Only 14 days after his swift attack in Spielberg, Mattias Ekström inspired the DTM fans once again with another fantastic comeback drive: in Sunday’s race at the Lausitzring, the Swede from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline fought his way from ninth on the grid to second and, in doing so, put himself in the thick of the title battle as best placed Audi driver in the points before the Norisring race on June 25–26.
During the successful maiden Motorsport Festival at the Lausitzring and the stunning backdrop of 67,500 spectators, Ekström remained true to his motto “Go hard or go home”. In his Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM, Ekström made up two places immediately at the start, and later prevailed in a brand internal duel with Jamie Green and, as in Spielberg, delayed his tire change as long as possible. Ekström only entered the pits on the 31st of 46 laps and with his fresher tires took second place from the Canadian Robert Wickens in a Mercedes-Benz just before the end of the race.
“This is what racing is all about,” said a delighted Ekström after crossing the finish line. “My car was good in qualifying, but it was only enough for ninth on the grid. However, in the longer races on Sunday you can achieve a great deal with experience, strategy as well as the necessary pace. This was the case today.”
Nico Müller in the Playboy Audi RS 5 DTM finished eighth on Sunday at the Lausitzring to ensure that two Audi Sport Team Abt drivers scored points and that Audi made up 65 points on BMW in the manufacturers’ classification. In the drivers’ classification with Ekström (46 points) and Edoardo Mortara (44 points) two Audi Sport Team Abt drivers are now ranked in the top five.
Starting from 22nd on the grid, Mortara also produced a notable comeback drive, during which he made up no less than ten positions. At his pit stop on lap 32 he was involved in an incident in which a mechanic from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline was injured and was transported to a nearby hospital for further checks, where a broken right foot was diagnosed.
Saturday’s winner Miguel Molina also had to drive through the pits in his Teufel Audi RS 5 DTM, after colliding earlier with Augusto Farfus’ BMW under braking for turn 1. The Spaniard finished 19th .
