Why Hans-Jürgen Abt doesn’t miss his time as an Audi works team in the DTM and how he experienced the team order determined by the manufacturer in the prototype era
Since the end of the DTM as a manufacturer series in 2020, the long-established Abt team has also had to tighten its belt and no longer benefits from Audi funding. Nevertheless, company boss Hans-Jürgen Abt does not mourn the old days. “I’m very happy that we can go our own way again and decide everything within the team ourselves,” he says.
How does he justify his opinion? “In the last years of the factory dynasty, we couldn’t even work on our own set-ups. Everything was transparent,” says Abt, giving an insight into Audi’s approach at the time.
“If we changed something, the other teams from Phoenix and Rosberg also knew about it. In the end, our only asset was actually the pit stops. That was not my claim.”
Abt is alluding to the fact that the set-ups in the Class 1 era had to be disclosed within the manufacturer. Although the squad from Kempten had an outstanding technical director from 2018 in Florian Modlinger, who had just won the Formula E world championship title with Pascal Wehrlein as head of the Porsche team, they were only able to use this advantage to a limited extent.
Because after each session, the other Audi works teams also knew which car set-up the Abt team was relying on. Although Abt-Audi driver Nico Müller fought for the title right to the end in 2019 and 2020, he ultimately lost out to Rosberg’s brand colleague Rene Rast.
That still hurts, as the Abt team’s last drivers’ title in the DTM was won by Timo Scheider in 2009
“In the fourth race it was decided who to back “
But set-up transparency is not the only thing that Hans-Jürgen Abt did not like in the past. The team order also apparently annoyed him, as he now makes clear
“It was all about the car and the brand,” he says. “As early as the fourth race, it was decided which driver to back. For me, that was no longer real racing, as we have it again today: fighting, having fun and taking risks on the track. “
Who is “the important man in the background” at Abt
The fact that, since the GT3 changeover in 2021, the teams now have to look for sponsors themselves again to set up the season budget instead of relying on the factories only hurts Abt to a limited extent anyway. Because with Head of Sports Marketing Harry Unflath, they probably have the best man in the DTM paddock in their own ranks.
“Harry is unique and part of the family,” says Hans-Jürgen Abt. He has built up motorsport at Abt Sportsline together with me from an early age.” This was even noticeable in the DTM manufacturer era. “Harry even found the partners for Audi later on,” Abt clarifies.
Together with Sports Director Martin Tomczyk, Unflath even managed to persuade Red Bull to come back to Abt in 2024. “He is the important man in the background and tries to integrate the partners into the family,” says Abt about Unflath’s qualities. “His strategy and his network are unique. “
