Oeverhaus Drawing On 24H Spa Experience for DTM Debut

Theo Oeverhaus says he will be able to draw on his experience from this year’s TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa for his DTM debut at the Nürburgring, where the 17-year-old German will become the youngest driver in championship history.

Oeverhaus makes a guest appearance with Walkenhorst Motorsport this weekend, piloting a third BMW M4 GT3 alongside team regulars Marco Wittmann and Esteban Muth.

He has an existing relationship with Walkenhorst through his time in DTM Trophy, where he currently sits third in the championship standings halfway amidst his sophomore campaign.

As part of his ties with the Melle-based operation, Oeverhaus also took part in the 24 Hours of Spa in July, joining Don Yount, Henry Walkenhorst and Joerg Breuer aboard an M4 GT3 for a second-placed finish in the Bronze Cup.

With some experience behind the wheel of the M4 GT3 now under his belt following the Belgian endurance classic, Oeverhaus hopes he will be able to apply some of the lessons learned at Spa to his DTM debut this weekend.

“In the 24-hour race I learned more about dirty air in fast corners and dirty air under braking, for example,” Oeverhaus said.

“You have to brake a bit earlier when you are behind someone because with the aerodynamics you have less braking performance.

“For sure, that helps in the DTM to ensure I don’t make any mistakes because now, I know what happens with the car when I am in dirty air.”

At 17 years, 8 months and 9 days old, Oeverhaus will take the record for youngest race starter in series’ history by a considerable margin on Saturday.

The previous record is held by 2015 champion Pascal Wehrlein, who was 18 years, 6 months and 18 days old when he made his series debut at the Hockenheimring in 2013.

“It’s for sure a nice thing to be the youngest DTM driver in history,” Oeverhaus said of the impending record.

“I’m also very thankful to DTM that they are allowing me to do this job and giving me the trust to do that.

“It’s going to be a tough one, because of the DTM Trophy on the same weekend.

“It’s going to be tough and I am really looking forward to doing a good job.”

It will be a double duty weekend for the German, who will also continue his full-season campaign in the championship’s support series, piloting an M4 GT4 for Walkenhorst.

“To be honest, I really have no idea how hard it will be to go from the GT4 car to the GT3 car in like five minutes, jumping out of one car and into another, because I never did it on a weekend before,” he noted.

“But last year in the BMW M2 Cup I was also jumping into the DTM Trophy car and there it worked quite nicely, so I’m really hoping it’ll work this year from the GT4 to the GT3.”

Oeverhaus remains calm about his prospects for this weekend, indicating that his full-season effort carries equal importance.

“I will see how things go. I will not have so much pressure in DTM.  The main goal is to make no mistakes, doing a good job.

“I’m still focusing on the championship in the DTM Trophy and on getting good results there. In DTM, I will play it safe and make no mistakes.

“My realistic goal is to drive into the top 20, something like that.

“But my main goal is to make no mistakes and also do good job in DTM Trophy and stay competitive there.”