source: Audi Sport
- Defending champion René Rast spearheads the Audi lineup
- DTM again an important pillar in AUDI AG’s motorsport program
With an unchanged driver squad, Audi is launching the “Title Defense” project in the DTM in the 2020 motorsport season.
After the most successful DTM season in the company’s history, winning all three championship titles, twelve wins, twelve pole positions, twelve fastest laps and 40 out of 54 possible podium finishes, the task for Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass was pretty easy. “After such a terrific season, only the famous motto can apply: Never change a winning team! In my view, we had by far the strongest driver squad in the DTM last year. I am therefore very pleased that we can continue to rely on the same six pilots in 2020. ”
The spearhead of the squad is the reigning DTM champion René Rast (33). In his first three DTM years, the German won two championship titles, one runner-up championship and 17 victories with Audi and is currently the driver to be beaten in the DTM.
Jamie Green (37) also has 17 DTM victories. The Brit is already tackling his 16th DTM season. With 193 starts, he is the most experienced pilot in the squad.
The German Mike Rockenfeller (36) is another DTM champion on board. The Le Mans winner of 2010 and DTM champion of 2013 has won six DTM races so far – all with Audi.
Nico Müller (27) is also a multiple DTM race winner. The Swiss was René Rast’s toughest rival in the title fight last season and ultimately secured the runner-up championship.
Dutchman Robin Frijns (28) was on the podium several times with Audi in his first two DTM years and just narrowly missed his first DTM victory at the Nürburgring in 2019.
The factory range of the four rings in the 2020 DTM is completed by Loïc Duval (37). The Frenchman looks back on his strongest DTM season so far, which he crowned with a pole position and a podium at the first joint “Dream Race” of the DTM and the SUPER GT in Fuji, Japan.
The distribution among the three Audi Sport teams Abt Sportsline (Frijns / Müller), Phoenix (Duval / Rockenfeller) and Rosberg (Green / Rast) remains unchanged.
The Belgian team WRT Team Audi Sport will again start two Audi RS 5 DTMs in the 2020 season. With Ed Jones (24) from the United Arab Emirates and the Swiss Fabio Scherer (20), WRT once again gives two young drivers a chance in the DTM.
In the coming week, the Audi drivers in Lanzarote are preparing for the new DTM season. From March 16 to 18, official test drives in Monza are on the program. The DTM 2020 starts on 25/26. April in Zolder, Belgium. A total of ten events with 20 races are on the program. Races in Anderstorp (Sweden), St. Petersburg (Russia) and Monza (Italy) are new to the calendar. Further stations are Assen (Netherlands), Brands Hatch (Great Britain) and four events in Germany (Lausitzring, Norisring, Nürburgring and Hockenheim).
The AUDI AG motorsport program continues to be based on three pillars: DTM, Formula E and customer sport. Highly efficient four-cylinder turbo engines with a displacement of two liters are used in the DTM. At Audi, these engines are important combustion units worldwide. The DTM plans to use plug-in hybrid systems from 2022. In combination with innovative fuels, such as those already successfully tested by Audi at the 2019 DTM finale, the DTM shows ways in which CO 2 emissions can also be reduced even with combustion engines.
DTM 2020 dates
24.04. – 26.04. Zolder (B)
May 15th – 17.05. Lausitzring (D)
May 29 – 31.05. Igora Drive (RUS)
06/12 – 14.06. Anderstorp (S)
06/26 – 28.06. Monza (I)
07/10 – 12.07. Norisring (D)
08/22 – 23.08. Brands Hatch (GB)
04.09. – 06.09. Assen (NL)
11.09. – 13.09. Nürburgring (D)
02.10. – 04.10. Hockenheim (D)
