The sensation is perfect: As ‘Motorsport-Total.com’ suspected, Red Bull has announced record world rally champion Sebastien Loeb as Nick Cassidy’s substitute in the DTM at AF Corse. The 48-year-old Frenchman will replace the New Zealander, who is prevented from attending two weekends due to his Formula E contract with Envision, at least at the DTM opener in Portimao at the end of April.
“In my career, I’ve always liked to change disciplines,” says Loeb, who has already made trips to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the World Touring Car Championship WTCC in the course of his career. “The DTM is a famous championship and when I got the chance to take part, I jumped at it. It’s an exciting challenge because the driving style is completely different.”
Red Bull leaves open whether the start with the two races in Portugal will remain Loeb’s only outing in the DTM. Because Cassidy also has to find a solution for the fourth weekend of the season at the Norisring, which also collides with Formula E. And at the spa weekend he’s actually nominated for AF Corse’s WEC campaign in Fuji.
Other missions: Red Bull does not commit itself
It is therefore quite possible that one would like to wait for the start before announcing further missions. The fact is, however, that Loeb is definitely entitled to points because his use is not a classic guest start, but he takes over one of the permanently registered cars with the Ferrari in the AlphaTauri design from Cassidy.
With the commitment of Loeb, who won the last of his nine World Rally Championship titles in 2012 and has 80 victories to his credit, the DTM has pulled off a spectacular coup. Because in addition to the record starting field of 29 vehicles, you now also have a real superstar at the start.
How the experiment became possible
The exciting experiment of seeing the motorsport all-rounder in the DTM was made possible by Red Bull. Because the Austrian energy drink group has been supporting Loeb since 2008, when it became a sponsor for the Citroen rally team. And is responsible for driver selection for the AF Corse team, which is fielding the Brazilian Felipe Fraga alongside Cassidy this year.
No wonder that DTM boss Gerhard Berger is very happy. “Having the most successful rally driver of all time at our season opener in Portimão is a real highlight that the fans can look forward to,” said the Austrian.
Despite his outstanding success, Berger expects Loeb to face “tough competition against very strong drivers”.
Loeb, who this year alone has proven with his victory in the Monte Carlo Rally as a guest starter, his triumph in the Race of Champions and second place in the Dakar Rally that he is still capable of top performances despite his age, is leaving not entirely without experience in GT cars in the adventure.
Loeb starts this week at the Hockenheim test
The Alsatian, who also contests the Extreme E series for Lewis Hamilton’s team, has already driven a number of GT3 races in his career, including starts for the AF Corse team in Red Bull design in the French GT -Championship.
After he had already tested the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo of the AF Corse team for the DTM in Spa-Francorchamps last week, the preparations continue this week with the official DTM test in Hockenheim. While the supporting series are used on Monday and Thursday, the DTM tests on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Loeb will also be there. “Now it’s time to get to work,” says the Alsatian, who by no means underestimates the task. “I’ll have to compete against specialists in races like this and it’s been a long time since my last real GT3 race. My goal will be to find my rhythm as best as possible and I’ll try to use my experience to do that team to give good feedback on the car’s settings.”
He knows that “it will be difficult, but the cars are really fun to drive. Really fast, beautiful cars, so I’m looking forward to it,” says the prominent DTM newcomer.