© 2009 Corey Beaman
When the 2009 DTM season will be kicked off on 17th May, it will be the third DTM year for Mike Rockenfeller. ‘Rocky’ contested his debut season on the grid of the most popular international touring-car series in 2006. Last year, the German scored eleven points to finish sixth in the championship – and he is happy with his achievements.
It goes without saying that he would have loved to secure a better championship position but ‘Realising this goal is somewhat difficult, with a last-year spec car,’ Rockenfeller says in the Q&A with dtm.tv. For the 25-year old, the battles with DTM Record Champion Bernd Schneider represent special memories. ’I think I had some nice battles with him, in his final season. I’m proud of having had the chance of racing against him. I have a lot of respect for his achievements.’ In addition to his DTM involvement, Audi works driver Rockenfeller also contested the American Le Mans Series races, last year. There he shared the wheel of an Audi R10 TDI with Alexandre Prémat.
Rockenfeller also impressed former DTM driver Manuel Reuter who worked as DTM expert for German TV station ARD, in 2008. ‘Together with Alexandre Prémat, he truly benefited from the successes they celebrated in the Le Mans Series. He secured his best result in the second half of the season, at Barcelona. This success represented a boost for his self-confidence and that was reflected by his results,’ analyses the expert.
Please find the full feature exclusively online, on DTM.tv.
