British racer Harrison Newey has replaced Dubai-based Ed Jones in the third WRT Audi RS5 for this season’s DTM, graduating to the tin top series from single-seater racing.
Newey, the son of famed designer Adrian Newey, will line up alongside Ferdinand von Habsburg and Fabio Scherer at the Belgian team.
The 21-year-old had already joined the team for the official pre-season tests at the Nürburgring last month, when Jones had been unable to attend due to being stuck in the United Arab Emirates.
“Ed Jones, previously announced but finally not in a position to contest the DTM, will be replaced by Harrison Newey,” said a statement by WRT.
Newey has now been confirmed for the full season at WRT, with the season kicking off at Spa-Francorchamps on 1 – 2 August.
Newey previously competed in the Japanese Super Formula series in 2019, claiming one podium on his way to 15th overall in the drivers’ standings, and previously raced in Formula 4 in both Britain and Germany in 2014 and 2015 before moving on to Formula 3 in 2016 and the Asian Le Mans Series in 2017 and 2018.
“I’m really excited to join the WRT Team Audi Sport for the 2020 DTM season.” Said Newey. “The team had a fantastic debut season last year and they’ve got a lot of experience under the belt and hopefully they can pass this expertise over to me, as this is my rookie season.
“I can’t wait to get started at Spa. Everyone has had a much longer off-season than expected and there is no better place to start than Spa, one of the best tracks in the world.
“DTM is such a historical championship and it’s an honour to be a part of. I can’t wait to get going in my rookie season and be a part of such a high competition.
“It’s going to be a good challenge for me and that I’m very excited for.”
WRT Team Principal Vincent Vosse explained how the COVID-19 lockdown, which has effectively created this opportunity for Newey, had affected the team in recent months.
“Team WRT has gone through the lock-down safely and smoothly,” said Vosse. “We ceased all racing activity mid-March: a part of our workforce went into the temporary unemployment schemes, and other team members went working for the Weerts group of which we are part. On 25 May, we partially resumed activities, reaching again the usual set-up on 3rd June.
“In the DTM, for the last season to be run under the format we have known so far, we aim at materializing the promises we have shown in our debut season last year, and up-grading our efforts to three cars, without departing from our philosophy to promote young talent.
“With all calendars having been reshuffled and compressed in a much shorter period of time, we have ahead of us four months of very busy and intense activity, almost with no time to breathe!
“It’s going to be one of the new challenges that 2020 presents us with, but we are ready to respond and fight with total commitment on all fronts.”