Nico Muller to compete for Audi in the 2014 DTM; Filipe to compete in Le Mans 24 Hours

A new face in Audi's driver line-up for the 2014 DTM season - Nico Muller will be making his debut in the most popular international touring car series under the symbol of the four rings. The 21-year-old Swiss is taking the place of Filipe Albuquerque, who is switching to Audi's
LMP and GT program.

Nico Muller proved his eligibility for the vacant Audi RS 5 DTM cockpit by delivering strong performances in track tests.

"We've been watching Nico's career for some time now. He completed a few hundred test kilometres in our DTM cars and left an outstanding impression. I'm confident that it won't take him long to fill the gap that has been created by Filipe Albuquerque switching to our LMP and GT program," said Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport.

Dieter Gass, Head of DTM at Audi Sport added, "Nico is a good fit for Audi, both in terms of his speed and his personality, and will no doubt be a valuable addition to the DTM on the whole. I think very highly of him and expect that he'll be able to cause a surprise now and then in his rookie season."

Muller is used to handling powerful race cars. In the 2013 season, his sixth year of open-wheel racing in total, he contested the World Series by Renault in a 530 hp formula car and finished in fifth place of the standings after scoring two race victories - which included winning the season's pinnacle event in Monaco. "It's not so much the engine's power output that I'm not familiar with as driving with a roof over my helmet, but that'll soon become second nature to me," he said.

Filipe Albuquerque to compete for Audi in the Le Mans 24 Hours
While Nico Muller is switching to the DTM, Filipe Albuquerque, after three years in touring cars, is following the call of endurance racing. The 28-year-old Audi factory driver from Portugal will be competing for the four rings in the LMP program as well as in GT sport. His season will start on January 25/26 with a commitment in the Daytona 24 Hours in an Audi R8 LMS of the Flying Lizard Motorsport team. Last year, Albuquerque won the GT class there.

"I can hardly wait: I'm going to compete at Le Mans in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro, in other words in the best car in the biggest race of the world. Hybrid, quattro, traction control - I'm getting to know many exciting technologies that are new to me. It's good that I'll be able to draw on the know-how of experienced team-mates. That'll accelerate my familiarisation," said Filipe.

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