Legend Sebastien Loeb to make DTM Debut for Red Bull

As per some reports, owing to his obligations with Envision Racing in Formula E, Loeb will take the place of Nick Cassidy in the inaugural round of the 2022 DTM season on April 30-May 1.

Last week, the nine-time World Rally Champion had his first taste of the AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 in Spa-Francorchamps, and he’ll be at Hockenheim this weekend for the official pre-season test. Loeb might be in line for more DTM outings later in the year, with Cassidy certain to miss the Norisring race in July due to Formula E, and perhaps the Spa weekend owing to a clash with the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Loeb said, “Throughout my career, I have always liked to change between disciplines. DTM is a famous championship and as the opportunity came up for me to compete in it, I took it, of course. It is an exciting challenge because the driving style is entirely different. Now, it is time to work. I will be up against specialists in such racers and my last proper GT3 race already is a long time ago. My goal will be to find my rhythm as well as I can and I will try to use my experience to give the team good feedback about the set-up of the car. I know that it will be difficult but the cars really are fun to drive. Really fast, nice cars. Therefore, I am looking forward to it.”

Loeb has had a strong start to his 2022 campaign, coming second in the Dakar Rally against Toyota’s Nasser Al-Attiyah before defeating Sebastien Ogier in a two-horse fight amongst the WRC’s best drivers at Rally Monte Carlo.

His 2022 schedule includes a full season with the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team in the new FIA Rally Raid Championship and an Extreme E campaign with Lewis Hamilton’s X44 outfit. The British Prodrive business manages both of those teams. Loeb isn’t the only rally driver to race in the DTM in recent years; Ogier was a guest driver for Mercedes at the Red Bull Ring in 2018.

Loeb isn’t the only rally driver to have competed in the DTM recently; in 2018, Ogier was a guest driver for Mercedes at the Red Bull Ring.