After 20 years of actively being involved in DTM, Audi decided to announce that they will withdraw from the series from 2021 onwards.
The German manufacturer opted to resign from German touring car championship due of their interest in other racing series, especially Formula E.
Their decision doesn’t come a huge shock for the motor racing fans, as it was rumoured for some time that Audi was considering their DTM future.
Audi is now the third manufacturer to quit the DTM championship after Mercedes left several years ago to also focus on Formula E, and Aston Martin, through R-Motorsport, also pulled the plug on an entry for 2020.
“Audi has shaped the DTM and the DTM has shaped Audi,” commented Markus Duesmann, Audi’s Chairman of the Board of Management.
“This demonstrates what power lies in motorsport – technologically and emotionally.
“With this energy, we’re going to drive our transformation into a provider of sporty, sustainable electric mobility forward.
“That’s why we’re also focusing our efforts on the race track and systematically competing for tomorrow’s ‘Vorsprung.’
“Formula E offers a very attractive platform for this. To complement it, we’re investigating other progressive motorsport formats for the future.”
The Ingolstadt based manufacturer was one of the three-car producers, alongside Opel and Mercedes, who was at the start of the new DTM championship back in 2000.
Following their departure, DTM has only one manufacturer for 2021, BMW. So far, no other new manufacturer has been announced for the near future, putting the championship in possible jeopardy after 2020.
Throughout the years, several drivers managed to win championships alongside Audi, such as Laurent Aiello, Mattias Ekstrom, Timo Scheider, Martin Tomczyk, Mike Rockenfeller and Rene Rast.