Along with the refreshed team line up for 2013, Ingolstadt has decided to optimize its organizational structure as well, with former Team Lotus alumni Dieter Gass, 50, leading the operational and management side as “Head of DTM”, reporting directly to Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. Dr. Ullrich now turns his main focus to the WEC calendar, which has already provided success with a resounding 1-2 at the 6 Hours of Silverstone last weekend.
Wolfgang Durheimer, AUDI AG’s Board Member for Technical Development, stated that the brand has had to react to the increasing level of competition that is emerging both in the DTM and the WEC: “Both programs are of great importance for our company and this forward-looking arrangement will be the base for future motorsport projects.”
Gass now becomes the figurehead for Audi’s DTM representation, who was actively involved with Audi Sport as a technician between 1984 and 2001, before his tenure of work in high positions within Formula One, including Team Lotus, now known as Caterham, over several seasons. He returned to Ingolstadt in January last year, acting as “Head of Racing Commitments,” where he gained extensive knowledge about each of the projects in intrinsic detail.
Dr. Ullrich may still have an overall responsibility for the racing programs that Audi currently runs, but says that the DTM outfit is in safe hands with Dieter, being the logical choice, as a result of the experience that the Gießen-born engineer has over his career in motorsport.
