Werner fills in for injured Prémat

Audi factory driver Alexandre Prémat (25) left hospital two days after Tom Kristensen was discharged. The Frenchman, who cracked a lumbar vertebra at the DTM opener at Hockenheim, returned to his family in France on Thursday afternoon. He will continue his therapy under the watchful eyes of professor Gérard Saillant, who has already helped numerous prominent sport personalities make a speedy, full recovery.

Prémat hopes of returning to his Audi A4 DTM cockpit as early as the third DTM race at the EuroSpeedway on 20 May. However, the Frenchman must sit out the race at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben on 6 May.

Audi factory driver Marco Werner, who celebrates his 41st birthday today (Friday), will deputize for Prémat at Oschersleben. The German from Dortmund, who lives in Ermatingen on the Swiss side of Lake Constance, races the Audi R10 TDI Diesel sportscar this year in the American Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he has won twice. Marco Werner last competed in the DTM in 1993. He regularly drove the Audi A4 DTM Race Taxi last year. In 2003, he finished second in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in a DTM car.

"Obviously I would have much rather got this opportunity to race in the new DTM under completely different circumstances," says Marco Werner. "I wish Alexandre (Prémat) a speedy recovery! I’ll to do my utmost to fly the flag for him as his deputy, and am delighted about the confidence placed in me by Audi."