Audi, BMW, Mercedes set new safety standard for DTM 2012 |  |
- Audi, BMW, Mercedes set new safety standard for DTM 2012
- Porsche qualifies 1st and 6th for Imola 6 hours
- Quotes from Audi after qualifying at DTM Norisring
- Mattias Ekstrom 4th in qualifying at DTM Norisring
| Audi, BMW, Mercedes set new safety standard for DTM 2012 Posted: 03 Jul 2011 05:32 AM PDT Half-time in the DTM. Seldom before did the fans get to see such exciting racing and such an impressively close battle for the DTM title. There were three different winners in the first four races. The two race wins for Martin Tomczyk with his 2008-spec Audi A4 DTM show in an impressive way that the DTM’s weight regulations are effective and that all cars are competitive. The current season being in full swing, DTM rights holder and promoter, ITR e.V., in co-operation with the DMSB and the three manufacturers Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, is working on the technical regulations of the DTM for 2012. Ensuring the highest safety level for drivers and spectators has always been the main goal of the DTM. In a co-operative way, all parties involved contributed their experience and their research and test results to guarantee the highest possible level of safety for the future as well. Thus, both today and tomorrow, DTM is one of the race series with the highest safety standards. At the occasion of the Norisring DTM round, ITR chairman Hans Werner Aufrecht, together with Christian Schacht on behalf of the DMSB e.V., and the heads of motorsports of Audi, Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, BMW, Jens Marquardt and Mercedes-Benz, Norbert Haug, presented the concept and the safety structure of the DTM cars from the 2012 generation. Next to the highest technical standard, the cars have an optimized carbon fiber monocoque and a roll-cage of rigid steel. Moreover, every car has six crash absorbers designed to give the drivers additional protection at the front, at the rear and at the sides. In order to test the DTM safety concept, the DMSB has developed a test program that is being carried out and analyzed by the independent expertise organization DEKRA. All the tests were completed without any problems. Hans Werner Aufrecht, chairman ITR e.V.“I have the greatest respect for the three manufacturers, who have contributed their knowledge into the development of the new regulations and have created something big. They put aside their own interests and it is unique how they have turned this philosophy into reality, together with the DMSB. Four elements were achieved: cost-reduction, the highest level of safety, equal chances for all and to further enhance the fascination of the DTM. A big hand to the three premium manufacturers, who have put their own interests aside in favor of this cause.” Christian Schacht, secretary general for motorsport, DMSB“The new monocoque that will be used by all manufacturers next year is a quantum leap in terms of safety. The carbon fiber crash absorbers are protecting the drivers and absorb a major part of the energy after an impact. Thus, the drivers are prone to less acceleration forces in case of an accident. Moreover, the fuel cell is surrounded by a huge amount of carbon fiber. DEKRA has accompanied the process with its great knowledge. Absolute safety is wishful thinking, but with this concept, safety was enhanced further while reducing costs at the same time. The carbon fiber used by the manufacturers in the DTM is being produced in Germany. This has significantly strengthened this branch of industry in Germany.” Norbert Haug, head of motorsport, Mercedes-Benz“As we sat down together with the partners to work on the new DTM regulations, one thing was clear: there are no compromises when it comes to safety. All parties involved have been working together efficiently and in a constructive way. The DTM is unique in the world. It has had difficult years and has become very strong because of it. That shouldn’t make us euphoric, but we can be self-confident.” Jens Marquardt, head of motorsport, BMW“The new regulations with reduced costs, equal chances for all manufacturers, spectacular cars with a high safety standard and the international applicability of the regulations certainly was a decisive factor for BMW joining the DTM. Of course, the two current manufacturers have an advantage in terms of experience in the DTM, but we have also been involved in motorsport for a long time and we are very successful. We have a highly motivated and focused staff that will make up for the deficits that are surely there.” Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, head of motorsport, Audi“Unfortunately, we have seen in the two heavy accidents at Le Mans crash tests not in the way we want them. Still, we could see that the safety concept has worked. Of course, our engineers were also involved in the development of the new safety standards of the DTM. That one doesn’t always have the same view when more parties are involved, is logical. However, that doesn’t mean that one has to argue, but look for the best solution in a constructive way. The project had a very special spirit.” Related posts: Audi, BMW, Mercedes set new safety standard for DTM 2012
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| Porsche qualifies 1st and 6th for Imola 6 hours Posted: 02 Jul 2011 10:30 AM PDT We’ve seen some great racing in both the GTE-Pro and GTE-Am from the last rounds including Le Mans. Today’s qualifying showed us more of the same from Porsche, BMW, Ferrari and Corvette. GTE-Pro saw the top six in the 1:44′s. GTE qualifying kicked off first at 10am ET. Luxury Racing Ferrari was first to the top but bumped down Muller in the no55 BMW. Dirk Werner put the no56 BMW M3 into third. Richard Lietz was the fastest Porsche driver pulling up in 6th with a 1:44.895. Lietz will share the Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR with Marc Lieb.
Patrick Pilet set the ninth fastest time (1:45.467) in the IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Wolf Henzler will share the duties.
Prospeed Competition’s Marco Holzer starts from tenth on the grid. His 1:45.767 was + 1.299 off. Marc Goossens will join him for the six hours.
USA’s Partick Long had a great run to put the Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 RSR on GTE-Am pole. Long set a 1:45.650 which was .256 faster than Marco Cioco in the Ferrari F430. Nicolas Armindo was fourth +0.633 back. Result Qualifying GTE Am class Related posts: Porsche qualifies 1st and 6th for Imola 6 hours
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| Quotes from Audi after qualifying at DTM Norisring Posted: 02 Jul 2011 09:03 AM PDT Mattias Ekstrom was the best Audi driver in qualifying for the DTM race at the Norisring. Quotes from the Audi camp after the battle for thousandths of a second. Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport) “Qualifying didn’t go according to our expectations. At the Norisring we’re traditionally having a difficult time – and that was again the case in today’s qualifying although the times were very close together. Small things made the difference and we didn’t manage to get everything perfectly right. ‘Eki’ at least made it into the top four. But the race isn’t until tomorrow. We’ll be giving everything.” Mattias Ekstrom (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), grid position 4“Fourth place is okay but far from good. Q4 was disappointing. I braked too hard in front of the first turn and didn’t have enough grip. The tires and the brakes were simply still too cold. With a good start I could manage to overtake all three Mercedes cars in front of me in the race.” Timo Scheider (AUTO TEST Audi A4 DTM), grid position 7“Subjectively, things were going better than they were this morning. In the last outing we went out just a tiny bit too late. This first lap was relatively okay. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to improve any more afterwards when the first rain drops fell. Mattias (Ekstrom) on the other hand managed to do it and, for Norisring conditions, made a huge leap forward. I’ve got to analyze how that happened. Nothing’s lost with seventh place. At the Lausitzring we managed to move to the front after having started even farther from the rear. Why we shouldn’t be able to do that here as well?” Edoardo Mortara (Playboy Audi A4 DTM), grid position 8“Eighth place is a good qualifying result although a better place would have been possible because I made a few mistakes. But it was good to have made it into Q3. Being the best year-old Audi car today was a good job for us and Audi Sport Team Rosberg. Let’s see what conditions we’ll have in the race.” Miguel Molina (Red Bull Audi A4 DTM), grid position 9“It went better than last year. I’m pleased with that. Still, I’ve got to improve some more on this track. Qualifying was okay. The car was good. I had only minor mistakes on my lap. We know that this year the battle in qualifying is extremely close. I’m happy with ninth place nevertheless. And I believe in a good race on Sunday.” Martin Tomczyk (Schaeffler Audi A4 DTM), grid position 10“Things didn’t go the way we’d been planning. The tires didn’t work the way they had been so far this weekend. I wasn’t able to make use of grip from the first lap on, that’s why our strategy didn’t fit – but there was no way we could have known that before. I heard that others had that problem too. But the points are not awarded until tomorrow. Grid position ten isn’t the best but neither the worst place. Let’s see where we’ll finish.” Oliver Jarvis (Audi Sport performance cars A4 DTM), grid position 11“We had a great car on Friday and also on Saturday morning and were always among the top five. The rain between the second free practice and qualifying had a major impact. We had little grip and therefore couldn’t drive any faster.” Filipe Albuquerque (TV Movie Audi A4 DTM), grid position 16“I’m not happy at all. The second set of tires was much better and my time kept getting better. I went all the way to the limit and my wheels locked in the last turn. Later I wasn’t able to improve any more. That’s a shame! All the times are so close and this is pretty demanding. The most difficult thing is the braking points. And to let yourself be carried out all the way up to the wall on the parallel straight is interesting and a lot of fun.” Mike Rockenfeller (E-POSTBRIEF Audi A4 DTM), grid position 17“I’m happy to be back on the DTM grid. But I’ve got to honestly say that things couldn’t have gone much worse today than they did. Being on the last row after having been among the top five at all the other events this year is very frustrating. I had no grip whatsoever and was much too slow. In the DTM I’ve never really done well on this track. I knew that it would be difficult but would have never thought that I’d be on the last row.” Rahel Frey (Glamour Audi A4 DTM), grid position 18“We had some problems yesterday in free practice. First it was raining. Starting that way at the Norisring was not easy. Later we had some problems with the suspension. But we kept on working and were able to continuously improve. For qualifying I’d expected a bit more. Still, we want to attack tomorrow.” Hans-Jurgen Abt (Team Director Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline)“Although the situation was very close on the whole, we can’t be satisfied with qualifying. We’d expected more. Mattias (Ekstrom) made mistakes in his last qualifying section. He no longer had a chance to take pole. Too bad!” Ernst Moser (Team Director Audi Sport Team Phoenix)“As expected, it was very close. If you don’t get it right one hundred percent, then a tenth of a second is lacking. And in that case you won’t even make it into the top eight here. Unfortunately, that happened with Martin (Tomczyk. That’s too bad and frustrating but you can’t be at the front every time. Still, it’s possible to achieve a lot from position ten on the grid.” Arno Zensen (Team Director Audi Sport Team Rosberg)“Filipe (Albuquerque) has a steep learning curve. This is his first race at the Norisring, and in the DTM at that. He didn’t do a bad job but obviously 16th place is disappointing for him. With Edo (Mortara) I’m quite happy. He was running well in all three qualifying sections. Third-best Audi, best year-old car – I can live well with that.”                     - Audi Motorsport Related posts: Quotes from Audi after qualifying at DTM Norisring
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| Mattias Ekstrom 4th in qualifying at DTM Norisring Posted: 02 Jul 2011 08:24 AM PDT Once again, Audi has a tough one ahead of them this weekend at the Norisring. This is their home circuit and they have not won here since 2002. Laurent Aiello was the winner of that race driving the no1 Abt-Audi TT-R. The weekend started off pretty good for Audi with a 1-2 in the first practice session on Friday. Top three cars in the 48′s. The second test proved to be pretty good with a 4-5-6-7 and all eighteen cars in the 48′s. Wow. Qualifying kicked of this morning with an overcast sky and temperatures hovering around 60 degrees fahrenheit. Mike Rockenfeller was back in his Audi A4 after his horrific crash at Le Mans. At the end of the first session, Spengler was at the top followed by Engel, Schumacher, Mortara, Paffett, Ekstrom, Green, Tomczyk, Scheider, Van der Zande, Vietoris, Molina, Jarvis and Coulthard. Lausitzring and Spielberg winner, Martin Tomczyk, would not make it out of Q2. It will be awfully hard to pull a hat-trick off. Mattias Ekstrom would top the Q2 charts followed by Paffett, Spengler, Green, Schumacher, Mortara, Engel and Scheider. With the rain moving in on Q3, Ekstrom stayed at the top and would be the sole Audi heading into Q4. Schumacher, Engel, Scheider and rookie Mortara knocked out. Ekstrom would set fast times but in the end, 4th was the best he could manage.
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