On Tuesday former Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi announced he will make his DTM debut in the final four races of the 2021 season. The Brazilian racer, who drove for the Audi Sport ABT Schaffler Formula E team between 2014 and 2021, won the series’ first race in Beijing. He went on to clinch the 2017 driver’s championship, and supported the Audi team in its constructor’s win in 2018.
However, following Audi’s departure from the all-electric series at the end of season seven this year, di Grassi announced a move to Rokit Venturi for 2022. At the team, he will partner Edo Mortara, who finished second this year.
Ahead of his move to the Monaco-based team, di Grassi will contest his final few races with the ABT Sportsline family during four rounds of the DTM championship.
“You rarely find a relationship in sport like this in today’s world,” said di Grassi. “Together with ABT Sportsline, I had a fantastic time in Formula E and I hoped until the very end that I would be able to stay with them, even after Audi’s exit from Formula E. Now that this didn’t work out in the end for season eight, I am super excited that we continue our journey together for two DTM weekends. This also proves that there is hopefully much more to come in the future.”
Di Grassi will compete in four DTM races, two at Hockenheim on October 2nd and 3rd, and two at the Norisring on October 9th and 10th. During the four DTM races, di Grassi’s car will be decked out in the same red, yellow and green livery that adorned his 2017 championship-winning Formula E car. It’s a good looking livery for the Audi.
“For a long time, we thought about what we could do for Lucas as a little Formula E farewell present and how to allow our journey to continue,” said Hans-Jürgen Abt, CEO of ABT Sportsline. “Then we came up with the crazy idea of giving Lucas a weekend in the DTM and now it will even turn into two weekends with a total of four races.”
At the remaining DTM races, di Grassi will partner ABT Sportsline drivers Kelvin van der Linde, Mike Rockenfeller and Sophia Flörsch. He will also be joined on the team by his long-time race engineer, Markus Michelberger, who will be part of his team of mechanics at the four races.
Di Grassi previously drove GT cars in the GT World Cup in Macau, and also won at the Norisring in 2016 as a guest driver in the Audi Sport TT Cup. He’s a good racer, and should be fun to watch in a short-lived sports car effort.
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