third of the race, thus beating the previous track record in a race by one second. In the end, the Dane completed the podium, which he mounted for as much as the third time this season. Like at the Hockenheim season opener, the podium at the season’s midpoint event was occupied strictly by Audi drivers.

When the lights went off Martin Tomczyk overtook the two Mercedes drivers, Jamie Green and Bruno Spengler, who had started in front of him and ultimately completed the Audi quartet of front runners. For the new Audi A4 DTM, this marked the maximum achievable result after the brand with the Four Rings had previously dominated all sessions at Zandvoort.

The place of the best driver of a year-old car was secured by Markus Winkelhock after a nail-biting fight with team-mate Mike Rockenfeller and DTM record champion Bernd Schneider in the final phase of the race. Winkelhock was the best driver of a year-old Audi A4 DTM for the third time, and as the best driver of a 2006-spec car occupies ninth place in the standings. Mike Rockenfeller, who had previously been defending the place of the best driver of a used car for a long time, ultimately clinched tenth place.

The seventh of eleven rounds in the DTM season is coming up two weeks from now at the Nürburgring. There, Audi was victorious last year with Martin Tomczyk.