(Reuters) – Two times German Touring Car (DTM) champion Rene Rast will replace Daniel Abt at Audi’s Formula E team for the remainder of the season, the manufacturer said on Friday.
Abt lost his seat last month for letting a gamer take his place, without others knowing, in an official Formula E esports race.
The all-electric series has scheduled six races in nine days in August at Berlin’s former Tempelhof airport to finish a season disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The three double-headers will be held without spectators.
Rast, 33, has some previous Formula E experience, racing in the 2016 Berlin ePrix for what was then the Aguri team and is now Techeetah.
“I’ve been following Formula E very closely for a long time and am now looking forward to this new challenge,” said the German driver.
Audi are quitting the DTM at the end of this year, opening up the possibility of Rast continuing with them in Formula E next season.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Alexander Smith)
