"The goal can only be: To be champion again"

On April 9, the DTM “Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters” (German Touring Car Masters) will begin in Hockenheim. One of the biggest favorites is Mattias Ekstroem: In 2004, he won the DTM and got second in the previous year. The 27-year-old Swede reveals in the first part of the interview how he prepared for the new season by rally car racing, why he has to beat his teammates and what role his mother’s porridge plays in all of this.

How have you spent the last few days before the start of the championship?
I was at home and enjoying life. I have two dogs. Lou, the female, is in heat right now. And Moss is a male, so there’s a lot of action going on at the moment. Now I am happy that the season is starting.

How did you prepare for it?
Apart from fitness training, I drove and tested the car a lot. And I started at the Sweden Rally, which helped me a lot to get a feel for racecar driving.

But those are still two completely different kinds of sports: What can you take from a rally car to a touring car?
You can improve your own reaction time under racing conditions. But still more importantly: In a rally race you sit very much longer behind the steering wheel than in a touring car race. This means that you have to be able to both maintain your concentration much longer and drive at your limit much longer.

You won the overall standings at the DTM 2004 and were second place last year. Which place is it going to be this year?
The goal can only be to be champion once again. The whole team will have to work very hard for it, but we have a chance for the title. So we’ll bet everything and use what we’ve got to reach our goal.

Were you disappointed last year getting second place?
Of course every racecar driver wants to win, and I was also still one point ahead two races before the end. But I have to admit that Gary Paffett was simply faster than me.

Who will be your bigggest opponent this year?
Mika Häkkinen will certainly be very strong, as well as Bernd Schneider and Bruno Spengler. But it is still too early now to talk about favorites. Let’s see what happens in the first races – maybe there will also be some surprises from drivers whom we don’t yet now all have on our list.

You drive for the Audi Sport Team in the Sportline section together with Martin Tomczyk, Heinz Harald Frentzen and Tom Kristensen. Is there a kind of stable order in that? Is there a clear number one pilot, who is supposed to be supported by the others?
It is one of Audi’s strengths that each driver receives the same support and the same material. But if toward the end of the year a driver starts to crystallize into having a chance for the title, then his teammates will certainly not take this chance away from him.

So do you therefore have to be faster than your teammates already during the season, in order to get their support during the hot phase?
If you want to be the champion, you have to beat everyone. It doesn’t matter if it is your teammate or not.

How important are tactics?
Very important. With the wrong strategy you can lose the race, and with the right one you can win.

Can the strategy be changed during the race?
In Safety Car phases you even have to change it. This is a big strength of my team: The guys in the pit have a lot of experience and can figure out a new situation very quickly and, above all, correctly. 
 
For spectators, the DTM looks relatively easy to drive. Where are the hidden obstacles of this racing series?
You have to drive this car completely differently than all other racecars. The most important thing is to give the right amount of gas so that the tires can constantly maintain their pressure. You have to drive intelligently and find a healthy balance between aggressiveness and feeling.

How does a typical racing weekend look with you?
Normally we all meet on Thursday before 17:00, and after the race on Sunday I take off again, but sometimes on Monday morning. On Thursday, we have a meeting, starting on Friday we do testing for the first time, and then we have another meeting, and in the evening we try to attain the best tuning for the car.
On Saturday we have open training in the morning, and then the qualifying round and then an autograph hour. Afterwards we mostly have scheduled meetings for sponsors in the VIP Lounge. On Sunday there is another small autograph hour after the warm-up. And then the racing finally starts. And afterwards hopefully I will be at the press conference for the winning trio.

What do you do between the different events?
There is still a lot to do. Normally we talk with our engineers, we extensively analyze the previous results and then prepare together for each of the next sessions.
It is not really boring for us. I try to get a regular massage. Not only because it is good for my muscles, but also because during this time I switch off and am allowed to be there totally for myself.

Is it true that your mother cooks for you?
Sure, if she is there at a race, then we have breakfast together. I like her porridge, it gives me strength.