Huge surprise just days before the penultimate DTM weekend of the season at the Sachsenring: The Audi guest entry, which the Seyffarth team had already cancelled, is happening after all! As officially confirmed by the ADAC, the German team will compete with the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2, car number 77, meaning cars from nine different manufacturers will be on the DTM grid.
In the cockpit will be 21-year-old Simon Connor Primm. The young German from Saxony is competing for the team alongside the Pole Robin Rogalski in the ADAC GT Masters series this season and secured pole position at the Lausitzring.
Originally, the squad led by team boss Tobias Seyffarth had postponed the DTM guest entries, which were already planned before the 2026 season, until 2027. For this reason, the team also skipped the test at the Sachsenring just over two weeks ago.
Short-term change of plans ensures previously cancelled start
However, as we understand, the situation has changed at short notice. The team, which competes in the ADAC GT Masters under the name HGL Racing, will start in the DTM as Seyffarth Motorsport - and at least knows the new DTM spec tires from the tire tests in Vallelunga in March, which they attended. The performance pit stops will likely represent the biggest challenge.
"I was still racing karts five years ago," says driver Primm ahead of his DTM debut. "It was a huge dream for me to be able to drive in the DTM myself one day. This is just mega for me."
Seyffarth team boss knows Primm from ADAC GT Masters
Primm switched from karts to GT racing in 2022 and won the junior title in GT4 Germany in 2023. In 2023, he completed his first guest starts in the ADAC GT Masters together with DTM driver Maximilian Paul and his team in a Lamborghini; in 2025, he celebrated his only ADAC GT Masters victory to date in the Paul-Lamborghini alongside Finn Zulauf.
Team boss Tobias Seyffarth acted as chief mechanic for the Paul team in the ADAC GT Masters and knows Primm well. Now the next challenge awaits the youngster with the DTM.
"I feel great having the opportunity with Audi now, I am motivated and really looking forward to it," says a happy Primm, who was in action with the Seyffarth team at the Salzburgring last weekend and currently sits in eleventh place in the championship.
Streak continues: Audi involved in DTM since 2000
For the DTM guest start, the Seyffarth team is not eligible for points, which means subsequent participants will move up in the points distribution. However, the entry ensures that the 2026 DTM season does not take place entirely without Audi. The Volkswagen brand has been on the grid every season since the DTM was re-established in 2000 - even if sometimes not as a full factory effort.
Following the downscaling of the customer racing department decided in 2023, the end of the driver pool, and the production stop for the R8, numerous teams have said goodbye to the long-standing traditional DTM brand. Last year, the Land squad still competed with Ricardo Feller in an Audi, delivering the brand its 143rd victory since its factory DTM entry in 1990 at Spielberg.
