Former Audi success team Rosberg wants to return to the DTM in 2024: What the hurdles are, why they sold an R8 and which brands are on the agenda
Timo Bernhard’s Porsche squad is one DTM team that has just announced its withdrawal, but at the same time a former successful team is working on a comeback in the traditional series after a one-year break. that Rosberg has his sights set on registering for the 2024 season, which starts in a week’s time.
He adds: “But that’s a difficult number, because it has to be affordable.” After the long-standing Audi team was unable to raise the DTM budget of around 2.5 million euros for two cars, it only competed in the Extreme E electric racing series in 2023.
As the Carl Cox team is running a second race in the series and the program requires almost 20 employees in total, some of the team has been retained. “Our core team is still together,” confirms the team boss. “Some people have become self-employed and are helping with the Extreme E project. Others are active in the DTM with other teams. Now we have to see what comes next. “
Hardly any Audi support: Why Rosberg had to take a break
How does Liimatainen assess the DTM prospects compared to 2023? “We are talking to people, sponsors and manufacturers, but I can’t say whether the situation is better or worse than a year ago,” he says.
“2023 was difficult for us because we had expected to continue with Audi until the decision was made at the end of February. Now we can plan a bit, but there’s no point in running the DTM half-heartedly. It has to have a solid foundation.”
In the summer, the Rosberg team sold one of the two Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo IIs, while the other car is still owned by the team from Neustadt an der Weinstraße. At the beginning of October, they completed a test day with the car at Hockenheim – with ex-driver Dev Gore at the wheel.
“That was just a PR thing for partners and had nothing to do with performance,” says Liimatainen, referring to a joint campaign with Audi Frankfurt. “We have fulfilled our obligations from the past. “
Why Rosberg sold an Audi R8
Does the sale of the Audi racer mean that the future definitely does not lie with the Ingolstadt-based company? “In the summer, the status quo was that there was nothing more,” Liimatainen says, referring to the Audi announcement in July that the customer racing division would be reduced to basic support and the squad would be disbanded. “That’s why I sold the one car. But I would like to continue with Audi if it is possible. But if not, then not.”
Because there are currently rumors about a possible stop to the Formula 1 project – and a positive impact on customer racing. “You don’t really know what’s going to happen there,” says Limmatainen about the speculation. “And if there is no money from Audi like in the past, then you can forget about it, unless you have Red Bull as a sponsor like Abt. “
BMW as the best prospect for the future?
It is therefore clear that the team boss, who was also present at two other DTM events in addition to the DTM finale in Hockenheim in 2023, is putting out feelers to other brands. BMW in particular is considered a hot option, as the new Project 1 team was only moderately successful in 2023. And BMW Head of Motorsport Andreas Roos not only knows the Rosberg team well from his time at Audi, but also worked there as a race engineer many years ago.
“I don’t want to confirm or deny this now, but we are talking to all sorts of people who might make sense,” he says, hinting that talks are taking place with the Munich-based team. “We are also talking to non-European brands.”
In addition to the Honda, he is not ruling out the new Ford and the new Corvette among the GT3 cars. McLaren and Aston Martin are European, even though Great Britain is no longer part of the EU.
Are they also considering alternatives to the DTM? “The GT3 series always cost the same money in the end,” shrugs Liimatainen. “Of course you can also do a silver car, i.e. classic customer racing, but that’s not primarily what we want. We want to be at the front. “