WRT has confirmed that Pietro Fittipaldi will complete its driver line-up for the 2019 DTM season, with the Brazilian partnering South African Jonathan Aberdein at the Belgian Audi Sport customer team.
Fittipaldi took part in the official pre-season test with the team at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz this week, after which he has secured a drive to race in the series in 2019.
The 22-year-old has made a name for himself in single-seater racing, and he is the current official test driver for the Haas F1 Team. Fittipaldi, the grandson of two-time F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi, moves from the IndyCar series to toruing car racing in the DTM.
Fittipaldi has also previousy raced in the NASCAR Whelen series in 2011 and 2012, Formula Renault in 2013 and 2014, and the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in 2015. More recently, he moved into Formula Renault 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, winning six races in 2017.
“I want to thank Team WRT and Audi Sport for their support and trust, which are allowing me to join an exciting series such as the DTM,” said Fittipaldi.
“It’s probably one of the most competitive series in the world, and I can’t think of a more exciting challenge.
“The test at the Lausitzring went very well, we did a good job and tested everything we wanted to test. I am very pleased to work with such a great group of people.
“It was my first time in Lausitz and my first time with the Audi RS 5 DTM, which is different from anything I have driven so far.
“The sessions were very useful to familiarize with the car and start exploring the limits. We know that we have a lot of work ahead of us and much to learn, but I am definitely enthusiastic about the package and the project.”
WRT Team Principal Vincent Vosse is gambling on youth in the team’s first DTM season, also thanking the Haas F1 Team for allowing Fittipaldi to race in DTM alongside his F1 testing duties.
“I want to thank the entire team for the hard and excellent work done in the last weeks to prepare the cars, which have performed well at the Lausitzring test,” said Vosse.
“We are delighted to welcome Pietro alongside Jonathan, and we are now fully geared to take up the challenge of our maiden season in a fantastic series such as the DTM.
“I want to thank Günther Steiner and Haas F1 Team for allowing Pietro to be with us. At Team WRT, we have a long-standing tradition on betting on youth and give concrete opportunities to young, talented and fast drivers, and that has always paid off.
“It makes us proud to join the DTM with the youngest pair of drivers of the 2019 field.”
Audi Sport Head Dieter Gass helped WRT in signing Fittipaldi and praised the young age of the team’s driver line-up.
“I am very glad we could give WRT Team Audi Sport a hand in signing Pietro Fittipaldi as their second driver for the 2019 DTM season opener at Hockenheim,” said Gass. “We always strive for making DTM more international and have famous names involved. Having the ‘Fittipaldi’ name in the DTM is great news for the series.
“Despite being just 22 years old, Pietro has already proven his talent in various motorsport categories and has recently become an official test driver for the Haas F1 Team.
“I’m looking forward to see what he can achieve with the Audi RS 5 DTM. Vincent Vosse has formed a kind of ‘junior team’, which perfectly fits to our idea of a DTM customer team.”