Ekstrom predicts more success
Mattias Ekstrom believes that Audi can now take the fight to Mercedes at any circuit after their win at Hockenheim
The German track has traditionally suited Mercedes far better than Audi, but Ekstrom was able to take the first Audi win since 2002 in this year's season-opener.
"If you can win at Hockenheim fair and square you can win anywhere," Ekstrom told autosport.com.
"The push that everybody gave over the winter was a little bit more than in other years, and I think that this was a well-deserved victory for us."
Ekstrom's victory was partly down to his strategy of taking his two pitstops early in the race to get into clear track.
However, once he was out of the traffic his pace was strong, and although it soon became clear that he would be leading once his rivals had pitted, he felt that he would have a hard time holding them off with worn tyres.
"I didn't really care about my position in the middle of the race, I just went flat out," he said. "It was only the last three laps that I looked in my mirror and I started to realise that they would not catch me.
"I'm not really surprised that we have won there, it was time for us to win and we deserved it."
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