Oliver Jarvis has been dropped from Audi's DTM lineup for the coming season as the Abt Sportsline team has reduced its effort from five cars to three.
The Briton, who was named in the manufacturer's Le Mans 24 Hours lineup recently, has spent the last four years in the German-based touring car series with both the Abt and Phoenix Racing squads.
Audi's slimmed-down lineup of seven cars features 2011 rookie Rahel Frey moving from Phoenix to Abt to partner two-time champions Mattias Ekstrom and Timo Scheider.
Phoenix has a totally new lineup following Frey's move to Abt and Martin Tomczyk's defection to BMW during the winter. Mike Rockenfeller and Miguel Molina, who both drove for Abt last year, will race the A5 DTMs for Ernst Moser's squad. The only Audi team with an unchanged lineup is Team Rosberg, which has retained 2011's star rookie Edoardo Mortara and Filipe Albuquerque.
"That's why continuity with the teams and drivers was important to us," said head of Audi motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "Mattias (Ekstrom) and Timo know how to win the DTM and each of them is drawing on experience from more than 100 DTM races. Mike won his first DTM race in 2011, Filipe, Edoardo and Miguel all mounted the podium for the first time last year. I also believe that Rahel is able to cause some surprises in her second DTM season. During the winter tests she showed that she has a lot of potential."
The DTM season kicks off at Hockenheim on April 29.