DTM: Antonio Giovinazzi delighted with strong DTM debut in Moscow

By Tarek Ramchani

Antonio Giovinazzi debuted last weekend in the demanding Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters at the Moscow Raceway. The Italian driver replaced Timo Scheider behind the wheel of the Audi Sport Team Phoenix run Audi RS 5 DTM.

Antonio Giovinazzi who leads the competitive FIA Formula 3 European Championship performed very well in the Russian round of the DTM. He was fast and impressive in the practice and qualifying sessions and battled very well in the two races.

The talented Italian driver was delighted by his performances first time out in the DTM

“An exciting weekend. Thanks to the tremendous support by the team and by Audi I managed to improve session by session in my DTM debut.”

“On Sunday, I was only lacking three tenths from the pole position of my team-mate Mike (Rockenfeller). Unfortunately, in the race itself I was hit early by a rival and lost a lot of ground. Afterwards, I had a lonely race. My lap times were good and I learned a lot.”

“It was a great experience, ‘thanks’ to everyone for this opportunity. Now I’m going to concentrate on the battle for the title in Formula 3 again.”

Photo credit: Audi Media

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DTM: Sensational pole position for Mike Rockenfeller in Moscow qualifying 2

By Tarek Ramchani

The Audi brand had an amazing second DTM qualifying session at the Moscow Raceway. Mike Rockenfeller took a sensational pole position with his #99 Audi RS 5 DTM.

The Audi Sport Team Phoenix ace set the fastest time in the session with a quick 1:28.540 . A fully deserved result for Rocky after some ups and downs this year in the demanding Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.

Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) was second fastest in the session. However following a grid penalty Eki will have to start from position five on the grid. The double DTM champion set a personal best time of 1:28.578.

Jaime Green (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) was fifth fastest overall but will start the race from position four ahead of Mattias Ekström.

Nico Mueller (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) had a solid qualifying session with the sixth fastest time.

The other Audi drivers were outside the top-ten. Edoardo Mortara (Audi Sport Team Abt) was thirteenth. Antonio Giovinazzi (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) was sixteenth. Miguel Molina (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) was ninteenth. Adrien Tambay (Audi Sport Team Abt) was twentieth.

The second race will follow next, a 1-hour + 1 lap event with featuring a mandatory pit-stop.

Photo credit: Audi Media

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DTM: Antonio Giovinazzi joins Audi Sport Team Phoenix in Moscow Raceway

Audi Press Release

Audi is again giving a promising junior driver an opportunity in the DTM. The 21-year-old Italian Antonio Giovinazzi will be contesting the two DTM races at Moscow Raceway (Russia) for Audi Sport Team Phoenix.
The leader of the European Formula 3 Championship will be competing in the AUTO TEST Audi RS 5 DTM that is normally driven by Timo Scheider (D). The 2008 and 2009 DTM Champion has been excluded from the DTM event at Moscow by the sports court of the German Motorsport Association (DMSB).

Matching his year of birth, 1993, Giovinazzi, who hails from Martina Franca in southern Italy, will be driving car number ’93.’ The Italian had left a strong impression in an Audi Sport DTM evaluation of young drivers at the end of the past season and confirmed it in DTM tests at the Lausitzring in June.

For the DTM’s Russian round this weekend, Giovinazzi had been scheduled as the driver of an Audi RS 5 DTM race taxi for the first time. Now, the Italian is making his debut in the internationally popular touring car racing series that will start with the rollout on Friday at 12.00, local time (11.00 CEST).

The first of the two races at Moscow Raceway will start on Saturday at 16.33 (from approx. 15.20, CEST, live on ‘Das Erste’), the second race on Sunday at 16.13 (from 15.00, CEST, live on ‘Das Erste’).

Photo credit: Audi Media

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