On the occasion of a visit to Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline the Bavarian minister president Günther Beckstein "outed" himself as a true DTM fan and personally congratulated the squad on the 2007 title win.

Beckstein used the opportunity of the 60th anniversary celebration of the juniors’ organization of his party in Kempten for an extensive tour of the motorsport halls in which the Audi A4 DTM cars of champion Mattias Ekström and his team-mates are being prepared, and listened to explanations of the champion car’s technology with keen interest.
 
"I express my sincerest congratulations to the team. I’m a great fan of the DTM, have been watching the races live at the Norisring in Nuremberg for years, and of course I’m particularly happy that two Bavarian teams, Audi and Abt Sportsline, were successful this season," said Beckstein during the tour with team boss Hans-Jürgen Abt, Christian Abt and Martin Tomczyk.

Prior to the tour – in a manner befitting the occasion and the high-ranking guest – the Audi driver from Rosenheim (Bavaria) had driven the minister president to the front of the podium.
 
A few days before, the lord mayor of Kempten, DR Ulrich Netzer, had awarded the city’s Gold Medal to Mattias Ekström and the team. In addition to the DTM champion and his colleagues from the drivers’ squad, all the mechanics and engineers had been invited to the Kempten city hall.