Porsche GT3 ace Vanthoor set for DTM debut in 2022

According to Autosport’s sister title Motorsport-Total.com, Vanthoor will team up with 2017 German Carrera Cup champion Dennis Olsen for what would be SSR’s first full season in the DTM.

The team made a successful wildcard appearance at the Nurburgring last year with its 2020 ADAC GT Masters champion Michael Ammermuller, and announced in December that it was committing to entering two cars in 2022.

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The deal would make Vanthoor one of the highest profile GT racers on the 2022 DTM grid, with the Belgian boasting a CV that includes overall victories at major GT3 enduros including the Spa 24 Hours (in 2014 and 2020) and Nurburgring 24 Hours (in 2015).

Vanthoor, the reigning IMSA SportsCar Championship GTD champion and 2019 GTLM title-winner, also claimed the GTE Pro class with Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2018.

It would mean Vanthoor will finally make his DTM debut 11 years after he first tested an Audi A4 at Hockenheim, a reward for his strong run of results in the 2011 Formula 3 Euro Series.

Although the test opportunity didn’t result in a race drive as Audi had already locked in its drivers for the next season, Vanthoor went on to establish himself as a successful GT3 racer with the Ingolstadt-based brand in the coming years - earning the 2013 FIA GT Championship title and following up winning the Blancpain Endurance Series the following season.

Vanthoor recently shared a GTD Pro class KCMG Porsche with Olsen, Patrick Pilet and Alexandre Imperatori in the IMSA season-opening Daytona 24 Hours, only losing out on victory after a final lap skirmish with fellow Porsche driver Mathieu Jaminet.

SSR Performance steps up to the DTM full-time this season with two cars, after its toe-in-the-water exercise with Ammermuller at the Nurburgring in 2021

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

Norweigan Olsen will also be making his DTM debut.

Although not officially a factory driver, Olsen has long been associated with Porsche and was the sole winner of the 2019 Intercontinental GT Challenge title. The same year he represented Porsche at Le Mans as part of the Stuttgart-based marque’s four-car assault.

Alongside Vanthoor and Olsen, Porsche’s roster of DTM drivers will be completed by Team 75 signing Thomas Preining, who was announced by Timo Bernhard’s team for its one-car effort in December.