October 25th, 2009
Hans Werner Aufrecht - 333 races at the helm of the DTM
DTM
Hockenheim. A special occasion for Hans Werner Aufrecht at the finale of the 2009 DTM season at Hockenheim: he has been chairman of the board of the ITR e.V. for 333 races. Since July 1986, he has been in charge of the DTM and has become familiar with 32 circuits in 15 countries since that time. During a total of 219 DTM events, Hans Werner Aufrecht witnessed 9,606 laps of touring car racing at its highest level.
As the chairman of the board, Hans Werner Aufrecht presides the five-man board of the ITR e.V. Together with the ITR advisory board, which consists of the motorsport directors of the manufacturers involved in the DTM, this commission represents the interests of the DTM. The ITR e.V. co-ordinates the planning, organisation and staging of the DTM events and is responsible for the series? marketing and public relations. Since the 2004 season, the ITR e.V. has also been responsible for marketing of the Formula 3 Euro Series.
At the same time, Hans Werner Aufrecht stands for the success story of AMG that includes sporty-noble Mercedes-cars just as five championship titles in the DTM. Having sold the majority of AMG to Daimler AG in 1999, he founded the current H.W.A. AG, which builds and runs the current Mercedes-Benz DT< cars as an independent competition department.
Dr. Thomas Betzler, deputy chairman of the ITR board
?Since 1972, Hans Werner Aufrecht and I have been linked by a close friendship which is marked by respect and mutual appreciation. He is the driving force and motivator of the ITR board and had it not been for him, the DTM would not be where it is today: at the pinnacle of international touring car racing.?
Norbert Haug, Mercedes-Benz motorsport director
?For Hans Werner Aufrecht, 333 DTM races are surely in the category of records that he finds rather irrelevant. He certainly will not have counted the number of events that he has attended and considerably contributed to as chief of the ITR. For HWA, the only thing that matters at the end of the day is how the spectators on site and in front of the TV screens are being entertained. And when there are particularly many of them, in both categories, jumping up and down and clapping their hands for sheer excitement, that means for HWA that the ITR and everybody involved did a job that was ?not bad?. For most people that aren?t called HWA, ?not bad? actually means ?very good?.?
?Just like the touring cars are the DTM on wheels, Hans Werner Aufrecht is the DTM on two feet - nobody else has made a deeper impression on the series and nobody else has done more for its benefit.?
?For HWA, most of the time, the DTM was a well-loved side-job, notwithstanding all its success. As we all know, Hans Werner Aufrecht is the ?A? of ?AMG? and the great success story of the company, which in the mean time has become a 100-percent daughter of Mercedes-Benz, is unparalleled in the automotive business of today.?
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Audi motorsport director
?333 DTM races is an impressive number. For me, this reflects how long, consequently and tenaciously Hans Werner Aufrecht has been contributing to the DTM and to German motorsport in particular with a lot of personal commitment. It is largely thanks to him that the DTM has become what it is today: one of the world?s most popular racing categories. I keep being impressed in particular by the intensity with which HWA is even paying attention to the slightest details, committed and without any compromises. He never gives up and is just somebody that doesn?t let things get out of hand. That is still the case today, after so many successful years in motor racing.?
