The Red Bull Ring lent Mattias Ekström wings once again: after his convincing victory in the rain last year, he shone in Spielberg this time around in the scorching heat. In the second race on Sunday, the Swede drove impressively from eleventh on the grid to second at the wheel of the Audi RS 5 DTM from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline. On Saturday it was team mate Edoardo Mortara who clinched another trophy for the Bavarian squad.
For Ekström, the dream of a podium finish at one of his favorite tracks appeared just that after qualifying. On his fastest lap, the Audi driver was blocked by a competitor who was demoted five grid positions as a result. However, for Ekström the disadvantage was even bigger: instead of starting the race from one of the two front rows, he started from eleventh.
All the more remarkable was the comeback drive of the most experienced and successful active DTM driver: the Swede overtook several competitors, drove a long opening stint and returned to the track in third place after making his tire stop on lap 29. Nine laps later, he also overtook Jamie Green and crossed the finish line in second place to the cheers of the enthusiastic fans.
“Sometimes second place can feel like a win,” said Mattias Ekström after his comeback drive. “Today is such a day. The race was mega. Just a shame that we weren’t so good in qualifying here, otherwise a dream weekend with my friends from Red Bull could have been possible. Even so, it was fantastic racing today and I’m delighted for my team that worked so hard after the accident at the start yesterday in order to prepare the car perfectly again for me.”
