Aston Martin Vantage DTM continues to make progress in ITR tests at the Lausitzring

R-Motorsport are opening a new chapter in their nascent history this season with entry in the DTM. This week, the racing outfit passed another important milestone on the way to making its DTM debut at Hockenheim in early May. From Monday 15th to Thursday 18th April, the team were busy testing their two Aston Martin Vantage DTMs at the Lausitzring in preparation for the start of the season.

Opening the proceedings on Monday were DTM veteran Daniel Juncadella and DTM rookie Ferdinand von Habsburg. On Day 2 of the tests, the Aston Martin Vantage DTM was also put through its paces by the second of the two DTM newcomers in the team, Jake Dennis. They were joined on Wednesday and Thursday by the 2010 DTM champion, Paul Di Resta. Over the course of the four days of testing, the R-Motorsport driver squad completed 790 laps equivalent to a distance of 3,610.3 km on the 4.570 km Lausitzring circuit.

“I am impressed by the pace of development of our team,” said Paul Di Resta at the end of the test week. “After making its racetrack debut in early March, our Aston Martin Vantage DTM has increasingly shown its potential on these test days here at the Lausitzring. What especially pleases me is the consistency of the long runs. We’ve been able to learn a lot, in particular with regard to tyre wear. The handling is basically fine, and driving the new car is really fun. I can hardly wait until things get really going at Hockenheim.”

The test programme involved taking the car out on long runs for the purpose of adjusting the setup and gaining experience of the Hankook tyres. The test week provided drivers and engineers with valuable data and information which will enable them to understand the handling of the new Aston Martin Vantage DTM better and will be available for ongoing analysis during the remaining weeks leading up to the start of the season.

“During the four test days at the Lausitzring, the many long runs amounting to a total of 3,610.3 kilometres provided us with valuable insights for the further development of our Aston Martin Vantage DTM,” said Team Principal Florian Kamelger. “As usual in such tests, we were able to identify and eliminate a few faults. We are very satisfied with the consistency in lap times we have achieved, bearing in mind that weren’t attempting to set fast times.”

The team can look back on a very busy winter. They developed the new Aston Martin Vantage DTM in record time – a mere 90 days. The car made its track debut on 4th March 2019 (precisely two months before the season opener at Hockenheim) during test sessions at Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain.

With official testing now complete, the team is returning from the Lausitzring to the R-Motorsport works where preparations for the start of the season at the Hockenheimring (3rd – 5th May) will continue. On that first weekend of May, the results of all the hard work over the winter will be plain for everyone to see when R-Motorsport embark on their debut season in the DTM, contesting the first two races on the calendar.