Will Nürburgring sensational winner Maximilian Paul compete in the DTM despite the announcement that Paul Motorsport will compete in the ADAC GT Masters in 2024?
As “Motorsport-Total.com” has learned from a reliable source, there are plans for the Dresden driver to make a comeback in the traditional series this season – as a regular driver in all races.
An Instagram story from the youngster could also indicate this: Paul posted a picture of a Lamborghini car on Friday afternoon – and announced: “News Coming Soon”.
Paul’s sponsor Meyle in particular is said to be a driving force behind the plans and is very interested in the 26-year-old competing in the DTM in 2024.
Negotiations between Grasser and Paul
After the completely surprising victory last year at the DTM premiere at the Nürburgring in the Grasser-Lamborghini, the car parts manufacturer from Hamburg supported the youngster at the Lausitzring two weeks later – and seems to be convinced of the DTM as a marketing stage.
DTM team boss Gottfried Grasser also thinks highly of Paul. Last year, the Austrian was particularly impressed by his pilot’s technical understanding and said he was “extraordinary for a young man of his age.”
The Grasser Racing team has so far only confirmed one of two drivers, Christian Engelhart, for the 2024 DTM season. And Motorsport-Total.com knows that there were recent negotiations between Paul and Grasser about running in the second Grasser Lamborghini – with a positive outcome?
What does Paul Motorsport do?
It cannot be ruled out that the family team Paul Motorsport, led by father Tobias Paul, is behind the DTM campaign. The team was active in the ADAC GT Masters in 2022 with driver Maximilian Paul and made a one-off guest appearance in the GT3 series with Paul at the Nürburgring in 2023 before the DTM weekend.
On January 22, 2024, the team announced a comeback in the ADAC GT Masters – and announced the entry of two Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2s. The two Germans Jonas Greif and Simon Connor Primm should be split between the two cars. Who their team partners will be has not yet been revealed – but it seemed obvious that one of the pilots would be Maximilian Paul.
Parallel use in ADAC GT Masters and DTM not possible
However, it is not possible for this to compete in the DTM and the ADAC GT Masters at the same time, as the two series are held on the same weekends and this is also prohibited by the DTM regulations due to schedule overlaps. It is also unclear what a possible DTM entry would mean for the plans in the ADAC GT Masters.
Last year, Paul was already interested in finishing the DTM season after his sensational start. However, after his two DTM starts as a replacement for Mick Wishofer, he had to concentrate on the GT Open series due to overlaps, in which he fought for the title with the Lamborghini Team Oregon.
Despite a strong final phase with three podium finishes in four races, Paul and team partner Pierre-Louis Chovet narrowly missed out on the title by six points – finishing in fourth place.