DTM goes to Brands Hatch with Matthias Ekström in confident mood.
The seventh round of the 2009 DTM championship sees the contenders for the title make the short trip across the Channel to the famous Brands Hatch circuit on the outskirts of London. With just one point separating leader Timo Schneider from the Swedish double champion, and with both their teams level on points, the end of season promises to be the usual mêlée of confusion
Ekström hasn’t driven his Red Bull Audi A4 DTM to victory so far this year, but with a string of podiums, the Swede is confident of ending that streak soon. “I know the track suits me, and Audi in general, and it’s one of the tracks I like the most. When we came here last year I was confident all weekend, but had a problem in qualifying. Without any issues I should do well.”
Having won at Brands in 2006, Ekström is well acquainted with its mix of fast and slow corners and rates his chances – but when the series title is up for grabs, winning the race is not the ultimate prize. “I am quite boosted by seeing the championship so close this year, and while fighting for victories is, of course, what I’m trying to do, delivering a good, consistent job is what’s important for the championship.
With Canada’s Bruno Spengler and former champion Gary Paffett only trailing by a few points, it’s very possible that 2009 might go down to the wire. “I think from the perspective of the series, it would be fantastic if the championship fight went down to the last few laps of the final race,” says Ekström.
“There are four races left, and I hope everybody stays on track and runs clean; if we have that then we might see the championship go that far – in fact if everyone gets to the finish then it will probably be exactly like but – it’s only if people retire from races that we’ll see the table change dramatically.”
“I think my chances are good: being one point behind isn’t where I’d like to be, but the aim is to be one point ahead at the end of the year. There are 40 points to race for and I feel quite confident we have the capacity to do the job.”
Comments
Add a comment