Germany : Red Bull Skoda Team - FinishThe OMV ADAC Rally Germany in Trier, which ended today in wet conditions, brought Red Bull Skoda the best result in this year's world championship so far.
The two team bosses Raimund Baumschlager und Armin Schwarz were appropriately
happy: “First off we want to congratulate the entire team including the co-drivers, but especially Andreas, who has driven a great rally and who really came up to our expectations. Mattias has done a good job as well and has proven that he is an excellent rally driver in addition to having a successful career as an Audi DTM driver. The thorough testing in conjunction with several technical improvements contributed a lot to this success. That's why in the coming weeks we will be testing extensively in Austria again with Harri Rovanpera and Andreas Aigner for our next rally in Cyprus.”
There was plenty of praise for Andreas Aigner, the 21 year old man from Styria, not only from within his own team – the Red Bull driver was lauded by his competitors and members of the international press as well for his sixth place finish.
But he had to survive some anxious moments at the end: “I had been 19.3 seconds ahead of the pursuing Jan Kopecky (Skoda) prior to the final stage.
Three corners before the end of the final SS I slid off the road, lost some time and was just able to finish 3.2 seconds ahead of the Czech. I can be more than happy with the result. Of the 19 stages in total I was able to post top ten times on 15 of them, this pleases me the most. I want to thank the team and especially Klaus. Now I just wish that we will be able to continue just as well in the remaining rallies in Cyprus, Turkey and Wales.”
Mattias Ekstrom, who was hampered by various small defects, also gives a positive summary of the event: “I've learned a lot here. Rallying, especially in changing weather conditions such as these, is tremendous. Right now, the DTM with Audi is on top of my agenda, of course, but if another chance to drive a rally presents itself, I will take it again.”
Press release Red Bull Skoda Team
