After the cancellation two and a half weeks in the past, there was a serious shock final Monday: Audi staff Seyffarth’s DTM visitor outing this weekend on the Sachsenring with German teenager Simon Connor Primm within the cockpit will now go forward in spite of everything! However how did this late turnaround come about?
“For me, it was truly already completed and dusted,” confirms staff boss Tobias Seyffarth, saying that, so far as he was involved, the entry had successfully fallen by means of. “Two days later I spoke to Simon and his father once more – they usually mentioned: ‘We have now managed to get the sponsors collectively in spite of everything.'”
So Seyffarth needed to put collectively the DTM squad in simply two weeks, and the staff was additionally in motion on the ADAC GT Masters on the Salzburgring final weekend. “It was two hectic weeks,” the staff boss says with a sigh of aid.
“It was essential that we survived the Salzburgring unscathed”
The 21-year-old Primm additionally confirms {that a} last-minute push made the 12 months’s solely Audi entry within the DTM potential. “A number of weeks in the past we have been going through the choice of whether or not we do that now or not,” he says. “It is a one-off alternative to race in most likely the most effective GT3 racing sequence on the planet – with the most effective drivers.”
That’s the reason they set the whole lot in movement as soon as once more to make the dream a actuality. The sticking level was “the monetary aspect”. “It was essential that we may usher in a couple of extra sponsors for the weekend to assist us,” he says. “I pushed once more, Tobias pushed once more.” Efficiently!
As well as, they may not danger the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II in the course of the ADAC GT Masters weekend, because the automotive was additionally earmarked for the DTM. “The essential factor was that we survived the Salzburgring weekend unscathed,” says Primm, alluding to the quite a few accidents a 12 months in the past attributable to tyre failures, which luckily didn’t recur in 2026.
How Seyffarth introduced in mechanics with DTM expertise
The staff shall be supported by two Audi engineers for its DTM visitor outing. They have been additionally capable of safe mechanics with DTM expertise, which isn’t insignificant in relation to the efficiency pitstops. All of that was achieved by means of Tobias Seyffarth’s connection to Paul Motorsport, the staff of Grasser driver Maximilian Paul that’s at the moment on standby, for which he labored as chief mechanic within the ADAC GT Masters.
“I helped out at Paul Motorsport for the previous two years, so we all know one another. And now that is, so to talk, the return favour: now they’re serving to me too,” says the staff boss, who can also be performing as technical chief for the Seyffarth entry, delighted with the assist.
Nonetheless, he expects the pitstops to be the largest problem, as a result of the crew can solely start practising in its ultimate line-up on Thursday. “In fact we all know that we cannot handle a pitstop underneath six seconds,” he says. “We wish to do strong stops with out errors. In the event that they take a second longer than the others, then that is simply how it’s.”
“We might already be happy if we will run with the pack”
What goal has the squad set itself for its DTM debut? “I’d already be happy if we will run with the pack. And I feel Simon could be too,” says Seyffarth, who needs to enter the weekend with out strain and, above all, keep away from errors.
Primm additionally has an identical goal. The younger native hero has by no means pushed a GT3 automotive on the Sachsenring, however most lately drove a GT4 automotive twice on the spectacular rollercoaster circuit. “It is a leap in on the deep finish for all of us,” he is aware of. “You possibly can’t count on an excessive amount of, however the essential factor is that each one of us within the staff do a clear job and get by means of the weekend with out errors.”
Primm, who has been competing within the ADAC GT Masters for 3 years, can also be hoping for a benchmark so far as his profession is anxious. “I wish to measure myself in opposition to the most effective on the planet. That is the problem in entrance of me, but additionally my very own expectation, so I can see the place I stand.”
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