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The managing director of quattro GmbH about the victory of the new Audi R8 LMS in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring and the successful premiere of the Audi Sport TT Cup. The first fielding of the new Audi R8 LMS in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring resulting in an immediate victory – was this to be expected? This was probably not to be expected, especially when you hit the track with such a new car. Of course we intensively worked toward this race and every one of us was hoping to win. But it wasn’t something we should have expected. Impressive for a lot of people was the fact that the new R8 LMS was running without any technical issues whatsoever – that’s something that can’t be taken for granted with a new car, especially not on the Nordschleife. You’re right, that’s definitely not to be taken for granted. Of course we intensively prepared and did a lot of testing. We also made a few improvements in recent weeks. But with a new car there’s always a certain amount of uncertainty left. So, as far as that’s concerned, we’re happy that the cars ran as reliably as they did. Obviously, we’re now going to take them apart and look at what else we may be able to improve for the next races and particularly before delivering them to our customer teams. The victory in the 24-hour race happened right in time for the start of the advance sale of the new production R8. You couldn’t wish for a car to have a better start. The advance sale began a week ago – and now this victory. That a new race car and the production model are being presented at the same time has never happened before in Audi’s history. What has been the response by the customer teams to the new R8 LMS? It’s been very positive even before this weekend. But of course we’re now under pressure to build and sell even more cars due to this victory. But you couldn’t wish for a better type of pressure than this. This victory should also be a sweet reward for the squad that worked hard in the past weeks and months.

Audi has rewarded Nicolaj Møller Madsen for his good job in the Audi Sport TT Cup. The Danish racing driver led the „social media buzz ranking“ after the season opener. As a reward Nicolaj Møller Madsen, who lies second in the championship, was presented with two VIP tickets for the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Just before the start of the endurance race, he did a lap of honor in the 310 hp Audi TT cup car on the Nordschleife.

In addition to the title win in DTM, Audi driver Mattias Ekström is pursuing another aim this year. The Swede would like to become champion in the FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX) with his private rallycross team EKS. “My focus this year is clearly on the DTM title with Audi, but I’m very happy that I’m additionally able to compete in World RX as a driver and as the team boss,” says Ekström. The 36-year-old will personally be taking the wheel of an Audi S1 EKS RX quattro in selected races. The second EKS rallycross supercar is driven by Ekström’s compatriot Anton Marklund, who is on the grid of the new Audi Sport TT Cup as well.

The season opener at Hockenheim (April 30 to May 3) will include a round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX) in which Mattias Ekström caused a sensation last year with his privately fielded Audi S1 EKS RX quattro – including a victory in the World RX round in Sweden. Hockenheim will also be seeing the inaugural event of the Audi Sport TT Cup. Therefore, Audi fans have three good reasons to travel to the DTM opener this time. Tickets are available online at www.audi-motorsport.com.

The Audi driver about the DTM festival at Hockenheim and the planned joint appearance of the DTM and FIA Rallycross World Championship (World RX). You’re a DTM driver and owner of a private rallycross team. How do you view the joint appearance of DTM and World RX at Hockenheim? It’s fantastic that this is coming off. The ITR and the IMG have been working on this for a long time behind the scenes. As a rallycross team boss, I’m delighted about the RX supercars being allowed to race in front of such a great crowd at the Hockenheim Motodrom. As a DTM driver, I’m delighted about the DTM opener becoming even more interesting as a whole and that additional fans will be traveling to Hockenheim. It’s a win-win situation for both – the DTM and the World RX. But the fans are the true winners. What can the spectators look forward to on the first weekend in May? To two of the best racing series that currently exist in the world, with fascinating race cars such as the Red Bull Audi RS 5 DTM and our Audi S1 EKS RX quattro – currently the only Audi in motorsport with conventional quattro drive. In addition, there’ll be the inaugural event of the new Audi Sport TT Cup. It’ll be a unique opportunity to experience all this on a single weekend not to be missed by any fan. I’m sure that the best tickets for the DTM festival will quickly be sold. The DTM had a long winter break. Now the action will soon be starting again, with testing scheduled at Portimão (Portugal) for the beginning of March. Are you looking forward to sitting in the DTM cockpit again? As long as there’s still snow on the ground here I’m still finding a bit difficult to think about a DTM race. But the upcoming track tests are sending a clear signal that we’ll be starting again soon. And that’s good. The new DTM season with its new format and the additional races promises plenty of suspense. You’ll be competing in car #5 in the DTM this year – that’s the number you clinched your first title with in 2004. A good omen?

The Audi factory driver about new sporting challenges, the modified DTM format, his own race team – and personal news. The new DTM season will start in two months from now. How have you been using the winter break? I’m a person that constantly needs new challenges. That’s why I’ve set myself a particularly ambitious goal for the time until the DTM season starts. From March 15 to 22, I’ll be competing with the factory-backed team of the bike manufacturer Bulls in the Cape Epic in South Africa, which – as many say – is the world’s toughest mountain bike race. I’m facing 740 grueling kilometers and 16,000 meters of cumulative elevation gain that I’ve got to complete in eight days. I’m incredibly excited but also a little nervous. And as I’d obviously like to finish the race my training program is particularly focused on endurance at the moment. And losing a bit of weight would be good too. That’s why my diet these days is low-carb, with no sweets – that’s pretty difficult. And how hard will it be for you to adjust to the new DTM format? In the future, there’ll be two races per weekend. I see that in a very positive light. After all, I was one of the people who strongly supported this change. I’m a racer and would like to drive as much as possible. In addition, we can offer even more action to the DTM fans this way and have the chance to score points twice on a single weekend. From the perspective of the whole season, these 18 races will make it easier for us to compensate for a retirement by achieving a good result. This will make the championship even more thrilling. The newly formed Audi Sport TT Cup is adding further value to the season. You’re also personally committed to promoting young drivers and will be entering the new ADAC Formula 4, the successor series of the ADAC Formel Masters, with your own team in 2015. What’s the current state of this project?

First, the fitness camp of the 18 international talents of the Audi Sport TT Cup was on the agenda. As the project leader of the new Audi one-make cup, how did you experience the five days in the Allgäu? In beautiful surroundings, it was fascinating to see how quickly the 18 young women and men from 13 nations became a team. With that, we achieved our first aim for the fitness camp. At the same time, it was important for us to show each single entrant their personal fitness level and to create optimum prerequisites for the first test at Barcelona in the process. From the Allgäu, the 18 entrants immediately traveled via Munich on to Spain for the track tests. What’s your assessment? For me and for everybody in the team it was an impressive experience when the engines of the Audi TT cup cars were started on Saturday morning and the entrants went out on track for the first time. I’m truly impressed by the performance of the car and our young drivers did an outstanding job too. The instructors, Markus Winkelhock and Marco Werner, expressly praised how quickly the 18 entrants familiarized themselves with the TT cup and how meticulously they worked out their individual set-ups. Based on the data analysis, we’re now entering the crucial weeks before the start of the season. There are 55 days left until the inaugural race of the Audi Sport TT Cup. What’s still on your agenda before the season opens at the Hockenheimring? We’re going to process the findings we gained from the test together with our colleagues from technical development. At the same time, we’re preparing for the second test of the season to be held in April. That’s when the drivers, in addition to covering more test kilometers, are going to practice specific things such as the starting procedure.

Two weeks before the start of the Audi Sport TT Cup, preparations for the new Audi one-make cup are now on the ‘finish straight.’ All 24 race cars have been assembled for the inaugural event. Currently, they are in the process of receiving their liveries for the first race weekend at the Hockenheimring and are being set up for rounds 1 and 2 at the beginning of May. The graphics of the six guest driver vehicles that will be on the grid as part of the DTM season opener supporting program will feature a special design and be a surprise.