DTM racer swaps RS5 for forklift to help pandemic relief effort

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DTM racer Ferdinand Habsburg has joined in efforts to help those affected by the pandemic as part of his military duty in Austria.

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Habsburg, 22, is helping to restock shelves with supplies in his country, which imposed strict restrictions on the movement of people eight days ago to limit the spread of the pandemic.

“I’m an Austrian soldier at the moment and we’ve all been called to help during this pandemic time,” said Habsburg in a video released by his WRT Audi team (below).

“Our job at the moment in the sport department is to help restock the shelves and make sure everything is ready to go for when people actually need food and everything that people that need [if they’re] sick.”

“That’s what I’ll be doing every night from 10pm to 6am to make sure I can do what I can to help the situation,” he added. “And of course, I’m trying to train during the day as well.”

Habsburg drove one of R-Motorsport’s Aston Martins in the DTM last year, but lost his drive after the team pulled out of the championship. He landed a place at WRT after the Audi team expanded its entry for the 2020 season.

“If you are young and healthy and you would like to use the time on your hands right, seek out opportunities to help your community in these times of need,” Habsburg added in a post on social media.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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3 comments on “DTM racer swaps RS5 for forklift to help pandemic relief effort”

  1. Profile Photo

    Phylyp (@phylyp)
    24th March 2020, 10:38

    WRT Audi is a Belgian team, Habsburg is serving in the Austrian military, so why is the tweet showing a location of Moscow? Has an Austrian finally reached Moscow, in a forklift, no less?

  2. Profile Photo

    GeeMac (@geemac)
    24th March 2020, 11:22

    For those who don’t know, Ferdinand Habsburg also goes by the pithy title of “Ferdinand Zvonimir Maria Balthus Keith Michael Otto Antal Bahnam Leonhard von Habsburg-Lothringen” and is the grandson of Otto von Habsburg, the last Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary.

    1. Profile Photo

      David (@davisp)
      24th March 2020, 11:48

      almost: in austria it’s forbidden to carry “von” in your name.

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