World premiere of the Audi A5 DTM at the IAA

World premiere of the Audi A5 DTM at the IAA

􀀁 Presentation of the new DTM race car in Frankfurt

􀀁 50,000 fans for Audi Sport on Facebook

􀀁 Mattias Ekström serves on “Golden Steering Wheel” judging panel

Ingolstadt, September 11, 2011 – Audi is making a clear commitment to its

newest motorsport project with a world premiere at the Frankfurt International

Motor Show: At the 64th IAA the new DTM race car of the brand for the 2012

season will be unveiled to the public.

Debut in Frankfurt: Before the official opening of the IAA the new Audi A5 DTM will

be presented to members of the media from all over the world on Monday evening.

From Tuesday onward, it will be showcased throughout the motor show. The race

car bearing the internal designation “R17” succeeds the A4 DTM that has been used

since 2004. The new A5 DTM rings in a new era starting in 2012: The DTM, Europe’s

most popular touring car series, is shining with the passive safety of its vehicles

which has been clearly enhanced yet again. At the same time, the costs are going

down.

Grand stage for the Audi driver squad: Eight Audi DTM drivers will be on hand to

sign autographs and give interviews at the IAA, at Audi and partner locations as well

as on the ARD stage: Filipe Albuquerque, Rahel Frey, Miguel Molina, Edoardo

Mortara, Oliver Jarvis, Mike Rockenfeller, Timo Scheider and leader of the

standings Martin Tomczyk will be in Frankfurt on different days between

September 19 and 25. On Tuesday the Le Mans winners Marcel Fässler, André

Lotterer and Benoît Tréluyer will be attending the Audi press conference.

50,000 fans: On Thursday night Audi Sport reached the 50,000th fan on Facebook

– within just three months. The lucky fan will receive a model of the Audi R18 TDI

with autographs by Timo Bernhard/Romain Dumas/Mike Rockenfeller, the 2010 Le

Mans winners. In personal video messages Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang

Ullrich, Tom Kristensen, Mike Rockenfeller and Mattias Ekström thanked the loyal

supporters. The Audi Sport page on Facebook can be accessed at

www.facebook.com/AudiSport.

R18 TDI meets R8C: A meeting of two vehicle generations took place as part of the

ILMC race program at Silverstone. Audi had organized a photo shoot of the Audi

R8C from 1999 and the current Audi R18 TDI. The R8C was Audi’s first closedwheel

Le Mans prototype. After nine triumphs with open-wheel vehicles the brand

with the four rings celebrated the first Le Mans victory with a coupe in 2011 –

twelve years after the R8C’s debut. Both prototypes were also showcased in the

Audi Fan Area at Silverstone.

Team spirit: Dindo Capello, Marco Bonanomi, Romain Dumas and Mike

Rockenfeller visited their team-mates from Le Mans at the ILMC race at Silverstone.

DTM driver Oliver Jarvis kept his fingers crossed for Audi Sport Team Joest as well.

“Vorsprung durch Technik” made visible: Audi has published a photo of the carbon

monocoque of the Le Mans winning R18 TDI. Thanks to a new manufacturing

process developed by Audi the cell of the LMP1 sports car features a one-piece

design which makes it extremely sturdy while minimizing weight. Carbon will play

an increasingly important role in the development of production vehicles as well.

The Audi urban concept to be presented at the IAA also has a monocoque made of

carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP).

Worth their weight in gold: Mattias Ekström is serving on the 2011 panel of judges

for the “Golden Steering Wheel.” The Audi factory is thus a member of the group of

experts who test and evaluate the latest generation of automobiles. The publishing

house Axel-Springer-Verlag has been awarding the “Golden Steering Wheel” for the

best new car launches since 1976. The awards will be presented in Berlin on

November 9.

24 hours of karting fun: Audi factory driver Rahel Frey contested the Berlin 24

Hours last weekend. Together with Miriam Hofbauer, Andrina Gugger, Isabella

Lauer and Lisa Gruber the Swiss competed for the Speedladies kart team. Despite an

early technical defect and the resulting loss of several laps the quick ladies achieved

9th place and set the third-fastest race lap. Overall victory went to a crew of

mechanics from Audi Sport Team Phoenix, Rahel Frey’s race team in the DTM.

Stars at the controls: Alongside the DTM at Oschersleben the “Audi DTM Challenge”

– a round of the rallye racing Carrera Cup slot car racing series – will be held on

Saturday night. The DTM drivers Mattias Ekström, Rahel Frey, Miguel Molina, Mike

Rockenfeller and Martin Tomczyk will compete in the event as well.

Presence in Leuna: Audi factory driver Martin Tomczyk will be on hand to talk with

invited members of the media next Thursday at a press conference about the race at

Oschersleben. The leader of the standings will be answering the journalists’

questions at the “nova eventis” shopping and event world in Leuna starting at 11

a.m.

It wins and wins and wins: The Audi R8, with a track record of 63 triumphs the most

successful LMP1 cars of all time, celebrated another victory last weekend at the U.S.

Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen (USA).

A brief interview with ... Mike Rockenfeller

At Silverstone you had the opportunity to witness an ILMC race as a spectator for

a change. What were your impressions?

This wasn’t a completely new experience for me. I once watched the race at Road

Atlanta as a reserve driver. It’s always nice to be at a race track. I love motorsport

even when I’m not driving myself. Of course I prefer sitting in the car. But it’s also

good to keep your fingers crossed for the guys for a change and to be part of the

team. It’s also very special for me because I hadn’t seen many of them since Le

Mans. I was happy to meet all of them again. And it was nice that the mechanics

were pleased to see me go to the pits during the race. Le Mans was a very emotional

experience for me – this year unfortunately it was a negative one and not as positive

as after the victory in 2010. So that made it good to come back here again. And the

sports car races are simply great. It’s also fun watching it from the pits.

How do you assess the race?

It was obvious that the Audi R18 TDI was very strong and on an equal footing with

the competition. But you could also see that you’ve got to have the perfect race if

you want to have a chance of victory. The battle at the front of the field is incredibly

close. You can’t afford the slightest mistake and also need a bit of luck. Audi

unfortunately didn’t have that at Silverstone.

You’ll be racing again next week in the DTM at Oschersleben. With what

expectations will you be traveling to that event?

The aim, clearly, is to win the race. I really like the track. I was running well there

even in Formula König and in the Porsche Carrera Cup and did some tests at

Oschersleben in my early days as a racer. The track is challenging and suits me

pretty well. That’s why I’m particularly looking forward to it. I’m hoping for us to

achieve a good set-up again in order to make it onto the two front rows as I last did

at Brands Hatch.

Coming up next week

Sep 17 Sepang (MAL), MMER 12-hour race

Sep 18 Oschersleben (D), DTM, round 8

Sep 18 Vallelunga (I), Italian GT Championship, round 6

Sep 18 Assen (NL), ADAC GT Masters, round 7

Sep 18 Portimao (P), Portuguese GT Championship, round 4

Audi Sport/ for Acreditated and Autorized Press.