Schaeffler extends partnership with DTM championship
Schaeffler and Audi have extended their partnership in Europe’s most popular touring car race series – the DTM championship – with defending champion Mike Rockenfeller once again behind the wheel.
The team has taken two of the last three titles in the DTM, which stands for Deutsche Tourenwagen-Meisterschaft (German Touring Car Championship), and Rockenfeller – known as ‘Rocky’ to fans – is looking to continue this success driving an Audi RS 5 in the green and yellow Schaeffler colours.
He said: “At Schaeffler, a lot of emotions are associated with motorsports. Representing a global corporation that is as enthusiastic as this one on the race track and being successful on top of it – that makes me happy and proud.”
Prof. Dr. Peter Gutzmer, Schaeffler’s Board Member for Development, said: “Schaeffler, Audi, Phoenix Racing and Mike Rockenfeller – this combination is simply a perfect fit. That’s why we’re delighted that this success story will continue.
“Motorsports emotionalise and unite particularly in the case of success. Today, many of our 77,000 employees are big Audi, Rockenfeller and DTM fans. But motorsports have traditionally had a special significance at Schaeffler and with its brands LuK, INA and FAG – as befits an innovation-driven technology corporation.”
Two years before ‘Rocky,’ Audi driver Martin Tomczyk clinched his first DTM title in the 2011 season sporting the colours of the globally renowned automotive supplier.
The two victories achieved by Tomczyk and Rockenfeller have been the highlights of a commitment which Schaeffler and its LuK clutch, INA tensioner and FAG wheel bearings product brands began in the international touring car racing series in 1986.
Alpina, Audi, BMW, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Opel and Rover brand race cars have all worn logos from the Schaeffler brand family, primarily in LuK livery, ever since. At the same time, top racing drivers, including DTM champions Kurt Thiim, Mattias Ekström, Timo Scheider, Martin Tomczyk and Mike Rockenfeller, have all been brand ambassadors.
Schaeffler has a successful motorsports history in other race series across many vehicle classes. With BMW the company won the World Touring Car Championship, with Renault the European Truck Championship, and a Mitsubishi driven by Jutta Kleinschmidt won the Dakar Rally.
As a partner of Volkswagen, Schaeffler again proved the durability of its products at the Dakar rally, as well as in other desert rallies. Rally driver Armin Schwarz won two German and one European rally title in Schaeffler colours.
Schaeffler’s success is sometimes not so visible, as in the case of the Le Mans winning Porsche 917 equipped with INA hydraulic valve train component technology that has subsequently been used in millions of production cars since the 1970s.
Schaeffler Automotive Aftermarket (UK)’s LuK, INA and FAG brands are supported by technical support and repair installation tips through the RepXpert website (www.RepXpert.com) and a technical hotline; UK Tel: 08457 001100, Ireland Tel: +44 (0)1432 264264.
PIC
DTM Champion Mike Rockenfeller with his green-yellow Schaeffler Audi RS 5 DTM