Jamie Green pleased with debut Audi season so far
Jamie Green would give himself “eight or nine points [out of ten]” for how he is driving at Audi, since switching from Mercedes at the end of the 2012 season.
Green, who began his DTM career in 2005, spent eight season with Mercedes and took eight victories from his time with the Stuttgart manufacturer, until he decided to move to Audi over the winter to partner Mattias Ekström at the Abt Sportsline team.
The Briton has only scored points at the Lausitzring so far, but says he would give himself “eight or nine points” for how he has performed in his first half season with the team, despite lying 13th in the drivers’ standing.
“I see myself with eight or nine points for my acclimatization with the RS5,” Green told TouringCarTimes. “Every lap I complete brings me ever closer to the 10 points, [but] unfortunately, the good experience with the team and car is still not reflected in the results.”
However, Green gave himself 10 out of 10 for how he was welcomed into Audi’s squad, as he was the only entirely new driver to join the Ingolstadt manufacturer.
“[I’d give myself] 10 points if it is just about how I was welcomed at Audi and in my team,” he said. “I was the only new driver to join this tightly knit community, which has known itself for years, so it certainly shouldn’t be taken for granted that you are integrated so quickly and smoothly.”
The Abt Sportsline driver also feels his championship position is unrepresentative of how he has driven this season, and believes that the close nature of this season’s DTM field, as well as some bad luck, has not allowed him to score more.
“I think that more points would have been possible. At Hockenheim, I lost 35 seconds due to unfortunate penalties and had to settle for 14th place.
“In Spielberg, a tardy pit stop cost me possible points, and at the Norisring, I was involved in some barging and had to retire later due to a gearbox problem.
“With the performance parity in the DTM being as close as it is, everything simply has to fall into place if you want to finish in the top ten, and unfortunately, this has only been the case at the Lausitzring so far.
“However, we still have another five races to go and I’m optimistic that I can score a lot more points before the end of the season.”
