DTM: Felipe Fraga's decade-long journey to a Red Bull drive

It was back in 2012 when a fresh-faced, 16-year-old Fraga got his first taste of the DTM after being invited by Red Bull to attend the energy drink giant's home event in Austria.

The Brazilian had just graduated from karting that year and was still new to slicks-n'-wings single-seaters, competing in the Formula Renault Alps series against a field that featured future Formula 1 drivers Daniil Kvyat, Esteban Ocon and Alex Albon.

Naturally at that age Fraga wanted to follow in the footsteps of Ayrton Senna and Felipe Massa and become the next Brazilian driver to make a mark for himself in grand prix racing.

However, even with his sights firmly set on F1, he was left impressed by what he witnessed in the DTM in 2012, the year BMW joined the category to make it a three-way rivalry with fellow German luxury car makers Audi and Mercedes.

"I was a new Red Bull athlete at the time," said Fraga. "When I was at the Red Bull training centre in Austria, I was invited by Red Bull to watch the DTM race at the Red Bull Ring. Ten years later, I returned - to test the DTM car.

"I was a formula driver at the time and of course only dreamed of Formula 1, but those [DTM] cars were crazy. They were even faster than Formula 3, which was running in the support programme at the time. I couldn't believe it."

Mattias Ekström, ABT Sportsline Audi A5 DTM

Photo by: Daniel James Smith

Despite some promising results in the Alps series, plus a slew of successful wildcard outings in Formula Renault Eurocup, Fraga simply did not have the funding to move up the racing ladder in Europe and was forced to abandon his dream of becoming an F1 driver.

He instead returned to his homeland the following year, joining the Stock Car Brasil Light Series with the W2 Racing team.

It was a move that paid off immediately as he won the championship in his rookie season, even securing a graduation to Brazil’s flagship Stock Car Pro Series championship in 2014.

But although he was finally getting the kind of success that he had been hoping for, Fraga was still keen to return to Europe - and the DTM was the championship at the very top of his wishlist.

"When I became a Stock Car driver in 2014, I was already thinking about the DTM. DTM was the top touring car series at the time. I was thinking about DTM and SUPER GT in Japan, since Red Bull is active in both series. I always had these two series in mind.”

Fraga became the youngest champion in the Brazilian Stock Car series on his third attempt in 2016, beating ex-Ferrari F1 driver Rubens Barrichello to the crown in an epic two-horse race.

More race wins and a second-place finish in the championship followed over the next three years, but by 2019 Fraga was dovetailing his Stock Car drive in Brazil with GT3 outings in Europe - and even made his Le Mans 24 Hours debut at the wheel of a Keating Motorsport-entered Ford GT.

In 2020 he quit the Brazilian Stock Car series altogether to fulfil his other ambitions, before joining Mercedes’ GT roster the following year.

"I didn't have the dream of winning the title two, three, four or five times, but wanted to progress and try bigger things," said Fraga.

#33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGTE Am, Ben Keating, Dylan Pereira, Felipe Fraga

Photo by: Marc Fleury

Outside of GT3 outings with Mercedes, which had already yielded a second-place class finish at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2019, Fraga also tried his hand at prototype racing, embarking on a race-winning campaign with Riley Motorsports in the LMP3 class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship last year.

Then, when Red Bull was left with no choice but to look outside its roster of F1 juniors to fill a vacant seat in the DTM, it called on the services of Fraga to partner Nick Cassidy at the team.

"I was always asking Red Bull Brazil and Red Bull HQ if there was a possibility and if they had something for me, because I'm in Europe now,” he revealed.

“So when they asked me if I wanted to join the DTM, I was completely taken by surprise and could hardly say anything. I just said that I was ready and very happy to accept the offer.

“I’ve always dreamed of driving a real Red Bull race car. And in such a strong field. The team has done everything to make me feel comfortable right from the start.”

Fraga is not a household name in motorsport, certainly when compared to some of his DTM rivals like Rene Rast and Nicki Thiim. But now placed at the plum Red Bull-backed AF Corse operation in a championship that is still followed by millions every year, he has the perfect opportunity to establish himself in top-tier GT3 racing.