End of an era: Audi and ABT Sportsline’s long track record in the DTM
- A quarter of a century of cooperation in Germany’s number 1 racing series
- Strong record with five drivers titles, 78 victories and 92 pole positions
- Long-standing protagonists shaped a trusting relationship
A grand finale to a quarter of a century of extraordinary cooperation: Audi and ABT Sportsline entered the DTM finale at the Hockenheimring for the last time together and kept the title fight exciting right to the end. In the end, Kelvin van der Linde finished second in the standings in the 2024 season after a race win on Saturday. Since May 28, 2000, the team from Germany’s Allgäu region has relied on racing cars with the four rings in exactly 333 DTM competitions. With five drivers titles, 78 victories and many other best performances, the track record of both partners is overwhelming compared to the competition.
“At Audi Sport, we are proud to have celebrated so many successes with ABT Sportsline,” said Rolf Michl, Managing Director of Audi Sport GmbH. “Together we have grown during this long phase and have written a huge piece of motorsport history with many unforgettable successes. This period was also legendary in human terms. A big thank you to Hans-Jürgen Abt, CEO of the ABT Group, Thomas Biermaier, CEO of ABT Sportsline, Head of Sports Marketing Harry Unflath, ABT Motorsport Director Martin Tomczyk and the many other hard-working hands from Kempten who made this era possible.” The journey began with an Abt-Audi TT-R developed in-house in the 2000 season. As early as 2002, Laurent Aiello beat the competition from two manufacturers with the private team’s striking yellow racing car and won the first DTM title for ABT Sportsline.
After Audi returned to the prestigious championship in 2004, the team from Kempten was once again in first place. That year, Mattias Ekström celebrated his first championship win in an Audi A4 DTM fielded by Hans-Jürgen Abt’s team. Three years later, the Swede once again came out on top in the fiercely contested touring car series. In the two years that followed, Audi and ABT Sportsline completed a legendary hat-trick for the brand and the team, something that no competitor had ever achieved before or since. In the process, Timo Scheider recorded two championship victories in a row in 2008 and 2009.
Of the ten drivers titles that went to Audi drivers under the Class 1 regulations between 2002 and 2020, five are the result of the collaboration with the Bavarian team. Audi Sport Team Rosberg also triumphed three times and Audi Sport Team Phoenix twice. The GT3 regulations have been in force in the DTM since 2021. With the Audi R8 LMS customer racing car designed for this purpose, ABT Sportsline immediately built on their earlier successes. Of the twelve Audi victories in this phase to date, ten have gone to Kempten. This means that ABT Sportsline has contributed 78 individual victories to the four rings’ total of 142 wins in the DTM over a period of 25 years. A fruitful cooperation between the two partners in customer sport has also developed outside the DTM, resulting in the GT3 title in the ADAC GT Masters and GT3 class victory in the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2009, for example.
“After our involvement was initially born out of necessity with the end of the Super Touring Car Championship, it has become one of the most successful and longest partnerships in motorsport history,” summarizes Hans-Jürgen Abt. “This has also shaped ABT Sportsline as a company as a whole. ABT and Audi simply belonged together for 25 years.” While the joint journey ends in the DTM, ABT Sportsline will remain loyal to the Audi brand when it comes to vehicle refinement.