The DTM is officially headed for the United States.

The 12-race US-based championship for the extreme DTM cars will begin in 2013 -- one year after GRAND-AM's flagship Daytona Prototype class undergoes a serious remodeling project -- that will serve as a sprint racing support show for GRAND-AM, NASCAR Sprint Cup and the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

“Only days after BMW officially announced its commitment to the DTM from 2012, this is more good news concerning the future of the DTM”, said Hans Werner Aufrecht, chairman of the ITR group that runs the DTM.

“Internationalisation has been our goal, in order to ensure that cars to DTM regulations can be used in more countries all over the world. We have had very constructive talks with the GRAND-AM organisation and we are very excited with this new partnership.”

GRAND-AM president Tom Bledsoe says he expects the new venture with the DTM to serve as a major boost for his series.

“We are proud to forge these new relationships with the many manufacturers choosing to embrace the DTM vision, and we look forward to welcoming these exciting cars to the USA. With these announcements, we can begin planning with our media partners, race tracks and teams. The addition of a DTM-style sprint race will increase the attraction for our fans and help grow all GRAND-AM series.”

Many questions (and doubts) have surfaced about the DTM+GRAND-AM+NASCAR partnership, with this author receiving a steady stream of correspondence on the topic. Most of those inquiries centered on the belief that this new partnership is the first step by NASCAR to launch a Sprint Cup series in Europe, but SPEED.com has learned that the initial contact between the parties came from the DTM reaching out to GRAND-AM, and not from NASCAR to the DTM.

The main question to be answered now is how the US DTM series will be populated. Through discussions with parties involved with the 2013 series, we understand the most likely scenario involves factory involvement from Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, with an undetermined number of existing DTM teams running satellite programs in the USA on behalf of the DTM manufacturers.

The German DTM series currently serves as a playground for Audi and Mercedez-Benz (BMW will join for 2012), where full factory racing teams fight for the championship while a number of privately owned teams campaign DTM cars with some level of factory assistance. The same model is expected for the 2013 US DTM series, giving the three marques the chance to battle each other on American soil while completing the rest of the grid with US-based teams.

Details are still somewhat vague, but the opportunity appears to exist for GRAND-AM teams to expand into the US DTM series provided they reach an agreement with Audi, Mercedes-Benz or BMW.

Whether the US DTM series would be open to teams outside of GRAND-AM and NASCAR is unknown, but the fact that the DTM organizers expect to see the new series share the 2013 calendar with the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series could draw the interest from more than just sportscar and stock car entrants.

Chip Ganassi, owner of a two-car NASCAR Sprint Cup team and the 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Series Daytona Prototype-championship winning team, says that running a DTM program could be of interest to teams in a variety of different series.

"I would think you will get some cross pollination from teams. The good news is that they are trying to get more factory involvement around [GRAND-AM]."

Robert Davis, head of Mazda's North American motorsports programs, believes the inclusion of a DTM sprint series alongside the Rolex Series would benefit everyone involved with GRAND-AM.

"I look at this announcement as a way to grow the overall image and impact and marketability of GRAND-AM. Having Audi and Mercedes and now BMW running on the same weekends with us is not going to hurt GRAND-AM at all. If anything, it will bring out more people who are passionate about our kind of racing. The guys at GRAND-AM are pretty smart about thinking those kinds of things through from the beginning. We don't know a lot about this partnership yet -- it's still early days -- but I think you'll see [GRAND-AM] is going to take care of its entrants while they add something exciting like the DTM to the calendar."

Davis, whose factory Mazda RX-8s claimed the 2010 Rolex GT manufacturer and driver championships, says that concerns about the DTM taking the spotlight away from GRAND-AM are premature.

"If it's good for GRAND-AM, it's good for us. Any way to make road racing a higher profile sport in America is what we need. I watch all of the DTM races and they are well attended, well run and are presented like a premier organization. Those are only positives to be associated with GRAND-AM. Bring 'em on."

If you’re a fan of European racing, you’re certainly familiar with the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (German Touring Car Masters) series, or as it’s more commonly referred to, the DTM.

Like our own NASCAR Sprint Cup series, its concept is relatively simple: race V-8-equipped, purpose-built cars that consumers are familiar with at tracks across the country. That’s where the similarity between NASCAR and DTM ends, however.

DTM cars use production car roofs and come with functional lighting, making them closer to “real” cars than NASCAR models. Races are held on road courses, not ovals, and the race distances are much shorter (typically 170 kilometers, or 105 miles) with two mandatory pit stops.

Today, the DTM is contested between the Audi A5, the BMW M3 and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe, meaning that manufacturers want as much exposure as possible for their wares. One way to get this is to take the DTM series global, which is exactly what is happening.

Thanks to a just-announced deal with NASCAR and Grand-Am (which will become United SportsCar Racing in 2014), DTM will likely be coming to the United States for more than just exhibition races. Plans are already in place to export the DTM series to Japan, where it will run in conjunction with the Japanese Super GT series.

Don’t look to DVR the North American DTM series any time soon, however. Technical regulations still need to be sorted, and the North American series still needs the buy-in of participating manufacturers. If all goes well (which it rarely does in racing), the new series could debut as early as the 2015 season.

From our point of view, there’s no such thing as too much racing. We say bring the series to North America, as it’s likely to attract fans that aren’t watching NASCAR, Grand Am or ALMS today.

Aston Martin will join the DTM grid as a manufacturer in 2019, with a program run by AF Racing AG and R-Motorsport.

The British marque had been tipped for a possible entry into the German tin-top series as a replacement for Mercedes-Benz, which is leaving at the end of this season.

Swiss company AF Racing, which runs the R-Motorsport operation that recently entered the Blancpain GT Series with a pair of Aston Martin Vantage GT3s, will enter the championship under license from Aston Martin.

The announcement comes three months after AF Racing entered a business partnership with Mercedes DTM team HWA AG, fueling rumors of an Aston Martin DTM project.

HWA will be responsible for the development and construction of up to four Vantage-based Aston Martin silhouette cars ahead of the program’s projected debut next year.

“We are pleased to welcome the engagement in DTM of AF Racing AG, an enduring partner of our company,” said Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer.

“This project shows the increasing interest in the Aston Martin brand from leading private teams such as R-Motorsport.

“Alongside our factory investment with Aston Martin Racing into the World Endurance Championship with the Vantage GTE, and our Aston Martin Racing commitments to customers and official partner teams in GT3 and GT4, the DTM entry of R-Motorsport provides an important extension to our other motorsport program.”

A statement issued by AF Racing said that the “internationalization” of DTM was a prerequisite for the team’s commitment to the series.

It stated that the new Class 1 regulations, which come into force next year for DTM and Super GT, was attractive because it could enable Aston Martin-branded cars to run outside Germany and Japan.

“The DTM entry of R-Motorsport under a design license from Aston Martin is a milestone of the development of our company”, said Dr. Florian Kamelger, co-owner of AF Racing AG and team principal of R-Motorsport.

“The DTM offers first class sport and is close to the fans, and is the ideal presentation stage for us.”

Existing DTM manufacturers Audi and BMW, which have already confirmed their DTM entries for 2019, have both welcomed the addition of Aston Martin to the grid.

Meanwhile, DTM boss Gerhard Berger added that the news marked a “historic event” for the series, and that the growing internationalization of DTM will have “signaling effects for other manufacturers”.

DTM boss Gerhard Berger says he would "love" to have Fernando Alonso as a guest driver, after admitting to early talks in the past with the double Formula 1 champion.

The DTM has announced it will race at Monza in 2020.

Ex-Williams Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica will drive for BMW in the upcoming DTM rookie test at Jerez in December.

Kubica, who has been replaced by Nicolas Latifi at Williams for 2020 following a challenging F1 comeback, has already outlined his ambition to combine an F1 simulator role with a racing programme elsewhere.

As revealed by Motorsport.com earlier this year, Kubica's management had been in touch with Audi as it evaluated his post-F1 future but Audi motorsport boss Dieter Gass has since indicated the manufacturer is likely to retain its line-up for 2020.

But BMW, which lost to Audi in all three titles in 2019, is undergoing a review of its structure and driver line-up, potentially opening the door to a race seat after Kubica indicated a DTM switch was likely.

Kubica has tested a DTM car before, having driven a V8-powered Mercedes in 2013 in a test that impressed the manufacturer.

"I would like to thank BMW Motorsport for the opportunity to test at Jerez with the BMW M4 DTM," said Kubica, who raced for BMW in F1 between 2006 and '09.

"I am already very much looking forward to the test and to getting to know the DTM race car with its turbo engine. I can well imagine a future in the DTM.

"I am looking for a new challenge, and the DTM is certainly just that. The series has a top-class field and the standard of driving is extremely high. However, we must first wait and see how I get on at the test."

BMW motorsport boss Jens Marquardt added: "We are delighted to offer the opportunity to Robert Kubica to take part in the Jerez test.

"Robert is a big name on the international motor racing scene, with a lot of experience in high-class series like Formula 1.

"We are now very intrigued to see how he gets on in his test at the wheel of a touring car – our BMW M4 DTM."

Motorsport.com understands Kubica could also potentially test for the customer WRT Audi squad.

Audi is keen that ex-Formula 3 European Championship racer Jonathan Aberdein remains close to the brand after a promising first year in the DTM, while Haas development driver Pietro Fittipaldi's future looks less clear, despite his interest in remaining in the series.

Privateer team WRT requires drivers with financial backing, making Kubica - who brought around €15million to Williams in 2019 - an attractive candidate.

Kubica's main backer PKN Orlen is an additional factor that has to be considered as the company wishes to remain in F1 in some format.

The DTM driver market has remained quiet so far, with R-Motorsport Aston Martin still working on the make-up of its 2020 programme, Audi expected to retain its line-up and BMW still undertaking its structural review.

BMW is the only manufacturer to confirm its line-up for the rookie test with Nick Yelloly also testing alongside Kubica on December 10-13.

The DTM has announced a revised 2020 calendar amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Spa-Francorchamps becoming a surprise late addition to the schedule.

As reported by Motorsport.com, the championship will kick off at Norisring on July 10-12, bucking the trend of street races being axed from other series' schedules due to COVID-19.

Spa will host the second round of the championship on August 1-2, marking a return to the Belgian Formula 1 circuit for the DTM for the first time since 2005.

Lausitzring will host back to back rounds in the middle of August - for a total of four races - before the series makes its second annual visit to Assen on September 4-6.

Another double-header will follow at the Nurburgring in September, with the first of the two rounds at the German track to follow the full grand prix layout and the other to run on the shortened 'sprint' configuration.

The second of the Nurburgring rounds will however clash with the rescheduled Le Mans 24 Hours on September 19-20.

Zolder will be the only non-German venue to host two rounds, with races to be held on back-to-back weekends in October, before the season-concluding round at Hockenheim on November 6-8.

As expected, several rounds have been dropped from the calendar, including the two new races in Sweden and Russia. The Brands Hatch and Monza rounds have also been cancelled.

With the new calendar, the series has ensured that it will run to a full schedule of 10 rounds and 20 races, with the new-for-2020 DTM Trophy supporting the category in six events.

Following the release of the DTM calendar, W Series said it is still viewing its "options with the FIA, F1 & DTM while the COVID-19 situation remains so globally unpredictable" before announcing its own 2020 schedule.

The DTM is set to introduce a number of changes to the sporting regulations for the 2020 season, including a return of pitstops window, Motorsport.com has learned.

Pitstops windows were last seen in the DTM in 2016, and since then several drivers have taken advantage of the absence of this regulation to complete their mandatory pitstop on the opening lap in the hope of a safety car appearance later in the race.

A prime example of this strategy was seen at last year’s opening race at Misano, where Marco Wittmann - stuck at the back of the grid due to engine issues in qualifying - stopped on the first lap and lucked in with an early safety car to claim an unlikely last-to-first victory.
The DTM has now moved to close this loophole, and it is understood that the pitstop window for each round will open on lap 5.

Changes made to DRS, P2P

The DTM introduced a push-to-pass button last year to add to the DRS overtaking device that had already been present in the DTM.

As revealed by Motorsport.com in December, the P2P will be twice as potent this year, with the power boost increased from 30bhp to 60bhp and its usage likewise raised from 12 to 24.

To prevent additional strain on engines due to the change, the basic fuel flow rate has been reduced from 95 to 90 kilograms.

Meanwhile, drivers will now be able to deploy the DRS in 50% of the expected total laps, with the usage capped at three per lap. Earlier, the DRS was restricted to a total of 12 laps, irrespective of the circuit length.

The new rule will mean drivers will have more DRS usages at a short track like Zolder, which is 4km in length, than compared to the 7km-long Spa-Francorchamps circuit that will open the 2020 season this weekend.

As revealed by Motorsport.com previously, the DTM has abolished the three-second DRS window that existed previously, with drivers free to use the device irrespective of the gap to the driver out in front.

Push-to-pass, DRS allowed in qualifying

For the first time in the DTM, both push-to-pass system and the DRS will be allowed in qualifying, albeit with some restrictions regarding their use.

The push-to-pass boost can be used only once per lap, while the DRS use will be only three times every lap.

If a driver deploys the P2P or DRS seconds before crossing the finish line, it would still count towards the previous lap, giving the said driver extra boost without exhausting his allowance.

Formula 1 race winner Robert Kubica says he and ART “paid a heavy penalty for inexperience” on his DTM debut at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit last weekend.

Kubica has moved to the DTM in 2020 after losing his Williams F1 seat to Canadian Nicholas Latifi, and drives a BMW M4 operated by single-seater powerhouse ART.

Not only is Kubica completely new to the category, ART also has no prior experience of running Class One cars, with its two-year stint in the DTM between 2015-16 with Mercedes coming during the series’ V8-powered era.

That meant Kubica spent much of the race weekend languishing near the bottom of the timesheets, finishing 14th in both races against a reduced 16-car field following the exit of R-Motorsport Aston Martin.

The Polish driver lost 22 seconds in a botched pitstop on Saturday without which he could have finished as high as 12th, behind the factory BMW of Marco Wittmann but ahead of the three customer Audis operated by WRT.

He improved his ultimate one-lap pace by 1.7s between the two qualifying sessions, but an ill-judged set-up change - a consequence of practice being limited to just 45 minutes - meant that he struggled for pace in Sunday’s Race 2.

“We paid a heavy penalty for inexperience and this is a learning period for us,” Kubica told Polish journalist Cezary Gutowski.

“Let's say it became clear from the beginning that the direction we chose for the car was wrong and will not live up to our hopes, but that is part of the learning process we have to go through.

“Already on the first lap of qualifying, I knew it would not work and I knew it would be a tough race, but I did not expect it to be so tough.

“Unfortunately, you can't change the setup between qualifying and the race, so we're stuck with such solutions.

“We leave Spa with mixed feelings, but also gained a lot of experience and this is important. There are positives. Of course, we lack speed in the dry, but in qualifying yesterday it wasn't bad.”

After an up-and-down season and a half with Red Bull in 2019 and 2020, Alex Albon will be fulfilling reserve duties for the team in 2021, as Sergio Perez steps up to partner Max Verstappen. But there will at least be some active racing in Red Bull-affiliated colours for the Thai driver, with Albon set to compete in an AlphaTauri-liveried Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 in the DTM, the German touring car series.

Albon is set to share the AF Corse-prepared AlphaTauri car with New Zealander Nick Cassidy for the 2021 DTM season, dovetailing outings with his Formula 1 commitments with Red Bull – while alongside the pair, another New Zealander, former F3 competitor Liam Lawson, will drive a second 488, in Red Bull colours, as the Austrian company returns to DTM after two years out of the series.

Having spent his whole career racing karts and single-seaters, meanwhile, Albon said he was looking forward to the challenge of getting up to speed with ‘tin tops’ – having only experienced closed cockpit machinery once before, when he drove Mercedes DTM and McLaren GT cars while competing for the 2014 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award.

“DTM is a great series with highly talented drivers in the field and exciting racing,” said Albon. “I’ve only driven a ‘tin top’ once… and they’re really different to single seaters. There’s a lot less downforce and the tyres are very different, so it requires a different kind of driving style.

“It will take a bit of time to get used to, but I'm looking forward to a new racing challenge when I’m available outside of my existing F1 commitments.”

The eight-weekend DTM season will be kicking off on Monza on June 18-20 – although it’s yet to be confirmed which rounds Albon will contest.

The AF Corse squad that runs Red Bull’s two-car operation in the DTM stunned the field at Monza last month, introducing a new and faster approach to GT3 pitstops.

Using this technique, the mechanic operating the wheel gun first loosens the front wheel, but, instead of waiting for the fresh tyre to be fitted by another mechanic, runs straight to the other side of the car, completing the entire procedure on the rears. He then swiftly returns to his original position, tightening the wheel at the front.

The clever method allowed AF Corse to service Alex Albon’s Ferrari in a record 6.961 seconds at Monza, while also assisting Liam Lawson’s charge to victory in the opening race at the same venue.

AF Corse did hit some issues last weekend at the Lausitzring, where the honour of the fastest pitstop went to Walkenhorst BMW, but its pitstop times from Monza remained unbeaten.

The Ferrari outfit’s rapid pitstops are made possible by a locking ring that comes with the Ferrari 488 GT3, which ensures the wheel nut doesn’t come loose before the mechanic tightens it.

The Mercedes-AMG GT3 comes equipped with a similar locking ring and the German manufacturer was able to copy AF Corse’s pitstop solution at the Lausitzring, but Audi, BMW and Lamborghini are stuck with their existing systems that have already been homologated by the FIA.

This has irked 2013 DTM champion and Abt Sportsline driver Rockenfeller, who believes AF Corse should be made to follow the same pitstop procedure as the rest of the teams to ensure it doesn’t gain what he feels is an unfair advantage.

“Of course, that shouldn't be the case,” said Rockenfeller about the gap between pitstops times between different teams. “We have to work on equalising that, so that there are at least equal opportunities.

“It doesn't make sense to bring the cars into the BoP to some extent and then the pitstops always decides the race in the end. So it's certainly not ideal at the moment, especially for us.

“You can find a solution to regulate it in such a way that it's balanced out again. Abt has presented a good proposal and it will be discussed, and it has to be discussed.

“As per their proposal, you don't release one wheel and then run to the other, but you have to do it like we do with our pitstops, despite the technical advantage [they have]. Not exactly like us, but the advantage of this system shouldn't be there.

“The advantage they have is that they can do a different choreography that we couldn't do with the technology we have.”

Rockenfeller added that AF Corse is gaining several seconds in the pitlane, reversing any gains he and Audi are able to make on track.

“We wouldn’t be talking about it if the difference was two or three tenths, we wouldn't even talk about half a second," said the German. “But if you lose two seconds partly because of that, then that can make a difference of three positions.

“We saw on Saturday, especially now with the Audi, that overtaking is very difficult. The positions you gain are gone.”

Lawson, who sits second in the championship behind Audi’s Kelvin van der Linde, defended his team’s unique pitstop solution, saying there is no reason why the DTM should outlaw it.

“Maybe Audi can design some wheel guns that go off with the gun or stay in the wheel, because it’s not our fault that we are able to do this,” he said.

“Obviously we started with this at Monza and it was something very strong for us but others have started to follow along and have similar pitstop times.

“In motorsport there are little things to try and get the most out of, like pitstops. It’s not on track, it’s little things that we can gain.

“I appreciate that we were able to do that in the first weekend and it was definitely one of our strengths and still is. For sure, other teams are definitely going to follow up, but from my side I obviously don’t think anything should be done.”

Ever since Mercedes, Audi and BMW downscaled to six cars each in 2017, the DTM had been struggling to attract more than 20 entries for a full season.

The switch to more widely-available and affordable GT3 machinery in 2021 didn’t immediately bring a reversal in this trend either, with only 19 cars signing up for the year. This was a far cry from the kind of bumper grids seen in other GT3-based categories, including DTM’s direct rivals in Germany and Europe.

However, GT teams and manufacturers were left impressed by what they saw last year and have flocked to the series in large numbers this year. As a result, 29 cars will assemble at Portimao for the opening round of the season, representing the largest grid seen in the DTM since the championship’s revival in 2000.

Audi, BMW and Mercedes are all back in full force and will be joined by newcomer Porsche, the final member of the ‘Big Four’ from Germany. They will battle against Italy’s two biggest supercar makers Ferrari and Lamborghini, making it a six-way rivalry for one of the biggest prizes in the GT arena.

Drivers from 14 countries will be represented, adding international flavour to a championship that is keen on continuing its expansion beyond its German roots.

While the GT World Challenge Europe may boast Valentino Rossi, another legend from a different discipline of motorsport will make his DTM debut this weekend at Portimao: nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb. The Frenchman has been brought in by Red Bull to replace Nick Cassidy in its AF Corse-run team in the opening round, with the Kiwi unavailable due to clashing commitments in Formula E.

Although Loeb will forever be associated with rallying, it shouldn’t be forgotten that he has been competing on and off in circuit racing for almost two decades - with the highlight being a second place overall in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2006 at the wheel of a Pescarolo prototype. As such, there really isn’t any question about his ability to be quick in a racing car.

But of potential concern is his lack of track time in the Ferrari 488 GT3, with Loeb having to share his AlphaTauri-liveried car with Cassidy for all four days of official pre-season testing. The conditions during testing were also far from favourable, with rain hitting the track on both days at Hockenheim, and the Portimao running taking place in colder weather late in the evening to allow the DTM to place TV cameras around the track during daylight.

However, if Loeb does go on to perform well this weekend despite less-than-ideal preparations, it could open the door for more opportunities in the DTM later in the year, with Cassidy also set to miss the Norisring round in July due to another clash with Formula E.

Loeb’s performance will likely be compared with that of his full-season teammate Felipe Fraga, who has essentially replaced Liam Lawson in the team and is Red Bull’s only hope of winning a drivers’ title it narrowly lost out on in 2021.

A Brazilian Stock Car racing champion and a three-time starter at Le Mans, Fraga has the potential to add to his impressive CV in the DTM this year, according to AF Corse chief Ron Reichert.

“Felipe has been very very successful outside of Europe,” he said. “He has been an amazing driver in Brazil and the US. He’s been a little bit under the radar for Europe, but I think he will surprise a lot of people.

“For Nick, there’s not much to say. He jumped into the car last year with no testing and he was on the pace right away, he definitely has the talent and the pace.

“And for Seb the name speaks for itself. Having that many world championship titles, the guy can definitely drive anything as long as it has wheels and a throttle pedal.”

“I feel like a rookie again even though I’m old already. It reminds me a bit of my first DTM year in 2017 when everything was new to me. So it feels like that again. New names, new teams, new cars. I'm used to the tracks but the rest is kind of new. So, I need to learn a lot and get up to speed.”

Those are the words of three-time DTM champion Rene Rast, who has repeatedly downplayed his prospects ahead of his return to the category this year.

On one hand, Rast does have a point. The DTM has gone through a top-to-bottom overhaul during his short absence from the series and he will have to go through a learning phase before he can replicate the form that made him one of the most successful drivers in the series' history.

However, Rast is the same driver who turned up the DTM at the age of 31 in 2017 and won the title in his rookie season (admittedly in much different circumstances). He also learned the intricacies of Formula E in an incredibly short span of time when Audi recruited him to replace Daniel Abt in the second part of the 2019/20 Formula E season in Berlin.

And let’s not forget that Rast did actively race in GT3 cars in the past and even won the ADAC GT Masters title in 2014 with current teammate Kelvin van der Linde. And while he may have done less than a handful of outings in GT3 cars in recent years, there is every reason to believe that he can be quick out of the blocks in the DTM this year.

It helps that Abt Sportsline has the potential to remain a frontrunner in the DTM again in 2022, making Rast an obvious bet for the title. Not to mention the outfit has two other quality drivers in van der Linde and Ricardo Feller, each armed with years of experience in the Audi R8 LMS GT3. The duo will push Rast this year, while also providing him with the data he needs to improve his own driving.

The DTM grid feels more complete this year following the entry of Porsche, revered by many for its exotic sportscars and history at Le Mans.

Enough has been written about Porsche’s reluctance to join the DTM when it was essentially restricted to full-factory cars, but it’s positive to see the Stuttgart-based marque jump on the bandwagon when the switch to GT3 regulations removed a major barrier to entry.

“I think Porsche will realise quickly that to be in DTM is a big thing, the return you get with the TV coverage, with the name it is and the tradition. It's a lot in every respect,” said Mike Rockenfeller, who briefly drove for Porsche in the US before joining sister brand Audi in the DTM.

“It's a little money to invest compared to other motorsport platforms now with the GT3 rules. Before it was getting really expensive but now I think it's rather cheap and you get a lot of return and good racing.

“We know there is some factory support involved and I think Porsche will take it very seriously. They have good drivers, good teams. And, it's great for DTM.”

Porsche has a strong cast of drivers and teams for its first assault on the DTM. Laurens Vanthoor needs no introduction to fans of GT racing, having won major enduros such as the Nurburgring 24 Hours and Spa 24 Hours. His teammate Dennis Olsen is likewise no stranger to success with Porsche, even if he doesn’t have full factory status, and could spring a surprise or two this year.

Their team SSR Performance joins DTM after two successful seasons in GT Masters, including its title-winning campaign with Michael Ammermuller and Christian Engelhart. With Vanthoor and Olsen at the wheel, SSR could be a potent threat for the title this year.

The third Porsche on the grid will be piloted by Team Bernhard 75 driver Thomas Preining. One of the youngest drivers on the grid at 23, the Austrian has racked up a lot of experience in a wide variety of championships since winning the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany title in 2018. Preining even got to test a Formula E car at Marrakesh in 2020, showing he is regarded highly by Porsche.

After winning both the drivers’ and the manufacturers’ title in 2021, Mercedes has further upped its involvement in the DTM this year by adding an eighth factory-supported car. This means it will again have the biggest presence of any manufacturer on the grid, and theoretically a better shot at winning the championship.

There are some notable additions to Mercedes’ line-up this year, with Maro Engel returning to the DTM for a third stint and 2018 Blancpain GT champion Luca Stolz making his full-time debut after dipping his toe in the water with a one-off outing last year at the Nurburgring.

Together with reigning champion Maximilian Gotz and seven-time race winner Lucas Auer, both now at Winward, Mercedes has at least four drivers capable of fighting for the title this year.

There’s also multiple-time Blancpain GT champion Maximilian Buhk, but his primary job will be to refine the Schaeffler-Paravan steer-by-wire system on his car rather than chase outright results.

Arjun Maini also proved rapid over a single lap last year and could be an even more formidable competition now that he’s secured a promotion to the HRT team that carried Gotz to last year’s title.

Formula 3 convert David Schumacher and Canadian racer Mikael Greiner are both rookies and hence unlikely to regularly feature at the front of the grid. But they could well take points off Mercedes’ rivals, which could prove decisive in a series that has a system of success ballast in place.

While some of its GT3 rivals like Audi have introduced Evo kits to their existing GT3 offerings this year, BMW has built an all-new car from the ground-up based on the new M4 road car.

A lot of effort went into the development of the M4 GT3, with BMW spending the majority of 2021 testing the car at a variety of tracks in Europe and America, even racing it at the Nurburgring Nordschleife as a factory team before making it available to customers this year.

The initial feedback about the BMW M4 GT3 has been overwhelmingly positive, with drivers saying it is more versatile and easier on the tyres than the old M6, which was primarily built for endurance racing and hence not suited to the DTM’s sprint-style format.

BMW has also assembled a solid line-up for the car’s debut in the DTM, headed by none other than two-time champion Marco Wittmann driving for Walkenhorst Motorsport.

Sheldon van der Linde and Philipp Eng are also proven race winners and, while their team Schubert Motorsport may be new to the DTM, it has spent considerable amounts of resources on private testing to prepare for the season.

All of this means BMW really has no excuses not to challenge for the championship, according to the marque’s former rival and 2013 DTM champion Rockenfeller.

“From what they showed in America, they have to sort out stuff, but sprint racing is a little bit different to endurance racing, so hopefully they will have the reliability under control.

“Pace-wise the car is very good and they have a very good chance to be very successful. They have to, it's a new car. I mean, come on, you come with a new GT3 car, new development and you go to your first year, you have good drivers, good teams, they have to fight for the championship. Otherwise, it's a disappointment for BMW.”

Even though Mirko Bortolotti is regarded as one of the best GT3 drivers in the world, few would have expected him to finish on the podium when he made a wildcard appearance with T3 Motorsport at Assen last year.

Now with a full-time seat at the factory-supported Grasser Racing team, the Lamborghini driver ought to be considered as one of the early favourites for the title this year.

GRT is also putting its entire focus on the DTM this year, fielding four Huracan GT3 Evos in the series, and will have high hopes from the driver that helped it clinch back-to-back GTD victories in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2018-2019.

“Mirko is here to win races and hopefully to be in the game for the championship at the end of the year, so it’s a clear target,” said GRT boss and 1996 DTM/International Touring Car champion Manuel Reuter.

“But it will be really tough. By our calculations there are more than 15 driver/car combinations who are able to win the championship, so predictions at the moment are impossible.“

Another driver lending star power to Lamborghini’s second season in the DTM is Aston Martin factory racer Nicki Thiim, who will be driving for the T3 team this year in place of Esteban Muth.

T3 is a relatively small team compared to some of its rivals so it might be a little optimistic to expect Thiim to repeat his father Kurt’s title success from 1986 in his first season, but the Danish driver should be able to adapt to the Vantage with relative ease.

Although Thiim has been racing Aston GT cars for what feels like an eternity, he did make a couple of appearances at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS GT3 in 2015 in the Blancpain sprint series, so 2022 won’t be his first major outing in a car not built by the British manufacturer.

Based on the feedback it received from teams and competitors, the DTM has introduced a number of regulatory changes for the second year of its GT3 era, including a complete ban on team orders. Any kind of outside influence on drivers from teams, manufacturers and sponsors will not be tolerated this year, with the DTM warning that it could go as far as excluding competitors from the championship if found guilty of disobeying the rules.

This follows a controversial ending to the 2021 season at the Norisring, where Gotz became the series’ first GT3 champion after both Auer and Philip Ellis allowed the German driver to come through and take the lead at the request of Mercedes.

The list of changes for 2022 doesn’t stop at team orders. Drivers will now be allowed to pit under a safety car period, with the hopes of widening strategic possibilities. Last year, drivers tended to stop as early as possible for new tyres, partly because there was a risk that a safety car could wreck their race. But following the rule change, there is a possibility that more drivers could try and extend their first stint and charge through the field on fresh tyres towards the end of the race.

Furthermore, the pitstop window will open from the 11th minute of the race this year instead of lap six. This could lead to situations where the race leader misses the pit window and starts a new lap, while drivers running behind get the opportunity to make an early stop and perform an undercut.

Physical safety cars could also make fewer appearances this year, with the series finally adopting a Formula 1-style Full Course Yellow system in 2022.

Another change involves the introduction of a point for the fastest lap, which will be open to any driver who completes the race, irrespective of finishing position.

Finally, the success ballast system has been adjusted for 2022. While the race winner will still have to carry an extra 25kg in the following race, the second-place driver will only be given 15kg (instead of 18kg) and the final podium finisher will only be hit with a 5kg penalty (instead of 15kg).