Dtm

HTP Winward Motorsport and the Haupt Racing Team, two of the most successful Mercedes squads in the GT3 era, are looking certain to be on the grid with factory-supported cars for the scheduled first DTM event of the year at Monza in June. The two Germany-based teams would join Hong Kong-headquartered GruppeM Racing, which announced its plans to enter the series last year. Mucke Motorsport, which raced with Mercedes in the DTM in 2005-16, is also known to have had discussions with the marque about racing in the DTM this season. Motorsport.com understands that HTP and HRT are close to finalising their deals to run the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the new-look series after its switch from the Class 1 touring car rulebook. A spokesman for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport confirmed that HTP and HRT are among the teams in discussion to represent the marque for its first DTM campaign in the series since 2018, but stressed that no deals have been done. He explained that it is likely that … [Read more...] about Three teams set to run Mercedes cars in DTM

At the start of the race, Rast pulled away cleanly from pole position to lead into Turn 1, with qualifying star Ferdinand Habsburg retaining second position ahead of Robin Frijns. There was chaos in the middle of the pack as Harrison Newey tagged Muller after overtaking him into Turn 2, unsettling the Abt Audi driver and dropping him down to 14th place in the 16-car field. A safety car was deployed soon after to retrieve debris from track, but the race went back to green on lap 3, with Rast leading the field from Habsburg and Frijns. While Rast managed to build a one-second lead out front, Frijns slowly started closing in on Habsburg and was able to crucially make a move on the WRT Audi driver at Turn 5 before they both dived into the pits on lap 11. Rast stopped a lap later and returned on track with an extended advantage of two seconds, but soon found his lead coming under threat from a charging Frijns, who brought the gap down to 0.5s. However, on lap 20, … [Read more...] about Zolder DTM: Rast grabs points lead with Saturday win

As reported by Motorsport.com, Aberdein has left the Audi fold after finishing 10th in the 2019 season with WRT, his first in the category. It is understood that he had initially agreed a deal with Audi to serve as its reserve driver in Formula E and the DTM, before a race opportunity with BMW prompted him to jump ship. The Audi contract would have included a single race outing at the Norisring DTM round in place of Robin Frijns, who has a contractual obligation to take part in the clashing Formula E race in New York. Apart from the addition of Aberdein, BMW had also replaced Joel Eriksson with former Mercedes DTM driver Lucas Auer. Timo Glock, Philipp Eng, Sheldon van der Linde and two-time champion Marco Wittmann - who Aberdein will partner Wittmann at Team RMG - have retained their seats. "BMW has given me an incredible opportunity to become a BMW works driver in 2020 and I’m very thankful for that”, said Aberdein. “I’m ecstatic to be … [Read more...] about Aberdein leaves Audi, completes BMW’s DTM line-up

Polesitter Wittmann , as well as Rast , bogged down off the line as Di Resta made a start so swift that it put him under investigation as he powered his R-Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage into the lead down Paddock Hill Bend. At the end of the first lap, Di Resta established a lead of almost one second over Wittmann and defensive driving allowed the underpowered Vantage to hold onto an unlikely lead through the first phase of the race. Di Resta would concede the lead once he made his mandatory pitstop on the 16th lap of 42, serving a five-second penalty for his jumped start, but Wittmann had to work his way back into the net lead having stopped two laps earlier. The crucial move came when Wittmann steered his BMW through a narrow gap caused by the early-stopping Jamie Green running wide at Paddock Hill Bend, opening up space for the two-time DTM champion to power past the Audi driver and then-net leader Rast. Once the pitstops had shaken out, Wittmann … [Read more...] about Brands Hatch DTM: Wittmann fends off Rast to win

Racing One boss Martin Kohlhaas has revealed that he is in discussions with both Aston and Ferrari about putting together a programme for the start of the DTM's GT3 era. The team already possesses a pair of Ferrari 488 GTE Evos, with which it plans to contest this year's Nurburgring Endurance Series (NLS) and 24H Series, but would need to acquire a Vantage at the cost of around 500,000 euros should it join forces with Aston. Should the move happen, it would put Aston back on the DTM grid following the collapse of the R-Motorsport Vantage DTM project after the conclusion of the 2019 season. The British manufacturer ould also become the sixth different marque on the 2021 grid after Audi, BMW, Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari, which is already guaranteed a presence in the series this year by way of AF Corse's Red Bull-backed two-car programme. Read Also: Red Bull reveals DTM plans for Albon as Cassidy joins line-up "Aston Martin would maybe support a bit more … [Read more...] about Aston Martin could be represented on 2021 DTM grid