DTM News Notebook: HRT AMGs, Rosberg Audis, Michelin Tyres, ROWE & Walkenhorst BMWs
Haupt Racing Team has confirmed a two car Mercedes-AMG GT3 entry into the DTM in 2021.
Former DTM driver Hubert Haupt’s team will receive support from Mercedes-AMG Motorsport for the effort with drivers yet to be confirmed.
As well as the eight double-header DTM race weekends, HRT will also compete in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS Endurance Cup, which includes the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
In Germany, HRT will line up in selected races within the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS), and will again take on the ADAC TOTAL 24h Race.
The involvement in the DTM in 2021 sees team owner Hubert Haupt come full circle: The entrepreneur and racing driver from Munich enjoyed success as a driver with Audi in the 1991 and 1992 DTM seasons, and also drove for Opel in the touring car series in 2001.
He now returns with his own team, which was founded in June 2020.
“I am really looking forward to the DTM. This series is closely linked with my own personal career as a racing driver – and now as a team owner too. We only started out with HRT in the middle of 2020, and have already claimed some major successes on the GT3 scene as a Mercedes-AMG Performance Team. Entering the DTM is now the logical next step for us. We know it is going to be a huge challenge, but that is exactly what we love. All of us here at HRT are passionate about motorsport and will take our usual professional approach to this challenge.”
HRT will join the already announced GruppeM AMG on the 2021 grid with a third team still to be confirmed for the brand.
Team Rosberg Confirm Audi Effort With Müller and Gore
The reigning runner-up in the DTM, Nico Müller returns to Team Rosberg in Neustadt, where he started his DTM career in the 2014 season. Dev Gore will become the second American driver in DTM history after Joey Hand.
Kimmo Liimatainen, Managing Director Team Rosberg: “We have had exhausting weeks and months in which we pushed ahead with our realignment as a team. Now we can finally say that we are starting the upcoming season with the best possible conditions. With the Audi R8 LMS GT3, we trust in one of the most successful vehicles in the GT3 class, and it is good and logical that after the incredible successes of the last few years, we remain connected to Audi Sport in customer sport as well. It was an extraordinary moment, filled with joy, when I got to tell our team over the last few days that Nico Müller is coming back to us. That underlines once again our ambitions to fight for the title with a strong team. With Dev Gore joining, we gain a young, hungry driver, who has proven his quality in international formula series, but also in the GT3 class.”
Nico Müller: “I’m really looking forward to returning to Team Rosberg and being back in the DTM in 2021. Hunting for the title with an Audi R8 LMS, at the start of the new era, with adapted technical regulations, motivates me a lot. Let’s go!”
Dev Gore: “I have always been a big fan of DTM and have followed the series since I began motorsport. The racing is always very exciting and the quality of the teams and drivers is up there with the very best within motorsport. To be able to join the grid as a driver is something special to me and to do so with Team Rosberg, the reigning champions, is a fantastic opportunity. I will be leaning on the team as much as possible to help me understand the car and get to grips with the series and am counting down the days until the first pre-season test!”
Kimmo Liimatainen on the 2021 DTM season: “The ITR GmbH promoter around Gerhard Berger did an excellent job in bringing the DTM to its old strength. We all know about the enormous importance of the DTM for German motorsport. Now, we are looking forward to exciting races, which will be broadcasted professionally by SAT.1 as always, and hope that the loyal DTM fans will be able to watch our sport on the racetrack again.”
Michelin For DTM In 2021
DTM has confirmed that Michelin will be the exclusive tyre supplier for the 2021 DTM with an initial single year deal bringing to an end Hankook’s decade-long relationship with the German Championship.
“Michelin is delighted at the prospect of working with DTM,” says Michelin’s Customer Racing Director, Julien Vial. “It is a truly international series that boasts an entry of world-class drivers and prestigious sports cars brands, and we are going to provide this fine field with the MICHELIN Pilot Sport GT S9M which is engineered to deliver high performance and exceptional consistency.”
The Michelin tyres will be used for the first time at the DTM tests on 7-8 April at Hockenheim and from 4-6 May at Lausitzring. The season starts on June 18 in Monza.
ROWE Racing And Walkenhorst Bring BMW For 2021
Walkenhorst Motorsport conformed their single car BMW M6 GT3 plan during their debut appearance in the Asian Le Mans Series last month, the team looking to add to their honour roll that already includes wins at the Spa 24 Hours in 2018 and, in 2020 the 8-hour IGTC race at Indianapolis and the 9-hour race at Kyalami.
“We are delighted to announce our involvement in the DTM. As a team, we have worked very hard to turn the DTM project into reality,” Walkenhorst Motorsport’s team manager Niclas Königbauer says. “After our international achievements in the past years, graduating into the high-class DTM is a logical step to expand our involvement in GT3 racing. It is our aim to compete at the highest level in motorsport, so as a result, it was clear to us that the DTM is the place to be.”
Walkenhorst will also continue with a pair of BMW M4 GTs in the DTM Trophy where the team were also represented in 2020. “During the races in the junior category, we got to know and appreciate the DTM platform and have established many contacts. That was highly valuable to us,” Königbauer adds. “Currently, we are planning a double programme and are working on repeating our commitment in the DTM Trophy as now, optimum synergies have been created for teams on the DTM platform.”
Walkenhorst will be joined on the DTM grid by a pair of BMWs from fellow Spa 24 Hours winners ROWE Racing.
2020 saw the team claim a unique double with a win at the Nürburgring 24 Hours with BMW and at the Spa 24 Hours with Porsche.
Hans-Peter Naundorf, Team Principal ROWE RACING: “Entering the DTM is a great story for ROWE RACING. The DTM has a rich tradition and has been the most popular and hiqh-class touring car series in Europe for many years. It has been on our radar, as a team, for a while. The fact that it is now finally possible for ROWE RACING to enter the DTM, thanks to the series’ switch to GT3 sports cars, is great for me personally, as my motorsport roots lie in the DTM. It is fantastic to now be there from the beginning in a DTM based on new technical regulations.
Entering the DTM, with its sprint races, high-class teams and drivers, as well as cars from at least five manufacturers, is a big new challenge for our team, but one that we are happy to take on and gives us a lot of motivation. The large and loyal fan base of the DTM, and the esteem it is held in in many countries around the world, makes it very attractive for our partner ROWE MINERALÖLWERK GMBH too. Incidentally, entering the DTM does not mean that we will turn our back on our beloved endurance racing. We are also planning an extensive programme on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife this season.”
Michael Zehe, CEO ROWE MINERALÖLWERK GMBH: “The DTM has been one of the highest-quality and most popular race series in Europe for many years. It is basically Formula 1 with a roof. As a real racer, I am very proud that we are now able to play a part in this tradition with ROWE RACING. When we started out in 2011, we could only have dreamed of making it this far. To now have the opportunity to take on the very best teams and drivers on this scene is reward for ten years of hard and consistent work.”
Dr. Alexandra Kohlmann, CEO ROWE MINERALÖLWERK GMBH: “Entering the DTM is a fantastic opportunity for ROWE MINERALÖLWERK GMBH. This series not only has a large and loyal fan base in Germany, but also enjoys a great reputation around the world and an immense TV and online reach. As a global player in the field of lubricants, this allows us to actively build on our position as a premium brand and to increase our prominence in many countries. We also benefit from a technology transfer and the ability to test our products in a highly-competitive environment.”
Abt Sportline Take Delivery Of New Audis
ABT Sportsline is looking to add to a DTM record that currently numbers 5 titles and no less than 67 race wins.
Two brand-new Audi R8 LMSs have been delivered for the 2021 campaign with the team already practising intensely for the pit stops. The drivers will be announced shortly ahead of the first tests in their new GT3 machines.
Managing partner Hans-Jürgen Abt: “Among all the motorsport activities, the DTM will always have a very special place for ABT Sportsline. Back in 2000, we were a founding member of the new DTM with our Abt-Audi TT-R. I am proud of the fact that we have been able to stage highlights on and off the track for two decades. Therefore, we want to be part of the DTM family in the future, too.”
In 2000, the DTM’s comeback year with Opel and Mercedes, ABT took on the challenge of getting involved with the ABT-Audi TT-R developed in-house. When the first moving images of the new car were produced at the time, the TT-R was rolling down a hill and driver Christian Abt used a beer crate to sit on: neither an engine nor a race seat were available yet. However, after only 100 days, the result of the ambitious project was on the grid for the opening race. The maiden victory followed at the Nürburgring in 2001 and the first title win by Aiello at Zandvoort in 2002. “The finish at Zandvoort at the time was unbelievable, a moment we will never forget,” Hans-Jürgen Abt recalls this special motorsport highlight in the company’s 125-year-long history.
The post DTM News Notebook: HRT AMGs, Rosberg Audis, Michelin Tyres, ROWE & Walkenhorst BMWs first appeared on dailysportscar.com.