Jones heads to DTM as team pulls out of WTCR

WRT Audi will run ex-indycar driver Ed Jones and FIA Formula 3 graduate Fabio Scherer in its privateer DTM line-up in 2020. They replace Pietro Fittipaldi, who is heading to Japan next season (see p11), and Jonathan Aberdein, who is highly rated by Audi following a starring rookie season.

Both Emirati Jones (right, above) and Swiss Scherer took part in last week’s DTM young drivers’ test at Jerez, which also featured a hotly anticipated run for Williams Formula 1 refugee Robert Kubica with BMW.

After being dropped from Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of 2018, Jones spent this year racing for Ed Carpenter Racing, finishing 20th in the drivers’ standings.

Scherer had a promising 2018 season in the Formula 3 European Championship, before taking 17th in the FIA F3 series this year with the Sauber Junior Team as it struggled to adapt to the new championship.

It remains to be seen what WRT’S new line-up means for Aberdein – Audi sports boss Dieter Gass is keen to keep the South African close to the manufacturer team.

Meanwhile, WRT has ended the chapter on its World Touring Car Cup team, which has run Jean-karl Vernay and Gordon Shedden (right, below) for the past two seasons in the Audi RS3 LMS TCR contender, as the Ingolstadt manufacturer’s customer division withdraws its support from the TCR programme to focus on GT3.

The Belgian team has cited the Balance of Performance employed in TCR categories as a source of frustration in 2019, and reiterated that prior to last weekend’s Sepang WTCR finale, with sporting director Pierre Dieudonne saying: “We had a challenging season and have been faced with an uneven playing field, but the team has never lost motivation and has always reacted with great professionalism.”

Comtoyou Racing is the other team to run Audis in WTCR. Audi customer racing boss Chris Reinke said: “Comtoyou Racing has expressed interest in competing in the WTCR again in 2020. We would very much welcome this and wish [team boss] Jean-michel Baert and his team that this idea will become a reality.”