Surprise in the Audi warehouse: According to information from “Motorsport-Total.com”, Team Engstler Motorsport is planning to enter the DTM in 2023! The squad of touring car legend Franz Engstler, who contested 70 DTM races from 1989 to 1994, is toying with the idea of fielding two Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo IIs in the traditional series this year.
His 22-year-old son Luca Engstler, who contested his first GT3 year in the ADAC GT Masters last year in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II from the Rutronik team, is planned to be the driver. It is uncertain who will receive the second cockpit. Should it really work out with a DTM entry, then according to rumors the previous Attempto driver Marius Zug should be a candidate.
The 61-year-old team boss Franz Engstler and his son Luca could not be reached by telephone for “Motorsport-Total.com”. However, the planning is said to be well advanced, which is obvious since the registration deadline in the DTM is getting closer and closer to midnight on Monday, February 6th.
Engstler Team: Three possible scenarios on the DTM platform
According to well-informed sources, however, it is not yet certain whether the team will really enter the DTM. Because for the racing team based in Wiggensbach in the Oberallgäu, an alternative scenario would obviously be to use one car in the DTM and one car in the ADAC GT Masters. Or you use both vehicles in the ADAC GT Masters.
This also has to do with the fact that it is currently still unclear to what extent Audi Sport will be involved in the financing. Because the DTM costs for a car are between one and 1.5 million euros per year. And the Ingolstadt company has not yet communicated to the teams what the support will look like.
Supported by Liqui Moly for decades
Engstler Motorsport is lucky to have a loyal sponsor in Liqui Moly. The lubricant manufacturer, which has been owned by Würth since 2017, supported Franz Engstler in his first Formula 3 season as early as 1988 and was always on board at his private WTCC events.
Liqui Moly also supports the successful Engstler TCR team, with which Luca Engstler won a total of six titles and won the WTCR junior classification in 2021. In 2022, the youngster managed to be included in the driver pool of Audi Sport Customer Racing – and he made the step into the GT3 area with the Rutronik team in the ADAC GT Masters as a teammate of Patric Niederhauser.
After the pole of the Swiss team partner, the season opener in Oschersleben was followed by second place as a season highlight – the two finished 14th overall. Due to the Rutronik team’s brand change to Porsche after the end of the season, Franz Engstler decided to set up a GT3 team himself – and has been looking for staff for the past few months.
GT3 not completely new territory for Engstler team
In addition, an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II was bought from the Rutronik team, the other from the Abt squad based just a few kilometers away, which has previously used three cars in the DTM but is only planning two vehicles for 2023.
Originally, the plan had been to add another season in the ADAC GT Masters as an Engstler Motorsport team with Luca Engstler, but the general conditions changed when ADAC took over the DTM: Since the ADAC GT Masters is now in the new ADAC pyramid no longer plays the leading role, the series also lost its appeal for sponsor Liqui Moly, while the DTM offers new opportunities.
This could now lead to the team actually throwing the original plan overboard and taking up the challenge of DTM.
Even if the TCR-tested team has hardly any GT3 experience so far, they are not entering completely new territory: Because in 2011 and 2012 the team entered the BMW Alpina B6 GT3 in the ADAC GT Masters and won in the first year with the driver duo Dino Lunardi and Alexandros Margaritis even the driver’s title. In addition, until 2013, the BMW Z4 GT3 started a few times in long-distance races.