DTM fans experienced a thrilling final weekend and title decider of DTM at Hockenheim. Mattias Ekström from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline finishes the season as runner-up.
The 2004 and 2007 champion came to Hockenheim as the points leader but ended up behind new champion René Rast after the final two races and qualifying sessions. The margin to win the title for the third time was only three points. Teammate Nico Müller finished the season on position twelve of the overall ranking.
“Obviously, the third title was our big aim”, says Mattias Ekström. “In the end, just a few, yet crucial, points were missing. Our qualifying performance this weekend was just not good enough – that was the key. And then I received a penalty on top of that – that was the killer. Generally, it was a good season. I was particularly happy with my racing performance. But in qualifying, I wasn’t good enough.”
The team of Hans-Jürgen Abt and Team Director Thomas Biermaier showed themselves as fair losers. “Congratulations to René Rast and to Team Rosberg who were extremely strong this year especially in qualifying. Congratulations also to Audi on the first DTM triple since 2004. The Audi RS 5 DTM was the strongest car this season, so Audi has deservedly won all three titles”, says Biermaier.
“For us, it was a disappointing weekend. We only scored four points on both days. We simply weren’t fast enough here and are going to analyze why that was the case. Last year, with Edo (Mortara), we were just lacking four points to clinch the title and now three with Eki. That’s very painful and really tough for the team that did a superb job throughout the year. Still, it was a tremendous DTM season and an incredibly thrilling finale. We’re already looking forward to 2018. We’re fighters and are going to come back stronger!”