Markus Winkelhock has thanked Audi for giving him the chance to show his tin-top ability after deputising for Tom Kristensen over the last two DTM rounds, even if neither race has gone to plan.
Standing in for the injured Dane at the Lausitz and
Brands Hatch rounds of the campaign, Winkelhock, who last raced in the DTM in 2004 when he competed in a 03-specification Mercedes C-Class, was offered to chance to sample the works prepared 2007 machine.
Although he endured a disappointing race at Lausitz when he qualified lowly and retired early on, Winkelhock hit back at Brands Hatch when he placed his A4 on the fifth row of the grid in ninth.
However, the melee of the Druids bend on the first lap saw the German clipped and spun round, an incident that also damaged his car enough to make the remainder of the race a difficulty.
“The qualifying was not too bad and the start was good too, but someone pushed me and I crashed into Jamie and then I got another push which spun me round, so I had to let the whole field past and that really ended my race,” he told
Crash.net Radio.
“My front-end was quite badly damaged and I had understeer in the quicker corners, so I destroyed my front tyres. So the race was not easy.”
Indeed, Winkelhock was frustrated not to be able to challenge for points at Brands Hatch having put in a sterling qualifying effort, pointing out the double podium for his team-mates revealed the car had pace.
“The target for me was to finish in the points and as Martin and Mattias showed, it was possible to finish on the podium with this car, so I am disappointed I could not show what I was really able to.”
Although yet to be confirmed, Kristensen is expected to be back in the car at the next Norisring round following his return to the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend, prompting Winkelhock to thank the Audi team for the opportunity of racing in the DTM again.
![Markus Winkelhock - Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline [pic credit: DTM Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/323724.jpg)
