Feller: Land Aiming to ‘Get on Pace as Soon as Possible’

Photo: Land Motorsport

Ricardo Feller has set a realistic target for Land Motorsport’s debut season in DTM, saying the decorated Audi squad will “try to get on pace as soon as possible,” with the Swiss racer adding he expects a “tough” campaign after the team stepped up to the championship at late notice.

Feller, who moved to become a Porsche-contracted driver after leaving Audi at the end of last year, will be piloting a Land-entered Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II in the German sprint series, which kicks off at Oschersleben this weekend.

The Audi effort came as a late replacement for Feller’s original program, with the 24-year-old originally slated to join Bastian Buus in a two-car entry from Allied Racing.

However, the Allied effort was canceled in March with the team understood to have since folded, with Porsche stating at the time that it was searching to establish “alternative” programs for the affected drivers.

Speaking with Sportscar365, Feller revealed that it was ultimately a call from Land boss Wolfgang Land that allowed him to remain on the DTM grid for a fourth consecutive season.

“The pullout of Allied was very late, so everything was quite last minute and there was no solution to do DTM with a Porsche because all of the other teams were already sorted for the year,” Feller said.

“Then at one point, Wolfgang called me very soon after the Allied [news] and asked me, ‘Ricardo, how does it look? Could you theoretically drive DTM with an Audi? I have a possibility for you.’

So then I was like, ‘Honestly, I don’t think so. I’m Porsche now, so why should they allow it?’

“But I forwarded the question to my boss. Of course he was not really happy, but I think it’s also because it’s an Audi they approved it.

“They gave me permission because they know how important DTM is for me personally. So a big thank you to Porsche for even making it possible.”

The deal marks a reunion of team and driver after they previously won the 2021 ADAC GT Masters title together, while also ensuring Audi remains represented on the grid following ABT Sportsline’s move to Lamborghini.

Although Land has built up an impressive resume during its time racing Audi machinery, most notably including overall victory at the Nürburgring 24 and a GTD class win at Motul Petit Le Mans in 2017, Feller struck a realistic figure when asked about the team’s approach for its first DTM season.

“It will be tough,” Feller said.

“We have a good crew. Some people we could take over from Allied. They were basically jobless and now they have a job again in DTM. So this is actually a good extra, just on the personal side for these guys.

“Now we just try to get on pace as soon as possible and to get everything into the rhythm because preparation was non-existent.

“Probably not ideal I would say. The good thing is that we know the car quite well so we hope that we get it into pace as soon as possible.”