The 2022 DTM season kicks off at Portimão in Portugal this weekend, with Felipe Fraga and Sébastien Loeb driving the two Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020s of reigning champions AF Corse Red Bull AlphaTauri.
New faces. The 26-year-old Brazilian driver, 2016 Stock Car Pro champion and recent LMP3 winner at the Daytona 24 Hours, will be at the wheel of the Red Bull car all season. Fraga will seek to fight for the title Liam Lawson just missed out on last year in the final race at the Norisring. Nine-time WRC World Champion Sébastien Loeb will take to the track in AlphaTauri colours to replace Nick Cassidy, competing in Formula E this weekend. After the Spa-Francorchamps test and the pre-season ones at Hockenheim, the French driver will race the technical Portuguese track for the first time, hoping to leverage his great flexibility and experience against the German series specialists. This is Loeb’s return to the wheel of a Prancing Horse car after his experience in the final round of the French GT Tour Championship – curiously again for AF Corse – in 2011 when he drove a 458 Italia GT3.
Programme. After Friday’s free practice, on Saturday at 10.05 a.m., the starting grid for the first race of 2022 will be decided, with the race starting at 1.30 p.m. Sunday’s programme will replicate Saturday’s.