Mercedes-Benz to contest the 2015 season with eight DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupés

Mercedes-Benz will contest the 2015 DTM season with eight DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupés. This was announced by the brand with the star during the Mercedes-Benz end-of-season event ‘Stars & Cars’ in Stuttgart.

In the coming season, Mercedes-Benz will rely on three racing teams: in addition to the established squads of DTM development partner HWA AG and of Mücke Motorsports, French team ‘ART Grand Prix’ will make it’s debut in the popular international touring-car series to also represent the Mercedes-Benz colours.

Mercedes-Benz AMG DTM and ART Grand Prix can look back on a long-term partnership in Formula 3. Jointly, ART Grand Prix (formerly AMS formula 3) and Mercedes-Benz secured 78 wins and 55 pole positions in the Formula 3 Euro Series and set 70 fastest race laps. From 2003 to 2009, the team won the team championship seven consecutive times and six consecutive drivers’ titles courtesy of Jamie Green (2004), Lewis Hamilton (2005), Paul Di Resta (2006), Romain Grosjean (2007), Nico Hülkenberg (2008), and Jules Bianchi (2009).

ART Grand Prix was founded in 1996 by Frederic Vasseur under the name ASM Formula 3 Team. Following successful early years in Formula 3, they advanced in 2005 to the newly founded GP2 Series contested in the Formula 1 support programme. There, ART Grand Prix entered the cars for the first two GP2 Champions in the history of the sport: Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, both MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS drivers, today. During the course of their Formula 3 career, the current Formula 1 drivers Sebastian Vettel, Romain Grosjean, Nico Hülkenberg and Valtteri Bottas as well as Mercedes-Benz AMG DTM ace Paul Di Resta also raced for ART Grand Prix.

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal ART Grand Prix: “Due to our long-term partnership in the Formula 3 Euro Series we know Mercedes-Benz very well and learned to appreciate them as partners. Having been selected by the most successful brand in the history of DTM as new racing team makes us extremely proud. We will have to cope with a steep leaning curve but nonetheless, we just can’t wait for our very first appearance on a DTM grid – with the DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé at Hockenheim.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsports: “We are really delighted with having won our long-term partners ART Grand Prix as third competitive racing team for the 2015 DTM season. In Formula 3, we jointly celebrated a lot of successes, in the past. And in DTM, we want to tie in with these successes, in the future. We always stressed that we only are going to increase the number of our cars if we can make sure that all the cars will be attended to on the same level. With HWA AG, Mücke Motorsports and ART Grand Prix we can rely on three competitive squads, next year, that all will have what it takes to contest a successful 2015 DTM season, with the DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé.”

In Germany the DTM is one of the important rates groups going around in Germany. Many of the constructors like BMW and Mercedes-Benz AMG are heavily involved in the sport. Many famous drivers came from the DTM went on to higher classes like formula 1 or the other way around coming from Formula One and retiring in the DTM race car.

source: http://www.dtm.com/en/News/Mercedes-Benz-to-contest-the-2015-season-with-eight-DTM-Mercedes-AMG-C-Coupes.html