“It's fine if people have patience with me being an apprentice at the beginning, but if not I don't mind. I already know most of my future competitors, but I don't expect them to let me past just because ‘here comes Ralf who doesn't know the DTM so well'.”
The 32-year-old will compete for Trilux AMG throughout the 2008 campaign – the same team for whom Mathias Lauda, son of former grand prix legend Niki Lauda, raced last year. During his testing in Portugal he completed more than 2,000km – equivalent to twelve DTM race distances. Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Vice-President Norbert Haug praised Schumacher's commitment and motivation for his new challenge, though warned against racing expectations too high for his debut season in the fiercely-fought category.
“It was decisive for our engagement of Ralf that he showed enthusiasm for the DTM,” the German underlined, “and his willingness to commit himself to a learning period with the for him unknown touring cars and enormous competitiveness of the entire field.
“It is clear that in the DTM Ralf has at first to get used to starting positions with two-digit numbers, and that during his learning year he will probably start from the last third of the field rather than from the second third. Ralf is ready to go this way of learning, and our technical team will support him entirely.
“Neither did Ralf ask us for a
Formula 1 bonus in his salary, nor did he require a special status within the team – compliments for this attitude. This is the only correct and therefore best pre-condition for his new career.
“I admire Ralf for his commitment to compete, which is what you experience only with a good and fully motivated sportsman.“
![Former F1 star Ralf Schumacher tries out a Mercedes C-Class DTM machine at Estoril for the second time [pic credit: DTM Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/405458.jpg)
