Audi A4 DTM from last season
Audi Sport will be keen to defend its title against Mercedes newcomer Ralf Schumacher in the DTM touring car championship this season, and on March 4th at the Geneva Motor Show, it'll give us a chance to see the car with which they aim to repeat last year's success. At that time, Audi's two-time champion Mattias Ekstrom will unveil the new A4 DTM, codenamed R14, along with Audi Motorsport chief Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich..
Ingolstadt's touring car engineers have been hard at work on the new A4 DTM for a year now, and following its unveiling to the press, the car will be rushed back to Germany to prepare for the DTM test at the Mugello track in Italy. We'll be on hand to get all the details and angles, so stay tuned, racing fans.
[Source: Audi]
PRESS RELEASE
Sneak preview of the new Audi A4 DTM
Audi Sport engineers and technicians have been working feverishly behind closed doors on the DTM race version of the new Audi A4 for twelve months. Now the time has arrived to present the fruits of their labour to the public for the first time: On Tuesday, 4 March defending champion Mattias Ekström and Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich unveil the new Audi A4 DTM at the Motor Show in Geneva.
The exclusive "Sneak Preview" for the media is held on the second press day in Geneva from 5:00 to 5:30 p.m. on the AUDI AG stand in Hall 1 (stand number 1061). Immediately after the world premiere the new Audi A4 DTM, which bears the project name "R14" internally at Audi Sport, is taken back to Ingolstadt. In the following week at the official DTM test at Mugello (Italy) the new A4 DTM meets the competition for the first time.
"The new Audi A4 DTM looks fantastic and feels good on the race track," reveals DTM Champion Mattias Ekström, who has already intensively tested his new machine. "I can hardly wait for the first race at Hockenheim on 13 April."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Allan @ Feb 27th 2008 6:12PM
WANT!
mctwist16 @ Feb 27th 2008 6:25PM
DTM cars look like mid-class sedans on steroids....which sounds terrible....but there is just something so appealing about them :)
John @ Feb 27th 2008 7:07PM
All I want to know is, Diesel?
randyterpstra @ Feb 28th 2008 10:27AM
A diesel would be a kicker.
But I suspect it will continue using the same Mugen/Honda V8 it used in the past number of seasons.
Tom Winch @ Feb 27th 2008 7:13PM
It would be great to have a DTM type series in the US. Imagine Chevy, Ford, Dodge, & Toyota (and of course Audi & Mercedes & maybe BMW) battling it out on road courses in tube-frame, carbon fiber body, modern racecars (ecu's & fuel injection, instead of carbs & push-rods).
Allan @ Feb 27th 2008 7:27PM
I'm with you... I still think NASCAR would do much better overall if the cars were just slight variations of the ACTUAL car it's supposed to represent. Not all the same cars with different stickers.
I know that's been thrown out there SO much... but come on.
duders @ Feb 27th 2008 10:16PM
+1
I wish any motorsports other then nascar were televised on network stations in the US. I know sometimes they show the F1 series but it's not often. I'd love to see a real stock car series here.
Brendan @ Feb 28th 2008 12:20AM
Duders, you know you can watch every race on SpeedChannel, right? Hope you like late nights or waiting until the following Wednesday to see it though :rolleyes:
fizzandpop @ Feb 27th 2008 8:33PM
Just bring one DTM race over to the US, that would be a start. Don't they now race all over Europe? And Speed, would it kill you to show this? Would it? Do we need more episodes of Unique Whips and Pinks? Can't you just buy the rights to this?
I had another idea the other day. They should make the US version of Top Gear with the cast of Entourage. Eric's the Hampster, Drama is Jay Mays, Ari is Clarkson, Turtle is Top Gear Dog, and Lloyd is The Stig. No room for Vincent.
Tom Winch @ Feb 28th 2008 2:58AM
SPEED TV does show edited DTM races in the off season from November through January. Look for German Touring Car on your TIVO come November. It would be nice if they aired them, (maybe taped because of the time difference), during the summer. My guess is SPEED TV is too wrapped up in NASCAR for that.
B @ Feb 27th 2008 10:31PM
I wonder if it has Audi's usual level of interior refinement
In all seriousness. That is badass looking.
Maestro1 @ Feb 27th 2008 10:41PM
I'm undecided which is more badass...this or Mercedes' C-Class DTM Car...
...Scratch that...they're both equally badass!
Luis @ Feb 28th 2008 12:22AM
This is going to be sooo sweeet! Now if only I could get some coverage on TV...I'm going to miss Mika though...
Brendan @ Feb 28th 2008 12:29AM
I've always loved the big wheel wells on these cars (and even the Grand-Am cars from a couple of years ago), and all the wings and things just make it look cooler. I'd love to see these things roaming the streets with a similar body kit, or see that Mercedes CLK DTM be more than just a limited run.
L.Wood @ Feb 28th 2008 9:52AM
I wonder if the software glitch that caused all of the DTM Audis to exit the second to last race way before the last lap last season has been cleared up. It was really strange to see perfectly good cars pulling into pit lane and then into the garage for no apparent reason. Was it a case of sudden deceleration followed by a complete stop?
DRFS Rich @ Feb 28th 2008 11:08AM
I don't think that was a software glitch. Dr. Ullrich ordered all cars in to protest the Mercedes drivers' questionable driving that entire race.
- R