Nyck de Vries has been confirmed as part of the Audi Sport outfit this weekend, having been appointed as their reserve driver, with the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters heading to Moscow Raceway for the halfway point of the current campaign.
The Dutchman has been drafted in via the Ingolstadt marque, in light of the left metarsal bone fracture sustained by Mike Rockenfeller at the Norisring. This was as a result of his RS5 DTM being collected by the Mercedes of Gary Paffett in the second race of the weekend, just under a fortnight ago.
De Vries, who is a McLaren Junior driver, currently races for Rapax in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. He is now on standby duty for this weekend, if the 2013 Champion is declared to be unable to race.
The 22-year-old, who is currently en route to the 3.931-km circuit, carried out a roll-out test on the rebuilt #99 RS5 DTM on July 11th. This was before it was transported to the circuit, based just under 100 kilometres from the Russian capital.
Rockenfeller, nevertheless, has been hard at work getting himself ready for this round, having won at the Russian circuit twice since it was introduced to the calendar back in 2013.
“I like the track and want to race at all costs, otherwise the championship will be over for me,” admitted the 33-year-old, who has had a custom-fit bandage made for his left foot, along with continuous physiotherapy.
“With this bandage it should work. I not only want to race in Moscow, but win there for the third time as well.”