Totally focused on the DTM Championship
Before the start of the DTM test drives in March, I spent a lot of time in
training and preparation. This included a fitness camp in Lanzarote, kart
racing, and visits to international ski stars and Swiss BWT colleagues at
the legendary Lauberhorn races.
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DTM Hockenheim (D)
After a few, but successful, test days with the new, superfast DTM turbo cars (over 600 hp), the season’s opener in Hockenheim began in the traditional way on the May Day weekend. On the Saturday, a temperature of around 5 degrees plus rain made our lives difficult, and we also struggled with a problem with our car. However, 8th place enabled us to contain the damage and still open the season with some points. On the Sunday, the rain stayed away and we were able to record our first really fast lap times. The 4-cylinder DTM turbo generation is even faster than last year’s by about 3 seconds! For me, personally, the second day of racing went much better. Starting from 4th place, I fought my way immediately into 2nd place and started chasing the leader. Unfortunately, the safety car was used at an unfavourable time, which ruined our strategy and, with it, the chance of victory. However, with a strong 2nd place, our season was now definitely under way.
MotoGP Star Andrea Dovizioso
During the short break between the opening races, I had the honour of introducing our mega guest starter and MotoGP star, Andrea Dovizioso, to the world of DTM. I accompanied him on his simulator sessions and on his first test drives in the Audi RS5 DTM.