In the end, the youngest member of the Audi squad was the best driver of an Audi A5 DTM: Adrien Tambay, the merely 21-year-old son of former Formula One driver Patrick Tambay, in the Audi ultra A5 DTM of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline drove a flawless race which he finished as the runner-up behind the winner, Augusto Farfus. “I’m totally bushed but overjoyed,” said the Frenchman after his first podium finish in the DTM. “This is the greatest moment in my career so far. I gave everything and was rewarded with second place – unbelievable! It was a brilliant overall result for Audi today and my team performed fantastic pit stops. I want to thank everyone for this!”
With Mattias Ekström (Red Bull Audi A5 DTM), two drivers from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline mounted the podium. The Swede, also thanks to a good strategy by his team, managed to improve from position eight on the grid to third place and, after his two victories in 2010 and 2011, was on podium for the third consecutive time at Valencia.
A small sensation was caused by Rahel Frey (E-POSTBRIEF Audi A5 DTM). The Swiss advanced into the points at an early stage of the race, subsequently drove BMW driver Dirk Werner into making a mistake and in a spectacular duel even prevailed over the multiple World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx. Taking seventh place, she was the first woman to score points in a DTM car of the new generation. At the same time, her result meant that all eight Audi drivers have finished in the points this year.
“We’ve achieved the aim we set for this weekend and taken the lead in the manufacturers’ championship,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich in summing up the results. “We were very strong here at Valencia on the whole and at times had all eight cars running in the points. I’m particularly happy for Adrien (Tambay), who clinched a podium right in his first DTM season, and for Rahel (Frey), who scored her first points in an impressive battle.”