Kiwi Nick Cassidy and Brazil’s Felipe Fraga will defend the DTM Teams’ Championship in 2022 as they drive for the reigning titleholders Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse. Cassidy will pilot the premium Red Bull fashion brand, AlphaTauri while Fraga will drive the Red Bull liveried car.
Cassidy is a two-time champion in the Toyota Racing Series and he went on to claim the “triple crown” of titles in Japan – Super Formula, Super GT and All-Japan Formula 3 – before making a move to Formula E, where he currently races for Envision Racing.
After driving the final DTM round of 2021 in AlphaTauri colours, he now continues for six of the eight rounds in 2022. Two guest drivers will take Cassidy’s place when he has Formula E calendar clashes; however, the fast Kiwi will have further outings with AF Corse by complementing his DTM programme as part of the Italian team’s FIA World Endurance Championship lineup.
“I’m super excited to be back in the DTM,” commented Cassidy A “s a racing driver, there’s nothing you want more than to be busy. I’m really happy with this year’s programmes, and I think it will help me to perform at my best all the time.”
Fraga, also a Toyota Racing Series champion, is slated to race the full season as part of a continued push to establish himself on the European racing scene. The 2016 Brazilian Stock Car Pro champion – who recently won the LMP3 class at the 2022 Rolex 24 at Daytona, USA – has been accelerating onto the European stage in recent years with successes like second place in the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship (LMGTE Am). This year, he is deepening his commitment by making the continent his primary base.
“I’m really, really happy to be in this seat,” said Fraga. “It’s a big chance for me, the biggest chance of my career, and I want to do well,” said Fraga. “I can’t predict results, but I’m here to fight for the win, and I know with Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse we can do it – because they did it last year. So why not again this season?”
Fraga and Cassidy pick up the baton from drivers Alex Albon (THA) and Liam Lawson (NZL), who in 2021 led Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse to the Teams’ Championship title in their inaugural season.
Albon is now racing for Williams in Formula 1, while Lawson, the runner-up in the 2021 DTM Drivers’ Championship, is embarking on his second season in Formula 2 alongside practice and testing opportunities with F1’s Scuderia AlphaTauri.
Again this season, the team’s DTM drivers will race Ferrari 488 GT3 EVO 2020s prepped by four-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winners AF Corse. Since winning its debut race in 2016, the 488 GT3, in its standard and Evo 2020 configurations, has become renowned as one of the most successful models in Ferrari history, with a current overall and class tally of 107 titles (as of 12 Hours of Sebring 2022), encompassing 429 wins from 770 starts.
The 2022 season marks DTM’s second campaign in its high-powered new era of GT3 regulations. The sports cars will be in action across eight rounds, four in Germany and four elsewhere in Europe. Each will feature two sprint races of 55 minutes plus one lap, without driver changes. Highlights include the season opener at Portimão, Portugal from April 29 to May 1; a home race weekend for AF Corse at Italy’s Imola circuit in June; Red Bull’s home race weekend at Austria’s Red Bull Ring in September; and the finale at Hockenheim, Germany on October 7-9.
Before the 2022 season starts, however, Fraga and Cassidy will first be behind the wheel at the official DTM test at the Hockenheimring from April 5-6. Their entire season will be documented in the YouTube series “Driving DTM”, which is now entering its second season.
2022 DTM Calendar
April 29-May 1: Portimão, Portugal
May 20-22: Lausitzring, Germany
June 17-19: Imola, Italy
July 1-3: Norisring, Germany
August 26-28: Nürburgring, Germany
September 9-11: Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
September 23-25: Red Bull Ring, Austria
October 7-9: Hockenheimring, Germany
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