NEWS

For well over 20 years, ABT Sportsline has been the benchmark team in DTM and, latterly, GT3 racing with Audi. Now it is forging a new path with Lamborghini Squadra Corse: two icons of global motorsport with a common goal…victory.

Although its roots as a dedicated racing team only stem to the late 1990s, the origins of the ABT company as a whole stretch all the way back to 1896 when Johann Abt formed a blacksmith’s shop for horse-drawn carriages. Over the years, it turned into a bespoke auto-tuning company that today supplies engine and suspension tuning services for the various brands within the Volkswagen Group, including Lamborghini.

It therefore goes without saying that ABT Sportsline (created officially in 1990) stands out as one of the most recognisable outfits in the world, and their success in touring car and GT racing are clear to see.

When Audi pulled the plug on its customer racing operations, ABT Sportsline was in need of a new partner. Lamborghini was the natural successor, according to team principal and former DTM champion Martin Tomczyk.

“It was a logical step for us because our core business is in car refining and tuning within the wider VW Group organisation,” Tomczyk explains.

“And in that business, we have a Lamborghini product based on the Urus, and our slogan has always been ‘from the racetrack to the road’ so finally we could close that loop with Lamborghini.

“Obviously, we had a long relationship with Audi and when that started to close, we had to look at what the future held for us, and the opportunity to do the Nürburgring 24 Hours came up, so we thought ‘why not?’ and that’s the way we went.

“For us, it makes perfect sense to go with Lamborghini because they manufacturer great race cars and from that point onwards, our relationship began two years ago with the Nürburgring 24 Hours.”

With immeasurable success (one Super Touring Cup title in 1999, six DTM titles between 2002 and 2009 as well as two ADAC GT Masters titles in 2009 and 2010), comes a staunch reputation across the motorsport world, and ABT Sportsline is an outfit that revels in the challenge.

The team first joined forces with Lamborghini for an assault on the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2023 before expanding its partnership with the Sant’Agata Bolognese firm with a two-car entry in the DTM earlier this year, after ending its 25-year relationship with Audi.

For 2025, the Nürburgring 24 Hour effort has increased further still. Five Lamborghini factory drivers and two cars will tackle the legendary race, with the vastly experienced Dani Juncadella fitting also fitting into a stellar line-up.

All six drivers have got their eye in for the 70+ corner Nordschleife track via the four Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie (NLS) events so far ahead of the 24 Hours this weekend. Indeed, the 24 Hours is not just any other race, it requires extensive preparation from both the drivers and team.

“Preparing for a race like the 24 Hours of Nürburgring is unlike anything else we have done with Lamborghini, you can’t compare the setup of the car in endurance racing to the sprint racing we do in the DTM,” says Tomczyk.

“At the end of the day, it’s a Huracán GT3 EVO2, but in the DTM you have less time to set-up the car, and it is perhaps a bit more sophisticated in terms of what you want from the car; the Nürburgring requires a completely different type of car.

“You need a car that is good for the whole circuit, and it is a long circuit. You need a good balance, good tyres, good engine and this is what the NLS rounds are for, not to get the best results per se, but to finetune and get the correct setup on the car before the race.

“Until the end of Top Qualifying, everything is up in the air, and the hard work is now. Building up to the race, that is when we need to put in the long hours. When you get to the race, you have what you have and, let’s say, the race is the ‘easiest’ part because you should have prepared all you can.”

There are many variables in a 24-Hour race and, at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, this is perhaps truer than any other round-the-clock event. The 2024 edition was unfortunately cut short after just eight hours of action due to adverse weather and fog, which means running consistently near the front of the field is paramount.

Another key to success on such events is teamwork, something that Tomczyk believes has been one of ABT Sportsline’s biggest strengths of late.

“We are quite a small team, and we know that we have the spirit to win races and be competitive on the track, we work well together,” Tomczyk adds.

“Also, this mixes well with the support staff at Lamborghini. The Italians also bring a bit more of the passion and flair to our team which is always nice! It is a really functional relationship on a high level.”

Throughout the years, Lamborghini has one some of the biggest 24-hour races in the world in class, but only once has it ever won outright (Barwell Motorsport in the 24 Hours of Barcelona).

With Mirko Bortolotti, Dani Juncadella and Jordan Pepper aboard the #27 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 and Luca Engstler, Marco Mapelli and Christian Engelhart in the #28 machine, ABT Sportsline will be flying the flag for Lamborghini’s factory supported effort in the 2025 edition which kicked off earlier this week with practice and qualifying.

Two more Lamborghini Huracáns (Konrad Motorsport and Renazzo Motorsport Team) will be on the grid for the race, which begins on Saturday at 16:00 CEST.