Jonathan Aberdein upbeat after first test with BMW

South African driver Jonathan Aberdein was able to travel to Germany to take part in the final two days of the official DTM pre-season tests at the Nürburgring, providing the 22-year-old with the first chance to sample the BMW M4 DTM he’ll compete with this season.

Aberdein was able to overcome travelling restrictions at the last gasp to be able to familiarise himself with his new car, with the Team RBM driver having landed a works drive for BMW this year after finishing 2019 as the best rookie with a WRT-run Audi RS 5 DTM.

“The test has been very successful for us,” Aberdein said. “We’ve made good steps on the car and for me personally, I just familiarised myself with the BMW M4 DTM pretty quickly.”

“I love the BMW M4 DTM, I think it’s the coolest looking car on the grid and, most important, it is really great to drive. I am feeling confident and am looking forward to the first races.”

Despite the limited running, Aberdein was able to set the ninth fastest lap time in the combined results, three-tenths behind WRT’s Ferdinand Habsburg. The Team RBM driver has high expectations for the season.

“Judging from last year, we were fighting towards the end for pole positions and podiums, so I would like to take one step up from that and start to fight for race wins,” said the South African. “So we will see how the first half of the season goes and we will take it from there.

“I personally haven’t been in the car for 7-8 months now, so we are going to take it easy to start with and see how things go. But it feels great to be back in the cockpit again and it’s fantastic ITR has been able to pull this off.”