Essen, November 27, 2003
Last season, the motorsport involvement of AUDI AG was concentrated on
supporting customer and importer teams. Now, the Audi marque returns
to the race tracks with works teams: With a total of six newly developed
touring cars based on the Audi A4, two Audi works teams will contest the
2004 DTM (German Touring Car Masters).
AUDI AG continues its successful tradition in touring car racing with its
DTM comeback. Audi won, from the word go in 1990 and 1991, the DTM
championship title twice in succession with the V8 quattro. Between 1995
and 1999 the Audi A4 quattro was the world’s most successful Super
Touring Car. Since the year 2000, Team Abt Sportsline has competed in
the “new” DTM with coupés based on the Audi TT. The customer team
secured the championship title in 2002.
“The DTM has developed really very strongly since its comeback four years
ago,” explains Head of Audi Sport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. “Through Abt
Sportsline, Audi was represented from the very beginning of the new DTM.
With our works involvement we now make a logical step. The German
market is extremely important for us and the DTM is a perfect European
wide platform.”
The Audi A4 DTM with approximately 460 hp is developed by Audi Sport in
Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. Team Abt Sportsline receives the status of a
works team, handling the cars of Christian Abt, shooting star Mattias
Ekström, DTM new entry Tom Kristensen and former junior Martin
Tomczyk. Strengthening the Audi DTM squad in a prominent way will be
the team from Reinhold Joest. The team which won the 24 Hours of Le
Mans three times in succession in the years 2000, 2001 and 2002 with the
Audi R8, will run two A4 cars. Three-time Le Mans winners Frank Biela and
Emanuele Pirro will complete the high-caliber Audi driver line-up.
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