Luhr pleased with switch from DTM

The German scored just one point in his one-year-old Audi A4 last year, while Alexandre Premat and Mike Rockenfeller both took a podium finish at some point during the season in similar machinery.

Audi have switched Luhr to their ALMS programme with the R10, and the 28-year-old is looking forward to challenging at the front of the field this year.

"Because of the fact that there are three different generations of cars in the DTM, winning the title with a year-old car is very difficult," said Luhr.

"One can shine occasionally, but at the end of the day, a year-old car will never be more successful than a current car. That is different in sportscars.

"There, I know that I have one of the best cars in the field. I am in contention for victory, or at least I have the equipment to allow me to be."

Luhr added that he has put his difficult DTM experience behind him, and he doesn't intend to dwell on the reasons for his struggles.

"It surely wasn't like I had expected it to be," he said. "Scoring one point from 10 rounds is not satisfying.

"I know why things weren't going as they could or should have. There were various reasons, but to be honest, I don't want to talk about them anymore."