Mattias Ekström: “It was really bad”

Mattias Ekström had his so far worst DTM race of the season at Nürburgring. He struggled in qualifying with 12th on the grid, a result he improved by just one position in the race.
“It was a disappointment to qualify 12th, but I can’t blame anyone buy me. We didn’t have the setups where we should on the car, so it was really bad,” said Ekström.

The Swede lost a couple of positions in the first part of the race, but was able to fight back up and was close to Augusto Farfus Jr. in the end to fight for the final point.
“When starting 12th, there isn’t much to expect than to go backwards. I made a pretty poor start and I had to fight hard,” said Ekström.

The Audi driver has dropped to seventh in the championship but hopes to bounce back this weekend as the DTM heads to Zandvoort, a track where Ekström has been successful.
“Fortunately I don’t have to grieve for long as we get a new try this weekend. Zandvoort is one of my favorite tracks. I’ve driven many races there and have a lot of fond memories – for instance of my first DTM victory in 2002. After a few weekends on which we found ourselves struggling I’m hoping for a straightforward and solid race,” said Ekström.