Dieter Gass: “We had all the chances”

Despite Audi Sport having a strong showing this season with the RS5 DTM picking up ten wins this year, no titles came to Ingolstadt, as Head of Dieter Gass explained during the press conference after the final race of the season.

“I think its somewhat bitter to end a season like that,” he said, congratulating BMW and Mercedes on their respective title wins.

“The performance was there and Jens highlighted that in this moment what the difference was. We had all the chances and we didn’t make the best of the opportunities that were there.”

Jamie Green and Mattias Ekström, who finished second and third in the drivers’ standings, second to new champion, Pascal Wehrlein, took the first four wins between them.

But due to technical difficulties and the performance weights coming into the equation, it was never going to be an easy time for anybody this season.

“There were several occasions throughout the season, as well as some more today. In theory, we had the race and the manufacturers’ title in our hands, but we gave it away,” admitted Gass, who went on to talk about drive-through penalties being issued for any contact incident made this season.

“The DTM champion would have probably spent half the race in the pit lane, but that’s the decision and we have to live with it. We can only blame ourselves, as we did not manage to get the maximum out of it.

Audi Sport would have potentially had a repeat of last year, when it came to the manufacturers’ crown, but missed out by just seven points when the race finished.

It may have difficult for Audi Sport to have to come away from Hockenheim without any titles to their credit, as did Mercedes last year, but that will help to refocus and motivate them towards the forthcoming 2016 campaign.