DTM 2014 season preview with Mattias Ekström

There’s much to be excited about for the 2014 DTM season. In addition to two of the 10 races being held in China and Hungary, it’s the sheer level of quality driver line-ups that will make the DTM one of the most exciting series’ to watch this year.

Over the winter, there’s been somewhat of a shake-up amongst the drivers in the DTM, with Andy Priaulx, Filipe Albuquerque and Roberto Merhi all leaving the series. However, the 2014 DTM season will see Swiss driver Nico Müller join Audi from Formula Renault 3.5, and after three seasons in Formula 1, Paul di Resta returns to Mercedes – the manufacturer that helped him win the 2010 DTM title.

Ex-Formula 1 driver Vitaly Petrov will also join him as part of the the Mercedes DTM line up and will become the first Russian to race in the 30-year history of series. In possibly the biggest surprise of the winter, Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team’s third driver, Antonio Felix da Costa, also moved to the DTM to drive one of the new BMW M4 DTMs.

The most tantalising prospect, however, is the number of champions driving in the DTM this year. In addition to Gary Paffett – who claimed the 2005 DTM title – and di Resta at Mercedes, BMW has retained Martin Tomczyk and Bruno Spengler who both respectively took championships in 2011 and 2012.

Over at Audi, it comes as no surprise that Mike Rockenfeller will stay put after he clinched the title with them last year. However, after seven seasons and winning the DTM championship in 2008 and 2009 with the Abt Audi squad, Timo Scheider will join Rockenfeller over at Phoenix Racing. Another integral member of the Audi championship team is Mattias Ekström.

The Swede, who clinched the DTM title in 2004 and 2007, will start his 13th DTM season with the Abt Audi team and at the not-so-old age of 35, is now the most experienced driver on the grid.

With the departure of Scheider to Phoenix and some inter-team switches at Audi, Ekström finds himself partnered by the young trio of Edoardo Mortara, Miguel Molina and Adrien Tambay.

In the run-up to the 2014 DTM season, TouringCarTimes caught up with Ekström to reflect on a DTM career that has netted 17 poles and 17 wins, how age has taught him a thing or two about racing and whether he’ll be acting as a figure of wisdom with his younger team-mates…

TouringCarTimes: This is now your 13th season as a DTM driver with Audi – you’re now the most experienced and also oldest driver on the grid. How do you feel about this?

Mattias Ekström: [I feel] pretty proud, actually. When I started DTM in 2001, I was one of the youngest with the least experience, but now being being the oldest at the age of 35, I think it’s pretty impressive that it’s gone very quick – at least it feels so. I mean when everybody starts – if you’re a rookie – you start and then want to become an established driver.

Then you want to have your first podium, your first win and your first pole position and so on. I think I’ve done quite a lot. Even with the two championships and the wins, I’m still hungry for some more, so it’s a nice feeling to know I’ve managed the road from being a rookie to being established.

TcT: So you have no signs of slowing down yet then? 

ME: No, not really. For the moment, I think my experience can tell me when to push or when to be aggressive and when it’s time not to be. For now – the week before the first race – it feels as good as always, but I have a different attitude in terms of knowing what it takes to have a good year. When you’re younger, over the winter you’re always like “la, la, I’m going to do my best”, but you never know what to expect really.

Now I know what to expect, and I know what I have to do. I know the recipe and that the ingredients are more or less are there to get the job done. In the past, you more or less don’t know what recipe is needed, and you don’t have all the ingredients to know how to do the job the best you can. Getting that right is what I think has been enjoyable over the years.

TcT: Now Timo [Scheider] has moved to Phoenix to partner Rockenfeller, has this put more pressure on you to help out the young guys in team given your experience, or will you be going about business as usual?

ME: It’s very simple really.  All race-drivers are out to look after their own steering wheel, that’s why we have one of them in our cars [laughs]! Sure, the young guys [at Abt] will have to take care of themselves when it comes to sharing information and doing all this and that. It’s also always helpful if you have good team-mates, that’s for sure.

With the four-car team we have at Abt, though, I think there’s a good mixture. I’m the old, experienced one and then Tambay, Molina and Edo [Mortara], they bring some enthusiasm and youth into it. For sure they’re going to be quick as well, so DTM this year is not going to be a walk in the park. It doesn’t matter if you’re team-mates, the whole championship is very competitive.

TcT: How do you feel about the Audi RS 5 DTM this year? Would you agree that the last two seasons have been a bit up and down for you, and judging on what you’ve felt so far, do you think this season will be much of the same?

ME: I think I’ll be able to squeeze out the performance from what we have and so on, but over the years after testing, I’ve been going self-confident sometimes, but I’ve also felt bad. It’s always about being humble and keeping your feet on the floor and taking the problems and issues we have seriously, because… okay, we say ‘problems’, but you have to put them into perspective. You don’t have any problems in an Audi DTM car in terms of driving it around a track.

The things we call ‘problems’ we wouldn’t even mention in our normal life. You can call them performance problems, but you can then say “hey, but you’re a picky race driver who wants everything perfect.” But sure, I do think we have to improve and have some things which can be better. To solve them, it’s reacting as quickly as possibly to get them done.

In terms of how I feel, I think in 2013, I felt pretty good the whole year. Two years ago in 2012, I can agree that that was a year to forget. However, last year, I got a lot of good memories, good races and so-on, so I don’t think there’s any reason why this year shouldn’t be the same. After having now spent a year with my race engineer Florian [Modlinger] and my new guys, that makes everything easier.

I feel a lot less tense, and there’s a lot less tension going into the first round as I know my crew in a different way than I did last year. Yeah, the car looks a bit different but those looks don’t come through the steering wheel. I think we have good material in terms of the car, but you never know where you are until you meet your rivals. That’s when you see whether what you have is good or not. That’s one thing I’ve learnt over the years – next Saturday at Hockenheim is when the bullshit stops!

TcT: Do you have a strategy to help you finish as the best Audi DTM driver in 2014?

ME: To finish as the best Audi? I think it’s a simple strategy. Just look after yourself, and do the best you can. I think the time when you start caring about your rivals, you don’t have enough effort to focus enon yourself. I’m going to give Florian and my data guys all the attention they need, and the kids in the team, for sure they’re always quick as you’ve seen over the years. They’re all good enough to win races, but the trick is to be quick for 10 races, so being fast and being focused over the year is key…