Audi signs youngster Adrien Tambay for DTM

Audi has signed youngster Adrien Tambay to drive their eighth Audi A5 in the 2012 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
“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.”

Tambay took part in the Auto GP championship last year, finishing fourth, as well as driving two races in an Audi R8 LMS in the FIA GT3 European Championship. The 21-year-old took part in a test for Audi last monday.
“We took several young drivers on board in recent years, some of whom joined us from Volkswagen’s talent incubator in Formula 3. 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,” said Ullrich.

The Frenchman is going to start testing the Audi A5 DTM at Valencia next week.