Huisman and Maylander join Merc ranks

It will field a pair of 2001-specification CLKs for four-time Supercup winner Patrick Huisman and Formula 1 Safety Car driver Bernd Maylander.

Maylander has raced before in the DTM and ITC for Mercedes, racking up a total of 50 races in the high-tech C-Class machine. The 29-year-old then graduated with the marque to the FIA GT Championship in 1997-'98 , and finished runner-up to Huisman in last year's Supercup with two race wins for the Manthey squad.

"I'm really happy to start again in the DTM for Mercedes-Benz," said Maylander. "I watched the DTM in its first year, and I can hardly wait to race in this highly competitive championship."

Next year will be Huisman's first in the DTM. He was restricted from graduating to Porsche's GT team of the late Nineties from the Supercup due to his lanky six-foot frame. He won the Macau Guia touring car race last month in a BMW and contested the Le Mans 24 Hours for Chrysler - which forms half of the DaimlerChrysler corporation that owns the Three Pointed Star.

"The DTM means a special challenge for me," said the 34-year-old Dutchman. "I expect an exciting season and hope to score some good results."

Team boss Olaf Manthey is a former DTM racer himself and has run his own outfit, which is based in Meuspath near the Nurburgring, since 1996.