Aiello sticks with Abt

Touring car star Laurent Aiello has rejoined the Abt Sportsline Audi squad to defend his DTM title in 2003, this week's AUTOSPORT magazine reveals

Dec 5, 2002, 12:25 PM

Despite big-money offers from rivals, the privateer squad has retained the French ace for a fourth-season in the German-based championship.

"The target for me next year is to keep my title, which is something I have never been able to do in previous years," said Aiello, who has also won Super Touring championships in Britain, France and Germany. "But the combination of Mercedes and [Bernd] Schneider will do everything to regain the title."

Aiello believes that the continuity of his relationship with the Abt team will be a key element in his 2003 bid. He said: "It takes a few years to get the maximum efficiency from a team. This year Abt was the challenger; next year it is the defending champion. We have to think about that and work out how we are going to manage that situation."