Defending champion Mirko Bortolotti (Italy) finished ninth in both races after two flawless runs in his first DTM outing for the Kempten-based team. His team-mate Nicki Thiim also scored points on Saturday by finishing in 14th place. On Sunday, the Dane was on course for a top-10 result after a strong opening stint, but was touched by a rival after the first mandatory pit stop and had to retire his Lamborghini Huracán with a punctured tyre.
“Unfortunately, we were a little too slow this weekend,” ABT Motorsport Director Martin Tomczyk summed up the weekend. “We didn’t have any real problems. Our strategy was good and we had solid pit stops. We just lacked a bit of pace and speed. It’s clear that changing the manufacturer in a series as competitive as the DTM is no easy task. We have identified two or three points that we will work on intensively so that we will be back where we belong at the next race at the Lausitzring, as is standard for ABT Sportsline and our drivers. A big thank you goes to the whole team, who worked perfectly in the past weeks and also here at Oschersleben.”
“We achieved our goal for the weekend, which was to score points in both races,” said Mirko Bortolotti. “Of course we have higher expectations, but I think it was a solid start – especially considering how little time we had to prepare. We know we are at the beginning of this project and we know what the problems are and what we need to work on to close the gap to the leaders. We will try to do that in the coming weeks and hopefully be more competitive already at the Lausitzring. I am looking forward to that and to the rest of the season. The DTM is a marathon, not a sprint.”
“It was great to be back in the ABT family after a long break,” said Nicki Thiim. “On paper it didn’t go as we expected. It’s a learning process with the new car and it’s not so easy to get things going. We got the best out of the package we had. We’re not yet where ABT and we as drivers want to be. But we now have a lot of information and a lot of data. It’s only the beginning of the season and I remain positive. The second race was a bit frustrating for me. We were doing quite well. Unfortunately, after a few collisions I had a flat tyre and had to retire.”
A prominent guest of ABT Sportsline at Oschersleben was Austrian ski star Marcel Hirscher, who joined the team in the pits on Sunday to keep the fingers crossed alongside “Wings for Life” CEO Anita Gerhardter. The DTM is a partner of the non-profit foundation for spinal cord research since this season.
The action continues at the Lausitzring on 24 and 25 May. An official DTM test day is there scheduled for 6 May, where the team will be able to learn more about the Lamborghini Huracán in DTM spec.