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New Hankook slick makes successful debut at DTM opener in Hockenheim

The newly-developed slick from premium tyre maker Hankook enjoyed a successful debut in the opening race of the DTM season in Hockenheim on Saturday. The soft race tyre delivered the strong performance expected, and behaved exactly as desired by the manufacturers in the DTM and the organiser, ITR e.V. The new Ventus Race, now in its fourth generation, offered the drivers a lot of grip early on, before degrading more dramatically, as was the intention. This drop-off produced an exciting race with plenty of overtaking manoeuvres. Pole-sitter Lucas Auer (Mercedes-Benz) withstood a strong challenge from Timo Glock in the closing stages to win the first race of the season, coming home just ahead of the BMW driver. Mike Rockenfeller (Audi), who started from 16th on the grid, crossed the finish line third after 36 laps of racing.
New Hankook slick makes successful debut at DTM opener in Hockenheim

Hockenheim/Germany, 6th May 2017 – Fans at the Hockenheimring for Saturday’s opening race of the DTM season were treated to a spectacular race with a dramatic finish. For long periods, pole-sitter Lucas Auer (Mercedes-Benz) looked like the sure winner. However, Timo Glock (BMW) caught the 22-year-old in the closing laps and proceeded to put him under pressure in a spectacular battle for the win. However, Auer was able to fend off all of Glock’s overtaking attempts and went on to claim the second win of his DTM career.

Mike Rockenfeller produced a tactical masterstroke. The Audi driver, who started the race from 16th on the grid, came in early on lap nine for his mandatory pit stop. He then fought his way through the field on fresh tyres and was ultimately rewarded with third place and a spot on the podium. Fellow Audi driver Mattias Ekström enjoyed success with the reverse strategy. The Swede drove a long first stint and only came into the pits for a tyre change on lap 26. This move allowed Ekström, who was 17th in qualifying, to make up twelve places and finish the opening race of the season in fifth place, just behind Edoardo Mortara (Mercedes-Benz) in fourth.

“The changes to the sporting regulations paid off, as that fantastic race showed. The newly-developed Ventus Race from Hankook delivered a great performance and behaved exactly as stipulated in the specifications. This made a host of different race strategies possible, which made it all the more exciting. It is also important that the drivers are now the decisive factor again,” said Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook Motorsport Director Europe.

Lucas Auer (Mercedes-Benz): “The most important change is obviously the new Hankook race tyre. With the new tyre, you have a crazy peak and an incredible amount of grip at the start. Over the distance, tyre management is incredibly important. You cannot drive too aggressively, otherwise you will find it very difficult towards the end. I had to give it everything at the end, in order to stay in front. I am really happy with this success.”

Timo Glock (BMW): “I was a second faster than Lucas at the end, but could not overtake him. I tried everything, but he was very clever and had more traction than me. The Hankook race tyre did exactly what we want. The only thing that was a little off-putting was the amount of rubber on the track.”

Mike Rockenfeller (Audi): “I am delighted with my podium finish. We did not know whether our strategy of an early tyre change would work out. However, everything worked beautifully. The Hankook race tyre behaved exactly as planned.”

Rene Rast (Audi): “The new Hankook race tyre was very good. It is far softer than last year’s slick, and you have more speed as a result. However, it also degrades faster. For this reason, it is very important to manage your tyres well. That all produces even more race action. I am very happy with the new Hankook slick.”

Hankook, uno dei principali produttori mondiali di pneumatici, fornisce pneumatici radiali premium ad alte prestazioni per automobili, SUV, fuoristrada, trasporto leggero, camper, autocarri e autobus oltre che per competizioni motoristiche (gare su circuito e su strada/rally).

Hankook investe costantemente in ricerca e sviluppo al fine di offrire ai propri clienti la massima qualità, abbinata all'eccellenza tecnologica. In cinque centri di sviluppo e in otto stabilimenti situati in tutto il mondo, l'impresa sviluppa e produce pneumatici atti a soddisfare pienamente le speciali esigenze e richieste dei diversi mercati. In Europa, presso il centro tecnologico Hankook di Hannover (Germania), avviene lo sviluppo degli pneumatici per i mercati locali e il primo equipaggiamento, nel rispetto delle indicazioni delle principali case automobilistiche europee. Gli pneumatici vengono prodotti, tra l'altro, nella modernissima fabbrica europea dell'impresa di Rácalmás (Ungheria), inaugurata nel 2007 ed in continua espansione.

La sede centrale europea e tedesca Hankook si trova a Neu-Isenburg, nei pressi di Francoforte sul Meno. Il produttore gestisce altre filiali in diversi paesi europei e vende i suoi prodotti tramite distributori regionali in altri mercati locali. L'impresa dà lavoro a 20.000 dipendenti in tutto il mondo e fornisce i propri prodotti in oltre 160 paesi. L'azienda è partner tecnico e fornitore esclusivo degli pneumatici della Generazione 3 per il FIA ABB Formula E World Championship dal 2023. Gli pneumatici Hankook sono utilizzati in primo equipaggiamento dalle principali case automobilistiche internazionali. Circa il 38% del fatturato globale dell'impresa è generato all'interno dell'Europa.

Per ulteriori informazioni visitate il sito www.hankooktire-mediacenter.com o www.hankooktire.com

Hankook Tire Europe GmbH | Marketing Communications Europe | Siemensstr. 14, 63263 Neu-Isenburg | Germany

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New Hankook slick makes successful debut at DTM opener in Hockenheim

Motorsports: DTM race Hockenheim, Saison 2017 - 1. Event Hockenheimring, GER, # 16 Timo Glock (GER, BMW Team RM, BMW M4 DTM)

File size: 4 MB

New Hankook slick makes successful debut at DTM opener in Hockenheim

Motorsports: DTM race Hockenheim, Saison 2017 - 1. Event Hockenheimring, GER

File size: 1 MB

New Hankook slick makes successful debut at DTM opener in Hockenheim

Motorsports: DTM race Hockenheim, Saison 2017 - 1. Event Hockenheimring, GER, # 22 Lucas Auer (AUT, HWA AG, Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM)

File size: 2 MB

New Hankook slick makes successful debut at DTM opener in Hockenheim

Motorsports: DTM race Hockenheim, Saison 2017 - 1. Event Hockenheimring, GER, # 77 Loic Duval (FRA, Audi Sport Team Phoenix, Audi RS5 DTM)

File size: 999 KB

New Hankook slick makes successful debut at DTM opener in Hockenheim

Motorsports: DTM race Hockenheim, Saison 2017 - 1. Event Hockenheimring, GER, # 22 Lucas Auer (AUT, HWA AG, Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM)

File size: 1 MB

New Hankook slick makes successful debut at DTM opener in Hockenheim

Motorsports: DTM race Hockenheim, Saison 2017 - 1. Event Hockenheimring, GER, # 22 Lucas Auer (AUT, HWA AG, Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM), # 99 Mike Rockenfeller (GER, Audi Sport Team Phoenix, Audi RS5 DTM)

File size: 1 MB

New Hankook slick makes successful debut at DTM opener in Hockenheim

Motorsports: DTM race Hockenheim, Saison 2017 - 1. Event Hockenheimring, GER, # 99 Mike Rockenfeller (GER, Audi Sport Team Phoenix, Audi RS5 DTM)

File size: 1 MB

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Sabine Riedel

PR Manager Marketing Communications

 +49 (0) 6102 8149-178

Lisa Schmid

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Alexander Nevinny-Stickel

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Annika Malcherek

Annika Malcherek

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Stefan Prohaska

Stefan Prohaska

Digital Marketing Communications

+49 (0) 6102 8149-171

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