Alexandre Premat has been dropped from the Audi lineup and will be replaced by Darryl O'Young for the DTM finale in Shanghai at the end of November.
Premat had been part of the Audi fold since 2007, racing in both its DTM and LMP1 lineups. He won the 2008 Le Mans Series title alongside Mike Rockenfeller. But the Phoenix driver's relationship with Audi became more fractious earlier this season when he triggered a Lausitz collision that ruined the races of works drivers Mattias Ekstrom and Timo Scheider. What turned out to be his final DTM event with Audi at Adria ended in a ferocious early accident, which he escaped unhurt despite rolling several times.
Audi motorsport boss Dr Wolfgang Ullrich said differences of opinion had led to Premat losing his seat.
"The decision to give Alexandre Premat leave of absence before his contract expires wasn't an easy one for us," said Ullrich. "Unfortunately, though, opinions on important topics most recently differed too much. We would like to thank him for his work during the past four years and wish him all the best for his future career."
His Shanghai replacement O'Young has driven in the World Touring Car Championship this year with the Bamboo Chevrolet team and has Audi links from racing its GT car.
"Darryl has been driving high-performance GT sports cars for many years and by finishing as the overall runner-up clinched a remarkable result in the Audi R8 LMS at the Sepang 12 Hours in August together with Frank Biela and Marco Werner," said Ullrich.