Audi has confirmed WRT as its first customer DTM team for the new era of the German touring car series, with the Belgian team set to join the championship next season.

WRT will run a pair of Audi RS 5 DTM cars alongside its existing GT3 and TCR programs.

Team principal Vincent Vosse has been considering the switch for a while, as reported by Sportscar365 earlier this month.

“Moving up the ranks to the DTM was a dream for us,” said Vosse. “As part of the Audi family, we have followed the DTM with interest. This has always been a very strong platform.

“The time to get started was never better than it is now: in 2019, the new 2.0-liter turbo engines will be used for the first time. All of the teams will be starting from scratch with the new engines.

“We will get the same equipment as the factory teams. That makes the DTM so interesting for us and certainly also in the future for other teams.”

Audi Sport boss Dieter Gass says he is “convinced” WRT will have success in the championship, which also revealed its schedule on Friday.

“Together with the ITR, we have been working hard over the past few months to reopen the DTM for customer teams,” said Gass.

““We are pleased to present the first customer team of the new DTM era. I know Vincent Vosse and his team very well from Super Touring and the many years we worked together in GT racing.

“I know how strong the WRT team is. I am convinced that WRT also has the potential to establish itself in the DTM.”

Vosse confirmed to Sportscar365 during the Blancpain GT Series finale at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya that a DTM program would not come as a detriment to his existing GT3 and TCR entries.

“That will have nothing to do together, it will be different teams,” he explained. “WTCR is a completely different team to GT. I will do the same for DTM, if I do it.”