Jamie Green and Mattias Ekström can hardly wait to get behind the wheel of their Audi RS 5 DTM cars at Zandvoort next weekend. Like most DTM drivers, the two Audi race drivers are great fans of the challenging track on the Dutch North Sea coast.
“I love Zandvoort, it’s a cool track,” Green said at an Audi telephone press conference on Wednesday. “For me, Zandvoort is the track of the year,” Mattias Ekström affirmed. “There are only few comparable circuits in the world. The fast right-hand turn at the end of sector one is the best corner of the season. Plus, the best DTM races are always held at Zandvoort. Overtaking opportunities are good there, even without DRS. If it was up to me, Zandvoort would remain on the DTM calendar forever.”
Green and Ekström appreciate the special challenge of the 4.307-kilometer roller-coaster track in the dunes. “I have more butterflies in my stomach there than on other race tracks,” said Mattias Ekström. “You need more concentration when you drive there. If you make a mistake, you end up in the gravel or in the guard rails.”
“It’s good that in the DTM we’re racing on such a classic race track instead of only on modern circuits,” said Jamie Green. “There are fast corners, slow corners, and the track is interesting to drive.”
On Thursday, Green will be arriving directly from England, where he is currently spending his summer vacation with his family. “I’ve got my motorhome with me, we’re going to do some trackside camping,” he related.
Ekström in his privately fielded Audi S1 EKS RX won the Swedish World Rallycross Championship round at Höljes for the second consecutive time last weekend and has been on the top step of the DTM podium at Zandvoort an amazing four times. “Obviously, collecting trophies and spraying champagne is always fun,” said Ekström. “But I know that results in sports are perishable goods: next weekend, the cards will be reshuffled, so the past will be of no interest.”
When it comes to assessing their own chances, both Audi drivers practice restraint in view of the different performance weights. At Zandvoort, they can account for as much as 0.5 seconds per lap, according to the computer simulation of the Audi Sport engineers. “I’m going to let myself be surprised about where we stand,” Ekström commented. “I believe that without the performance weights Audi would have dominated the season so far. That’s why I’m eager to see how we’ll look compared with Mercedes. We’ll be driving with the same weight for the first time since the Hockenheim season opener.”
Green: “It’s not easy to say how the relative strengths will pan out and how strong BMW will be in view of the significant weight advantage they have. But in the past, the track at Zandvoort always suited Audi better than the Norisring and in terms of weight we’re in a better position than we were two weeks ago as well.”
