| The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters recently | | | | to pass. The Swede also had the support of his pit |
| concluded its season and Swedish Mattias Ekstrom | | | | crew and when he entered the pit lane, the team did |
| captured his fifth title in the final race of the season. | | | | an efficient job giving him more time to catch up with |
| The Swede has won the DTM championship for Audi | | | | the field. In contrast, Spengler pitted in early thus |
| AG in 1990, 1991, 2002, and 2004. Audi Sport Team | | | | making it tough for him to catch up with the rest of the |
| Abt Sportsline also clinched the title for the team class. | | | | field. |
| This year, Audi has been very successful in | | | | The Swede finished third in the end beating Spengler |
| motorsports. The marque's diesel racecar has won the | | | | who finished fourth. Ekstrom admitted that the race |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans for the second consecutive | | | | was not an easy one for him. "My race was very |
| year. At the American Le Mans, the R10 TDI | | | | difficult from the beginning," said Ekstrom. |
| dominated the LM P1 class winning all the races so far. | | | | "When the situation had calmed down a little bit I was |
| And the recent coronation at the DTM gave Audi the | | | | able to drive very fast and the car was good. But |
| reputation of being a heavyweight in motorsports. | | | | after six, seven laps it started oversteering. It got |
| Rupert Stadler, the Chairman of the Board of Audi AG, | | | | worse and worse. I fought and fought - and, still, the |
| commented: "All Audi employees and Audi customers | | | | situation got really close in the end. That I managed to |
| can be proud of this triumph, which is the crowning of | | | | see the chequered flag in front of Bruno (Spengler) |
| our successful 2007 motorsport season. Winning the | | | | was simply nice. So far I haven't even really relished |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans, the American Le Mans Series | | | | the feeling because the race was so exciting. I'll only |
| and the DTM in the same year is a fantastic team | | | | be able to truly fathom this exploit a few hours from |
| achievement." | | | | now," commented the champion after the race. |
| Going into the final race of the season, the Swede | | | | Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich, the head of Audi motorsport, said: |
| needed only to place third to clinch the title. His nearest | | | | "It was a great finale for the spectators with thrilling |
| rival is Mercedes-Benz' Bruno Spengler. With that in | | | | touring car racing at its best from the beginning to the |
| mind, the team went into the race with a strategy | | | | end. Mattias (Ekström) took the decision into his |
| focused on the Mercedes-Benz driver. Ekstrom only | | | | own hands and managed to bring home the title. I think |
| need to finish ahead of Spengler to clinch the | | | | we deserve the championship and are a worthy |
| championship which he eventually did. | | | | champion. We did a great job. I want to thank all the |
| The Swede took the lead on the first lap of the race | | | | members of the teams who had a part in this." |
| starting from the second row. The driver knowing that | | | | Audi is a part of Volkswagen AG, the largest |
| he does not need to win to clinch the championship | | | | European automaker, and the manufacturer of reliable |
| drove conservatively. When Mercedes-Benz' Jamie | | | | VW headlight covers. |
| Green attacked his lead, Ekstrom cleverly allowed him | | | | |