8 of the brightest talents in racing were recently invited by Audi Sport to have the chance of being given some welcome advice and taken behind the scenes when it comes to the DTM. With the likes of Team Abt’s Adrien Tambay and Timo Scheider on hand at Monteblanco, the drivers, which included World Series by Renault Champion from 2012, Robert Frijns, along with FIA Formula 3’s highest-placed VW drivers Harry Tincknell and Jordan King, both RS5 drivers were there to help provide tips and tricks of what is required when driving this type of high-powered touring car.
The time-honoured tradition, which also saw Tambay himself get the call from Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich to get his chance alongside the two-time DTM champion after his impressive form in late 2011, saw the young drivers take part in three days of extensive testing.
The field of eight drivers, who ranged between the ages of 17 and 22 were concentrating on a lot of aspects when it comes to racing, especially when feedback with engineers can help make the forward steps needed for competitive results, especially when it came to the Audi A4 DTM car that was provided.
Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi, said that looking at future talent was a clear way of looking at just who could be a part of the family at Ingolstadt in the years to come, whether it is DTM or in one of the many other programs that Audi Sport currently run: “We’re absolutely happy with our current driver line-up but would still like to give young talents an opportunity to take a peek behind the scenes of the DTM from time to time. This is how some of our current drivers got started as well.”
Other drivers who tested in the three days in Spain were as follows:
- Marvin Kirchhöfer (D, 2013 ATS Formula 3 Cup Champion)
- Alessandro Latif (GB, Speed Euroseries)
- Thomas Schöffler (D, 2013 International GT Sprint Series Champion)
- Ferdinand Stuck (D, VLN)
- Stefan Wackerbauer (D, Formula Renault Eurocup).
With the fact that Tambay himself got the chance via this test, it may be a case that another young talent may find his way into one of the eight Audi RS5 DTMs next season, but it is Ingolstadt that will have the final say on this matter before 2014 is well underway…
