Change of cockpit for Sébastien Ogier: The five-time world rally champion will race a Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM as a guest entrant during the penultimate DTM race weekend of the season at Spielberg in Austria (21st – 23rd September).
“This is a very exciting experience,” said Sebastien Ogier. “The DTM is something completely new for me, but I’m trying to learn as much as possible with each lap. I see it as an opportunity to broaden my racing horizons and gain more experience. Up to now, I haven’t driven much on permanent racetracks – only a couple of times in a GT car. A DTM car is obviously faster. Of course, you can’t expect to be competitive as a guest starter right away. I’m expecting a difficult first weekend at Spielberg, where my target will be to keep up with the other drivers as much as is possible.”& amp; lt; /p>
DTM cars are not completely new to the rally champion. During a DTM race weekend at Zandvoort, Sébastien once sat at the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG C 63 DTM race taxi to take out his wife, TV presenter Andrea Kaiser, on three laps of the circuit in the dunes. He will gain his first real experience of driving a DTM car during testing at Vallelunga in Italy on Tuesday and Wednesday, 7th/8th August.
“Sébastien is a real racing driver. He has demonstrated his ability more times than enough all over the world on gravel and tarmac by winning five world rally championships,” said Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport DTM Ulrich Fritz. “So it comes as no big surprise to me that he would now like to tame a DTM car. He will be making his DTM debut on a proper race circuit at Spielberg, and I know for sure that he and his fans will have a lot of fun as he does so. However, it’s also very apparent that it will be no walk in the park for Sébastien as a guest starter in such a hotly contested field. Still, that’s what drives a champion like him to put on a good show for the fans.”
