“Finally, the season is starting,” exhorted Kristensen, runner-up in the series back in 2006 and now aiming to put a frustrating 2007 behind him, after his challenge was quite literally KO'd on the very first lap of the opening race last year. “It's very difficult to make any predictions at this stage. We want to give our best in order to win, but only after the first race and possibly at Oschersleben – my ‘DTM home' circuit because it's closest to Denmark – will we know where we stand exactly.
“The opening races are very important because, before them, the cards will not be put on the table. Only then will we be able to judge what kind of a job we did during the winter.”
“I'm starting with high expectations,” added Tomczyk, who fought for the crown last year only to slip back to third in the final reckoning. “The season is now coming up quickly, and immediately there are two weekends back-to-back.
“If things go well, we can score really good points twice in a row – this will be my goal. That's why I'm happy that the first two races – Hockenheim and Oschersleben – are at circuits where I've previously had pretty good experiences.”
“Hockenheim is something special,” agreed double title-winner Ekström, who suffered a heavy ‘off' in testing at Oschersleben, “because finally we'll be able to see how good our new Audi A4 is in comparison to our rivals. Last year I won the race, and of course I'd be delighted about a similarly positive result.
“Hockenheim is the circuit that evokes the strongest emotions. You come to the first race with butterflies in your stomach. Finally, you're back on the track, and you ask yourself: ‘Where do I stand in comparison to the competition?'
“The circuit features a mix of slow and fast turns as well as short and very long corners. From a driver's perspective, this is a nice variety on each lap, but you've got to be well-sorted with your car.
![The 2008 Audi DTM driver line-up [pic credit: Audi Communication Motorsport]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/426594.jpg)
