The DMSB may have frozen the current technical specifications on the DTM cars for next season, but it will not stop the likes of Audi Sport trying to maximize the performance of the A5 DTM for 2013, as the leadership of Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich will push the team forward.
However, with the recent signing of Jamie Green from Mercedes-Benz to the Ingolstadt outfit, there is only one remaining seat up for grabs for next year, as both Miguel Molina (Phoenix Racing) and Rahal Frey (Abt Sportsline) were not amongst those mentioned at the Audi “Sport Finale” on Wednesday evening. Green’s addition to the team will help strengthen the already strong driver line-up, but bring new motivation along with the 30 year-old’s experience in the series.
Molina’s future as to what he may be doing is unclear, as Valencia‘s place was not renewed on the season calendar, having been replaced in a sense, by the race at Moscow Raceway in August, with Zandvoort now as the penultimate round for 2013.
Frey is hopeful of signing a new deal with Audi Sport for 2013, hoping that her perseverance, by being patient, will help her secure another year in the DTM. The Swiss racer had secured her first points in the series at Valencia this year, but she could have other opportunities, if Audi was to enlist her skills in the GT or endurance racing programs that they support.
But the other 6 drivers confirmed for 2013, are those that have been part of the Audi stable for at least the last two seasons. Double DTM Champions Mattias Ekstrom and Timo Scheider, who were both rumoured to move to either BMW or Mercedes, remain with the team, along with Mike Rockenfeller, Edoardo Mortara, Filipe Albuquerque and Adrien Tambay, who had a great end to his rookie season, by finishing second in Valencia.
So it is just a waiting game as to find out just who will be given the opportunity of driving alongside such illustrious company, but Dr. Ullrich is fully focused on the task at hand, before rubber is laid once again at Hockenheim in May: “We’re convinced that we were clearly beaten below our capabilities in 2012. In the DTM it’s about a few tenths of a second – and we need to find these few tenths in 2013 with the A5 DTM.”
