Mercedes-AMG has finalised its team and driver line-up for the 2023 DTM season. The performance and sports car brand from Affalterbach will be competing for victories and title wins in the prestigious sprint race series with a total of six Mercedes-AMG GT3s. Three Customer Racing Teams, all with extended works support, will be running the cars. Next to Haupt Racing Team (HRT) and WINWARD Racing, two outfits with previous experience in the series, Landgraf Motorsport will have its DTM premiere with Mercedes-AMG. The team from Bad Kreuznach is coming over from ADAC GT Masters in which it claimed the drivers’ championship and runner-up spot in the teams’ standings in the past season.
Together with the teams, Mercedes-AMG has assembled a promising driver line-up for the upcoming season. Lucas Auer (AUT) will be racing for Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD Racing once again. In a dramatic season finale at the Hockenheimring, the 28-year-old professional secured runner-up spot in the 2022 DTM. Following an injury Auer incurred in an accident during practice for the Daytona 24-hour race, his recovery is making good progress. The Tyrolean plans to be fully ready to run again in time for the DTM season opener at the end of May. Like last year as well, 21-year-old David Schumacher (GER) will be driving WINWARD Racing’s second Mercedes-AMG GT3. Coming from one of the world’s best-known racing driver dynasties, the young driver competed in his first DTM races in 2022.
Likewise, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT is also running a proven driver combination for the new DTM season: Luca Stolz (GER) and Arjun Maini (IND) will be driving Haupt Racing Team’s pair of GT3s. As his most recent success, Stolz has an overall win in the legendary Bathurst 12-hour race to his name. In the 2022 DTM season, he won a race at the Nürburgring and ended up in an excellent sixth place in the final drivers’ standings. At the end of 2021, his teammate Maini became the first racing driver from India to stand on the DTM podium. In 2022, the HRT driver confirmed his potential with further top results.
In Maro Engel (GER), one of the world’s most successful GT racing drivers will be in action for Mercedes-AMG Team Landgraf. The AMG brand ambassador already raced in the series for Mercedes-AMG from 2008 till 2011 as well as in 2017. In 2022, the three-time Macau race winner returned to DTM and scored several podium results right away. His teammate Jusuf Owega (GER) in particular is to benefit from the vast experience of 37-year-old Engel. The 20-year-old from Cologne was part of the ADAC GT Masters field last year and won the season opener at Oschersleben. Moreover, Owega convinced those in charge of the Landgraf Motorsport team during the Young Driver Test organised by Mercedes-AMG in Barcelona at the end of last year.
With the driver pairings, Mercedes-AMG provides a balanced mix of experienced drivers and rookies across the three Performance Teams. Arjun Maini, David Schumacher and Jusuf Owega, meanwhile, will be racing as official AMG Junior Drivers, Maini in his third year, Schumacher in his second and Owega as a new addition. They get the chance to prove their talent on the large stage of DTM and receive the according product and know-how support from Mercedes-AMG to do so.
Run under ADAC leadership for the first time in 2023, DTM gets underway at Oschersleben on 27th and 28th May. Until then, it is all about intense preparation for Mercedes-AMG’s teams and drivers. The race schedule consists of eight events with a total of 16 races in Germany, Austria and The Netherlands. The season finale will be held at the Hockenheimring on 21st and 22nd October.
“DTM is not only an illustrious name in German motorsport, it is also one of the world’s most competitive and best-known race series. Moreover, it is closely connected to AMG’s motorsport history, and we have achieved some of our biggest successes as a brand in DTM. Therefore, it is almost obvious for us to be racing with our customer teams again this season. We are happy that this format with its long-standing tradition can now be continued under ADAC leadership and we are also curious to see how the series will develop this year. As the most successful brand in DTM’s all-time statistics, we have set high goals for ourselves in 2023 as well and we want to bring the title back to Affalterbach. To achieve this, we rely on highly professional teams and in terms of drivers on a good mix of promising rookies and seasoned AMG drivers.”
Christoph Sagemüller, head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport
“In the new DTM season, we focus on three experienced Performance Teams that we will support in an optimal way. Next to the WINWARD Racing and HRT outfits already known from last year’s season, there will be a new representative from us in DTM in Landgraf Motorsport. This team is also highly professional, and we have been working together very well for years already. Last season, Landgraf put in a top performance in ADAC GT Masters, winning the championship with Raffaele Marciello and putting itself forward for the DTM programme by that as well. I am looking forward to the new season and I am very curious to see how our Junior Drivers will do and how they will be able to learn from the established professionals.”
Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing
“For the 2023 DTM season, we are putting a mix of experience and young talents on the grid. Every AMG Junior Driver has an experienced full professional within his team from whom he can learn a lot by watching. From this approach, we expect an intense communication and steep learning curves. Especially as a young driver, one really has to deliver very quickly in DTM as competition is very close. That will be the case again this year. We are highly motivated going into the new season with our teams and we are curious how DTM will present itself under new leadership.”
Thomas Jäger, Sporting Director DTM
Source. Mercedes
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