Sophia Flörsch will take part in the 2021 DTM. Together with automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler, ABT Sportsline is fielding a third Audi R8 LMS for the 20-year-old German, who will be taking part this year alongside team-mates Mike Rockenfeller and Kelvin van der Linde. Sophia Flörsch will make her first appearance with the team during the DTM tests at Hockenheim at the beginning of April. The season opener is scheduled at Monza in mid-June.
“I’m really looking forward to competing in the DTM,” says Sophia Flörsch. “The partnership with Schaeffler and ABT Sportsline is great and makes me confident for my first season. I’m very proud to be given the chance to prove myself against such a strong field of drivers.” In recent years, Flörsch gained experience, points and trophies in various single-seater series and also completed a few laps in Schaeffler’s “DTM Electric Demo Car” at the 2020 DTM finale.
For ABT Sportsline, Sophia Flörsch is already the third woman with whom the team has competed in the DTM: In 2009, Katherine Legge drove for the team and in 2012, ABT fielded an Audi A5 DTM for Rahel Frey. A premiere: For the first time, ABT is also providing its driver with a female race engineer in the form of Laura Müller and a female team manager with Maike Frik. “We are very much looking forward to this joint adventure also in the DTM, working with Sophia and the cooperation with Schaeffler,” says Managing Partner Hans-Jürgen Abt. “We now have a DTM veteran, a rookie and a lady in the team, that’s really something motorsport fans can already look forward to.”
The entry of the third race car is made possible by the commitment of ABT partner Schaeffler. The two brands have already formed a successful team in the Formula E electric racing series since the championship’s inception in 2014 and now they are also working together in the DTM. “We are looking forward to the partnership,” says Matthias Zink, Member of the Executive Board for Automotive Technologies at Schaeffler. “For us as a pioneer in mobility, the DTM is passion in action and a perfect testing ground. We share Sophia’s enthusiasm for technology and see her as an important role model for all girls and women who pursue their goals with talent, commitment and ambition. Together, we will shape progress that moves the world on the race track and beyond.”