Kalender to become youngest DTM driver with Merced...

Reigning GT Masters champion Tom Kalender will develop into the youngest-ever DTM driver when he traces up on the grid for the 2025 season opener at Oschersleben.

The 16-year-old has been signed by Mercedes to symbolize the returning Landgraf group within the DTM after he broke the age document in GT Masters final yr, when he received the general title with Finnish racer Elias Seppanen.

He can be simply 17 years and 30 days previous at the beginning of the season, surpassing the document held for nearly a decade by present Porsche System E star Pascal Wehrlein.

Kalender can be joined by Nurburgring and Macau GT winner Engel, who beforehand raced for Landgraf in 2023 and has been an everyday fixture of Mercedes’ DTM line-up within the collection’ GT3 period.

Landgraf was a part of Mercedes’ DTM roster in 2023 however is extra well-known for its success in GT Masters, a collection additionally run by German car affiliation ADAC. Its 2024 triumph with Kalender and Seppanen marked its third straight title within the championship.

In the meantime, two-time Spa 24 Hours winner Jules Gounon will be part of Winward Racing to companion incumbent Lucas Auer.

Lucas Auer, Mercedes-AMG Group WINWARD Mercedes-AMG GT3

Photograph by: Alexander Trienitz

Having already made his DTM debut ultimately yr’s Hockenheim finale as a stand-in for the sick Luca Stolz, 30-year-old Gounon will contest the total 2025 season in a Mercedes AMG GT3 entered by Winward.

The French driver will dovetail his newly introduced DTM commitments with a drive within the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship, the place he’ll compete for the manufacturing facility Alpine group alongside Frederic Makowiecki and Mick Schumacher.

In DTM, he’ll group up with nine-time race winner Auer, who can be embarking on his tenth season within the class and ninth with Mercedes.

Gounon and Kalender change Luca Stolz and Arjun Maini in Mercedes’ four-car line-up. Stolz was initially a contender for Mercedes’ debut within the LMGT3 class of the World Endurance Championship with Iron Lynx, however is now prone to race within the GT World Problem Europe.

In the meantime, Maini has left Mercedes’ steady altogether to affix forces with Ford and will discover a berth in HRT’s anticipated two-car entry with the Mustang GT3.

Hubert Haupt’s HRT group had been a Mercedes buyer since inception however has switched its allegiance to Ford, which is ramping up its GT3 programme in Europe.