Christian Abt: “DTM is number one”
TouringCarTimes met up with the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters-legend Christian Abt for an interview. The 41-year-old German has been involved in German Touring Car Racing for many years. He won the German Super Touring Car Championship (STW) 1999 after a controversial final race where he was taken out by the title-rival’s team mate.
After the 2007 season Abt retired from DTM and instead focused on the running of ABT Sportsline, the team that maintains Audi’s DTM-program, and driving in Carrera Cup.
How big is the difference between a Carrera Cup-car and a DTM-car?
“The difference is big but I felt at home in the Tolimit Team. It was really difficult to race with a Porsche. The team gave me all that I needed and gave me good feedback. If you want to be successful in a Porsche you need a lot of testing and you have to fine tune the car for your own driving style. But to sum things up, I had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the year in Carrera Cup.”
What are doing when you are not behind the wheel of a Porsche?
“I am a personal trainer for Oliver Jarvis and Katherine Legge. I have a lot experience which can be very helpful for young drivers.
I am also the co-owner of ABT Sportsline. Our company manage the DTM activity for Audi and we are building the race cars. We are tuning streetcars, selling parts and developing our own cars like the AS4 or KR8. My brother Hans-Jürgen is the man for the business administration and I am the man for the technical stuff.”
What do you think about DTM compared to WTCC? Which is number one of touring car series?
“I think the DTM is number one. If you look in to a DTM-car, it is totally different to a S2000-car in WTCC. The DTM cars are closer to Formula 1-cars. The technical parts, the aerodynamics and the whole development is really special and you really need a manufacturer with big capacities to build such a car.
On the other hand, a normal team is able to build a competitive S2000 car. The WTCC is a good series with a lot of good drivers. But you have to look at the marketing and organization side. The product WTCC is good but the marketing of DTM is on a higher level. But it is a difficult discussion. In F1 and DTM a manufacturer can show its power and knowledge.”
What do you think about the future of DTM?
“It would be nice if a third manufacturer could join DTM. We would get better marketing and more visitors. I think the whole interest for the series would grow and the drivers could earn more money. But in my opinion it can be quite difficult.
If you have three or four manufacturers, there is always one manufacturer that cannot win and that is bad advertisement for them. We saw that in the old German Super Touring Car-series, STW. Two manufacturers decided to leave and then two or three manufacturers followed them.”
If you look back at the STW-days and compare them with the present DTM, what is the major difference?
“We have much more politics now. In STW the drivers had more rights. But it is much more professional now and if you look the DTM-paddock today, it is really amazing. I think that the old Super Touring-cars were right. They only needed more power but the concept and the cars were good. You could push harder and have much better fights.”
Which year was the best in your career?
“You might think that it was 1999 when I won the STW. But in fact it is 2002, when our small team from the little city Kempten won the DTM with Laurent Aiello. I am still very proud over that victory. We did not have any support from Audi and we won the championship against Mercedes and Opel as a private team.”
What plans do you have for 2009?
“The plan for me next year is to drive a strong GT-car. I helped Audi to develop the new R8 GT3-model. But it is too early to say anything yet. I enjoy my life and my job. It is a big pleasure to work for and with Audi and I hope that it never ends.. I am very much looking forward to next year!”
