Audi keep same drivers for new cars

Mattias Ekstrom, Martin Tomczyk, Tom Kristensen, and Timo Scheider were all confirmed to remain with the Abt Sportsline team that run the lead cars for Audi in the German series.

Only six of Audi's 10 drivers have been confirmed at the Essen Motor Show though, as Alexandre Premat and Mike Rockenfeller will return in one-year-old cars for the second season running, while Lucas Luhr will switch to sportscars after a disappointing rookie season.

Audi also used the announcement to declare their commitment to the series, something that had been placed in doubt following their withdrawal from the penultimate race at Barcelona this season.

"Without its successes in motorsport, Audi would not be the most sporting and fastest growing brand in the premium segment," said Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of AUDI AG, who was involved in the decision at the Spanish race.

"Everybody at Audi knows just how important motorsport is for the brand. We will continue to concentrate on racing series that bear a close relationship to production and which accelerate the development of our production car range. This is the case with the DTM and the Le Mans sportscars."

Audi added in a statement that their motto is "never change a winning team", which is why they have decided to retain the line-up that helped Ekstrom take his second DTM crown.

Three of the remaining seats in their DTM line-up will be decided following driver evaluations in December, while the final driver at the Futurecom-TME squad will be chosen entirely by the team run by Colin Kolles.