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…
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