Mercedes will make its return to the DTM for the first time since stepping away from the series in 2018, planning an entry with multiple customer teams in the revamped series.
The German manufacturer has not raced in the championship since Gary Paffett took the championship win at the end of 2018, but is gearing up for a return to the series in 2021 when it debuts its new GT3 ruleset.
According to Mercedes, it is planning ‘the participation of multiple Customer Racing Teams to compete for points with their Mercedes-AMG GT3s.’
One of these teams has already publicly committed to the series, as GruppeM Racing was one of the first squads to announce an entry into the DTM’s GT3 era.
Mercedes’ factory driver line-up for the 2021 campaign consists of seven drivers, two of which are new additions.
Joining the existing team of Maximilian Buhk, Maro Engel, Maximilian Götz, Thomas Jäger, Raffaele Marciello and Luca Stolz are former Mercedes DTM driver Daniel Juncadella and new signing Jules Gounon.
Gounon, a former ADAC GT Masters and Spa 24 Hours winner, joins Mercedes after a stint with Bentley that saw him win the Bathurst Twelve Hours in 2020.
“This year, we can rely on an excellent driver line-up again,” said Stefan Wendl, head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing. “I am convinced that, like this, we are supporting our teams in the best possible way for their worldwide racing activities and can be in a position to win at any time.
“The goal is to win championship titles on all continents and to run at the front in the 24-hour highlights in particular, as we were already able to prove especially at Daytona.
“To the strongly contested series in which we were already present last year, the DTM will now be added, another series with a long tradition to expand our international involvement.
“From my perspective, we are in a very good position for all the upcoming challenges with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the Mercedes-AMG GT4, both in terms of our goals at the real-world race tracks and concerning our involvement in sim racing.”
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