Audi surprised by speed of new car
Audi have admitted that they did not expect their new A4 to be as strong as it was at Hockenheim last weekend
The new-shape car dominated the DTM season opener, with Mattias Ekstrom, Timo Scheider and Tom Kristensen locking out the podium places.
Aside from Paul di Resta, Mercedes drivers offered little threat to Audi, leading to the new car receiving plenty of praise from its drivers.
"The development we have done with this car is really good," Ekstrom told autosport.com. "I have to say the car surprised me a little bit.
"I can enter the corners exactly how I wish, keep a nice drift, and there are no surprises on track. I always said my 1999 Super Touring car was the best I have ever driven, but I think this is better."
Kristensen, who made up for a scrappy qualifying performance by working his way up to third, added that Audi had worked particularly hard on making their car better for Hockenheim.
"We have concentrated a lot in the winter for Hockenheim, because there are two races here," the Dane told autosport.com. "We were focused on being fast here, but to be honest, this car is better than we expected."
Despite the strong start to the season, Audi's head of motorsport Wolfgang Ullrich is expecting Mercedes to fight back.
"We have developed a completely new car and the base is great," said Ullrich. "But maybe our guys just got it right for this weekend.
"We have to keep going flat out. We have a very strong competitor and if we stop trying for a second that is a big error."
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