Abt signs Lupo Cup champion for DTM

The signing of the 19-year-old comes as somewhat of a surprise, as there had been strong rumours that Audi wanted to place one of its star sports car drivers with the team. However, Terting is already well known to the Abt squad, having just completed a car mechanic's apprenticeship in the firm's tuning department.

"A dream has come true for me, I can hardly believe it all yet," said Terting. "I work everyday next door to the motorsport workshops and has always hoped that I would at sometime be a team member.

"Of course I want to justify the confidence shown in me and show my abilities as soon as possible. The VW Lupo Cup is therefore a very good school for young racing drivers and in addition I know that I can completely rely on the support of my team colleagues."

Terting was granted his first test in a DTM Audi as a prize for winning the Lupo Cup. He will line up alongside champion Laurent Aiello, Christian Abt, Mattias Ekstrom, Martin Tomczyk and Karl Wendlinger in the team.

"In the past we have often made very good experiences by not buying in big names," said team boss Hans-Jurgen Abt. "Obviously we don't expect any wonders from our new driver in his debut year. However, whoever saw Peter Terting battling wheel to wheel in Lupo Cup races knows that he's really good."

Terting started his career in karting, before graduating to the BMW ADAC Formula Junior Cup in 2000, winning one race and claiming fifth in the championship. After a year's break he moved to the German VW Lupo Cup, taking three victories on his way to the championship.