Hockenheimring II: News from the Audi DTM team

An emotional last DTM weekend was experienced by Christian Abt, who is the only driver besides Bernd Schneider to have contested the DTM in all eight seasons since 2000. For a party held at the Audi VIP Hospitality on Friday night, which -- in addition to numerous names from the DTM -- was attended by private friends as well, the Hofmuhl brewery donated 120 cases of Bavarian "weissbier". The special attraction of the gift was the label on the bottles emblazoned with a picture of the racer as well as a message saying "Christian's Weissbier. Brewed according to the 1967 Bavarian full-throttle rules". Numerous team members had signed their names on a banner, three other banners spanning a total area of almost 1,000 square metres were suspended above the heads of the fans in the stands during the formation of the starting grid. Finally, just before his 84th DTM race, Christian Abt was presented with a specially designed motor scooter by the ITR and all his racing colleagues.

Laurent Aiello returned to the DTM for a weekend. The Frenchman, who was the 2002 Champion in the Abt-Audi TT-R, came to Hockenheim to bid his former teammate Christian Abt farewell and to keep his fingers crossed for Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline. At the farewell party for Christian Abt Aiello performed the role of the DJ. Together with his compatriot Alexandre Premat and Premat's father rugby fan Aiello at the Audi Hospitality on Saturday night watched the semi-final game in the World Rugby Championship, which France was leading until six minutes before the end, and then lost to England.

Numerous top executives of AUDI AG would not miss the DTM finale. They included Rupert Stadler (Chairman of the Board), Michael Dick (Board Member, Technical Development), Frank Dreves (Board Member, Production), Axel Strotbek (Board Member, Finance and Organisation), Ralph Weyler (Board Member, Marketing and Sales), Wolfgang Egger (Head of Design, Audi Corporation), Peter Mosch (Chairman, Joint Works Council) and Norbert Rank (Chairman, Works Council, Neckarsulm Plant).

DTM spectators at Hockenheim were able to marvel at two major new launches only a few weeks after their world debut at the IAA (Frankfurt Motor Show): The new Audi A4 was as much a crowd-puller in the manufacturer's exhibition area as the 580-hp Audi RS 6 Avant.

The junior band Lexington Bridge visited the DTM finale and the garage of Audi factory driver Timo Scheider. The five band members come from the United Kingdom, the United States and the Netherlands and have been causing a sensation around the world with their songs and live performances.

The French musician and GT racer David Hallyday witnessed the race at Hockenheim as a guest of Audi Sport Team Phoenix. At the beginning of October Team Manager Frank Lynn had experienced an exclusive concert by the pop and rock singer in Paris.

Martin Tomczyk in his capacity as ambassador of the not-for-profit foundation "Wings for Life" received a donation at Hockenheim. Reinhold Frey from the Business Association Rosenheim handed over a cheque in the amount of 2,000 euros to the racer. The funds were previously raised during the Rosenheim Golf Days sponsored by the association.

Three members of the big Audi motorsport family were deployed to Hockenheim as race taxi drivers: Le Mans winner Marco Werner and Thed Bjork, who contests the Swedish Touring Car Championship for Audi, piloted the two DTM race taxis. Frank Stippler, who - with support from quattro GmbH - is active in Sweden as well this year, chauffeured the RS 4 race taxi at Hockenheim.

Nine Olympic athletes, who will be competing in Beijing in 2008, came into close contact with the DTM at Hockenheim as guests of the ITR: Alexandra Engelhardt (wrestling), Stefan Holtz (canoe), Niklas Meinert (hockey), Jurgen Spieß (weight lifting), Jorg Mazur (weight lifting), Andreas Propp (boxing) and Bjorn Goldschmidt (canoe) got a first-hand experience of the DTM during an Audi pitlane tour.

-creditL audi