Ingolstadt, February 27, 2004
Following the successful debut last year, at which the Abt-Audi TT-R
occupied second place overall in its debut 24 Hour race, the team is well
equipped for revenge on the Nordschleife. Team Infineon Abt Sportsline is
currently building up the two race cars that are based on the 2003 vintage
DTM car in their Kempten premises. Parallel to this, the driver line-up for
the latest running of the classic is also confirmed: Christian Abt, Mattias
Ekström and Fredrik Ekblom share one TT-R, Patrick Huisman, Frank
Stippler and Karl Wendlinger take turns at the wheel in the sister car.
Infineon Team Abt Sportsline, who will be supported by quattro GmbH, the
sporting subsidiary of AUDI AG, will enter both the Abt-Audi TT-R cars. In
addition to “S line”, the trademark for the quattro GmbH sporting kits, Audi
Original Parts and Infineon are already confirmed as partners. The six
drivers to start at the Nürburgring have intimate knowledge of the
Nordschleife. The two Audi works drivers Christian Abt (Germany) and
Mattias Ekström (Sweden) – both of whom are running in the DTM with an
Audi A4 – will be supported by Ekström’s fellow countryman Fredrik
Ebklom, who won the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) last
year in an Audi A4.
The other Abt Audi TT-R will be driven by the veterans Patrick Huisman
(Netherlands) and Karl Wendlinger (Austria), who also started for Abt-Audi
in the DTM over the last two years and who steered the second placed
number eight car at the Nordschleife last year. The young German Frank
Stippler completes the team.
“We have assembled a powerful squad with a mixture of seasoned
campaigners and youngsters for the 24 Hour race at the Nürburgring,”
says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. A comprehensive test
programme is planned for the forthcoming weeks to prepare themselves
for the marathon twice around the clock.
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