HWA AG has named its drivers for the DTM’s annual ‘Young Driver Tests’ at the Circuito de Jerez in Spain, with Jake Dennis, Jake Hughes, Thomas Preining and Ferdinand Habsburg joining Daniel Juncadella in a Mercedes-AMG C63.
Despite Mercedes withdrawing from the DTM at the end of the 2018 season, HWA will still be present at the test alongside BMW and Audi from the 10th to 12th December.
The youngest of the quartet of young drivers will be Preining, with the Austrian sampling a DTM car at 20 years old. Next up is fellow Austrian Habsburg (21), followed by British duo Dennis (23) and Hughes (24).
Habsburg is a late addition to HWA, as the formula 3 ace had originally been nominated for the test by Ingolstadt marque Audi.
Meanwhile, Audi will be taking part in the test with six young drivers in its RS5 DTM. Andreas Bakkerud is arguably the highest profile, the 27-year-old trying out a DTM car after making his name in rallycross.
But Audi will also test 42-year-old Belgian sportscar ace Benoît Tréluyer as well as 32-year-old WTCR race winner Frédéric Vervisch.
The young stars in Audis line up are Italian Mattia Drudi (20), Formula 3 racer Jonathan Aberdein (20) and Sacha Fenestraz (19). Fenestraz will replace Habsburg at short notice.
BMW will take part with Nicky Catsburg (30), Mikkel Jensen (23), Sheldon van der Linde (19) and Nick Yelloly (28). BMW are seeking a DTM replacement for the departing Augusto Farfus, who will focus on sportscar racing with the marque and a new challenge with Hyundai in WTCR.
Aston Martin outfit R Motorsport, due to join the DTM grid in 2019, will not be present at the test, and has yet to announce any of its drivers for next season.