Audi gives young talent opportunity in DTM

Audi gives young talent opportunity in DTM

• Eighth Audi A5 DTM for youngster Adrien Tambay
• Team-mate of Rahel Frey in Audi Sport Team Abt
• Race against the clock in vehicle preparation

Ingolstadt, March 14, 2012 – Six weeks before the new DTM season opens at the
Hockenheimring on April 29 the decision has been made: Audi will be fielding a
total of eight vehicles in the competition with BMW and Mercedes-Benz. By
signing the 21-year-old Frenchman Adrien Tambay Head of Audi Motorsport Dr.
Wolfgang Ullrich is yet again giving an opportunity to a promising young driver.
Two-time champion Mattias Ekström, Filipe Albuquerque, Miguel Molina, Edoardo
Mortara, Mike Rockenfeller – as many as five examples give proof of AUDI AG’s
successful promotion of young talent in the DTM. Now following in these footsteps
is Adrien Tambay, the son of the former Formula 1 racer Patrick Tambay. As Rahel
Frey’s team-mate in Audi Sport Team Abt, he will be driving one of the total of eight
new Audi A5 DTM cars.
“We were poised for fielding eight vehicles in the DTM as early as last year and are
assuming that no later than in 2013 all manufacturers will be competing with at
least eight cars,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “As we had to
develop an extremely challenging hybrid car – the Audi R18 e-tron quattro – for the
Le Mans 24 Hours and concurrently a completely new DTM vehicle we were initially
planning for seven cars in 2012. I’m happy that the opportunity to enter eight cars
has now materialized. I’m convinced that in view of the DTM’s high level it’ll be
advantageous to compete with the maximum number of possible cars. The
competition will be very close – an additional vehicle also means an additional
chance. Plus, an even number makes more sense than an uneven number in terms of
logistics and team effort.”
By signing Adrien Tambay Audi is purposefully following its strategy of discovering
talents and retaining them for the brand early on. “We took several young drivers on
board in recent years, some of whom joined us from Volkswagen’s talent incubator
in Formula 3,” says Dr. Ullrich. “I feel that today Audi has a very good base in terms
of its driver line-up, which also means that the brand is oriented toward the future.
This also applies to Adrien (Tambay), who convinced us in tests and is a good fit for
the Audi family.”
The 21-year-old Frenchman, who was active in formula racing since 2007 and took
fourth place in the international “Auto-GP” series, prevailed in a multi-step
evaluation of young drivers. The ultimate decision in favor of Tambay was made
after a final test on Monday. The DTM rookie will start testing in the Audi A5 DTM
for his new race team as early as during the official DTM track tests in Valencia
(Spain) next week.
Whether Tambay will already be on the grid at the Hockenheimring season opener is
not certain at the moment. “We’re currently working at full stretch on duplicating a
sufficient number of cars of the A5 DTM model that was homologated on March 1
and to ensure appropriate spare parts supply,” explains Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “This
is a major logistical feat and puts maximum demands on the entire squad. Our aim
is to field the eighth car as early as possible.”

Profile: Audi factory driver Adrien Tambay (F)
Date of birth: February 25, 1991
Place of birth: Paris (F)
Domicile: Aix-en-Provence (F)
Marital status: single
Motorsport since: 2001 (Audi driver since 2012)
Sporting career
2001-2006 Kart
2007 1st place, Formula BMW Germany, rookie classification
2008 3rd place, Formula BMW Europe
2009 Formula 3 Euro Series
2010 6th place, Auto GP Series, 20th place, GP3 Series
2011 4th place, Auto GP Series, 27th place, Formula Renault 3.5
2012 2nd place Trophée Andros Electrique
www.adrientambay.fr

Audi Sport.