The weather was perfect for a holiday, big time summer weather, so I also managed to enjoy the summer and found the time to go to a Euro 2008 football match. All this while my team mate Tom Kristensen secured his eighth Le Mans victory. You gotta give the "old man" credit for that!
This year I'm not only a racing driver. Before the season started, I decided to back a young Swedish racing talent and give him a team. This year, Simon Reinberth drives an Audi A3 for my own team, Mattias Ekström Junior Team, in the Swedish Junior Touring Car Championship. I got my own chance through a similar venture, and now I want to give something back and give a young talent the support that I myself would have wanted at his age. So far, the results have been mixed, the car hasn't been as competitive as we had hoped, but Simon has done well anyway. Results are always important, but it is even more important that Simon has gained an insight into what it takes to succeed in racing. When you're winning, everything is easy and you're praised to the skies, but it's once you encounter a little adversity that you really learn a lot. That's what's important for Simon, to learn as much as possible. I know first hand what it's like to have a less competitive car, and it can be good to experience that an early stage, since it is something that every driver will have to deal with sooner or later.
Now the team and Simon have had a chance to really work on all parts of the car and learn how to set up a car. The Audi is running really well now, and I think we will have a great finish the season – something Simon, the team and all our sponsors who support us in this venture deserve.
There has been rumours flying around in DTM during the spring, and I think it looks bright for the future. The biggest rumour is that Citroën are considering changing sides and entering the DTM championship. I hope and think that it will happen, because it would be a huge step up for DTM. In that case I hope Sébastien Loeb will join us too. I met him at Race of Champions and saw him in Le Mans, and I doubt he would make a fool of himself in DTM.
It is probably also time for a change in the DTM regulations. Our cars have become so aerodynamically advanced that being behind another car without losing grip is getting more and more difficult. This in turn makes it hard to get close enough to overtake. I wouldn't mind seeing a new set of regulations with less downforce and wider tyres. That would be a fun challenge which would give us a better chance of racing the way you're supposed to race in touring cars – closely, side by side. We'll see what happens, but I have a good feeling about it.
Zandvoort and Nürburgring await now before another summer break ahead of the last four races. Trust that my motto is still the same: Go hard or go home!
