ABT Sportsline is tackling the 2023 DTM season with a pair of ABT Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo IIs driven by Kelvin van der Linde and Ricardo Feller, both returning to the team after spending 2022 as teammates.
Both bring considerable GT3 racing and the Audi R8 LMS experience to ABT’s 2023 season. Kelvin van der Linde, who recently departed Audi’s factory roster, is entering his tenth season competing in an Audi GT3 race car. With the R8, the South African has won the ADAC GT Masters and the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring twice. In 2021, he also narrowly missed out on the DTM title in his first year competing in the German championship.
Ricardo Feller meanwhile won the ADAC GT Masters as a 21-year-old with the Audi R8 LMS in 2021 and stood on the top step of the podium for the first time in his first DTM season in 2022 after just three race weekends.
“Kelvin and Ricardo are among the fastest GT3 drivers in the world,” says Thomas Biermaier, CEO of ABT Sportsline. “They got on very well with us from day one and work perfectly together. What’s more, they are cool guys who fit in well with ABT Sportsline. And they have a lot of experience with the DTM’s new tyre partner, which is a factor that should not be underestimated. I’m sure that with Kelvin and Ricardo, we can continue our success story in the DTM.”
2023 will be ABT Sportsline’s 24th DTM season as an Audi team. Since 2000, ABT Sportsline has contested a total of 301 DTM races with the TT-R, A4 DTM, A5 DTM, RS 5 DTM and R8 LMS. With 238 podiums, 73 victories and five drivers’ titles, ABT Sportsline is the most successful active team in the series. In 16 of the 23 years, at least one driver from the team finished in the top three of the overall standings.
“We also had other options, but ABT, Audi and the DTM – they simply belong together,” says Hans-Jürgen Abt, CEO of ABT SE. “Audi Sport GmbH is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The DTM title would be a cool present.”
Over the winter ABT has been busy preparing for the new season, the team stripped down and rebuilt both Audis and spent time re-staffing key positions with in the organisation.
The new DTM season begins for van der Linde and Feller at the end of this week with two days of testing in Italy. At this test, ABT Sportsline will be using the new-for-2023 DTM fuel for the first time. It consists of 50 per cent sustainable components and, according to the manufacturer, reduces CO2 emissions by at least 20 per cent.
The new DTM season kicks off on May 27/28 at Oschersleben.
