Another newcomer: ABT Sportsline brings top talent Ricardo Feller into #DTM
ABT Sportsline will again be running three Audis in the DTM races. Next to three-time DTM champion René Rast and Kelvin van der Linde, third in the championship last year, the successful outfit from Kempten has signed 21-year-old Ricardo Feller for the third seat. The Swiss, who already competed in races with a GT3 race car at the age of 16, is considered as a great talent and a driver with huge potential.
“It is mega that we can run three cars in DTM this year as well,” ABT CEO and team principal Thomas Biermaier says. “With René, Kelvin and Ricardo, we have three drivers who can all battle for the title. In spite of his young age, Ricardo already has several years of experience with the Audi R8 LMS and is one of the fastest drivers with this car.” Hans-Jürgen Abt adds: “He can become a really good one. All of us at ABT are looking forward to him.”
Born in Oberbözberg in the Swiss canton of Aargau, he made his way through karting and Formula 4 and already arrived in GT3 sports cars in ADAC GT Masters in 2017, winning the title with Christopher Mies in the Audi in the past season. “DTM has been my dream from the very beginning,” Ricardo Feller says. “It is cool that this dream is becoming reality at ABT Sportsline. I am aware that 2022 will be a challenge. Irrespective of my teammates, competition in DTM will probably be even stronger than last year. I want to pit myself against the best, and these are currently racing in DTM.”
Ricardo Feller will be having his first outing during the official DTM test at Hockenheim in early April. The 2022 DTM season with a total of eight race weekends gets underway at Portimão in Portugal from 30 April unti 1 May. “It is simply mega to watch such great young talents like Liam Lawson last year and now Ricardo Feller in DTM. They are that extra something. Spectators can look forward to thrilling duels between the cool rookies and the serene stalwarts. That is something characteristic in DTM, too,” says Frederic Elsner, director event & operations of the DTM organisation ITR.