With four of their six drivers still with a chance of taking the 2017 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters crown this season, it will be a difficult task for Audi Sport to steal a march on their rivals this weekend at the Nürburgring.
After further changes to the performance weights, which has not received any plaudits, the Ingolstadt marque’s six RS5 DTMs will have to drive around the 3.629-km sprint circuit with an additional 25 kilograms of ballast.
“At first, this may sound like ‘mission impossible’ for our drivers,” admitted Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass, whose team is still currently leading the constructors’ standings with 518 points with just three weekends in the season to go.
“In spite of the difficult situation at the Nürburgring, we have to try to score important points and not exclusively focus on victories or the podium.”
Current points leader Mattias Ekström is edging closer to a third title, having taken his last a decade ago, and is leading stablemate René Rast by 14 points coming into this round. But the Swede is aware of the situation that he and his fellow Audi drivers are in.
“We’re going to have an extremely difficult time, especially in qualifying,” admitted the Team Abt Sportsline driver, whose consistency, despite a lack of race wins, has kept him in the hunt.
“But those who know me know that I always fight and never give up. I’m traveling to the Nürburgring with a 14-point advantage and would like to defend my lead of the standings there as well.”