How the Abt team wants to win the DTM title with a streamlined structure, why Ricardo Feller has to get used to it and the effects of the Audi downsizing
Boss Hans-Jürgen Abt has issued a clear order for 2024: The DTM trophy is to be brought back to Kempten after 14 years! To achieve this, the only remaining Audi team in the DTM is taking a new approach at the season opener in Oschersleben. “We have restructured the team a bit,” says Abt Sports Director Martin Tomczyk.
“We have created a flatter hierarchy and divided up the areas of responsibility among the respective people, we no longer have a team principal”. But what does that mean in concrete terms?
In Class 1 times and so far also in the GT3 era of the DTM, the Abt team always relied on a project manager – until 2022 this was Kelvin van der Linde’s Spanish race engineer Marc Roca, in 2023 they relied on the engineer Christian Engelhardt
Why Abt no longer needs a team principal in the DTM
However, this position has now been abolished without replacement, Engelhardt has moved to the Formula E project as a performance engineer and there is no team principal anyway. For the DTM project, this means a leaner structure, more responsibility for the race and data engineers – and the new technical coordinator Steve Bady, previously chief mechanic at van der Linde, is responsible for the integration.
Tomczyk expects the new approach to result in “more effective and targeted” work. Abt Managing Director Thomas Biermaier is also optimistic: “We don’t need a technical manager because the team works together very homogeneously,” he explains. “This brings out the strength of each individual. “
Feller reunited with former success story
Since the team is fundamentally stable. There is just one important change: While Kelvin van der Linde will continue to work with Leon Wippersteg, Ricardo Feller will have a new race engineer. German Fabio Waser, who already worked on other projects last year, is leaving Abt and will be replaced by compatriot Nils Henning (all details in the Abt profile).
“Nils was already Ricardo’s race engineer when he won the ADAC GT Masters,” says Tomczyk, referring to the 2021 championship season with the Land team. “They worked very well together there.”
According to the sporting director, the personnel decision was also down to Feller himself, who expressed his satisfaction with the change after the tests for the 2024 season. “For me, it’s always important that everyone gives their input,” says Tomczyk. “And if we can implement something, then we do it, because in the end the performance has to be right. “
What is the impact of Audi’s reduction in customer sport?
The fact that Audi is no longer providing financial support due to the reduction in customer racing has been cushioned by the Red Bull support. “Of course, the circumstances are different now, but not ones that we couldn’t cover internally,” says Tomczyk.
The stability in the DTM is also a cause for optimism: the Pirelli tire, which was new for Abt last year, is now well known – and the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II no longer holds any secrets either. In addition, the team has practiced pit stops extensively and should also be ready in this respect.
The only uncertainty: the balance of performance. “I hope that there won’t be six Porsches at the front again in Oschersleben,” smiles Biermaier, only to immediately correct himself. “Okay, we can rule that out: there aren’t that many left. “
