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The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe.
As it is treated as a marketing instrument rather than a contest, only factory teams can enter. From 2000 onwards, this new DTM continued the former Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (German Touring Car Championship) and ITC (International Touring Car Championship) which had been discontinued after 1996 due to high costs.
History
The New DTM 2000
The ITC era, a large proportion of the revenue generated by the championship went to the FIA, with the result that less went to the teams who subsequently complained of little return on their increasingly large investment in the high-tech series. Since 1997, many ideas were discussed in order to find a compromise for rules of a new DTM. Opel put the main emphasis on cost control, Mercedes supported expensive competitiveness in development, BMW wanted an international series rather than one focussed on Germany only, while Audi insisted on allowing their trademark quattro four wheel drive (despite running the rear wheel drive Audi R8 in sports car racing).The DTM returned in 2000 as Mercedes and Opel had agreed to use cars that were based on the concept car that was shown by Opel on various occasions, eg. the 1999 24 Hours Nürburgring were Opel celebrated its 100th anniversary. The series adopted the format of the 1995 championship, with most rounds held in Germany with occasional rounds throughout Europe, but having learnt the lessons of the ITC disaster the ITR constantly strived to keep costs in the series from exploding to unreasonable levels, and to keep the championship firmly tied to its German roots. As too many races were planned outside Germany, no Championship (Meisterschaft) status was granted by DMSB, and the DTM initials now stand for Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (German Touring Car Masters).
The cars are supposed to be fast and spectacular, while still rather cheap to build and run. All DTM race cars have RWD and 4 L V8 engines which are air-restricted to 470hp, no matter if similar layouts or engines are available in the road cars. Instead of the road car bodies, unrelated purpose-built chassis are used, which are closer to prototype racing. Many drivers have in fact described the handling of the cars as closer to single seater racing cars than road cars. Only the roof sections of the road cars are put on top of the roll cages, and lights and other distinctive design features are used in order to provide a resemblance to the road cars. Also, in order to save money and provide close racing, many common parts from third party specialist are used, like transmission (from Hewland and X-trac), brakes and Dunlop Tires. The all-important aerodynamic configurations are tested in wind tunnels before the season, brought to an equal level, and kept that way throughout the season.
Alfa Romeo, who at the time were mounting successful campaigns in the European Touring Car Championship, did not return to the series. BMW was also involved in the ETCC and was not satisfied with a championship only for Germany. Audi did not enter as they insisted on using their signature quattro AWD.
Unlike the previous incarnation which primarily used sedan models like the Mercedes-Benz W201, the new DTM featured only 2-door coupés. Opel used the upcoming Coupé version of the Astra as in the concept car, and Mercedes the CLK model which already was used as a pattern for the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR.
Attempts of Zakspeed to enter with a car looking like a Volvo C70 were not approved, but Bavarian-based private team Abt Sportsline was allowed to enter on short notice. The 1999 STW-Supertouring-champion Christian Abt could not defend his STW title as this series was also discontinued, with Opel moving into DTM. Abt used the Audi TT as a basis, as Audi had no suitable 2-door coupé, even though the dimensions of this car did not fit into the rules.
DTM 2000-2003
In May 2000, the new DTM started with the traditional Hockenheimring short track version. Some cars still had no or few sponsorship decals. While Opel could match the speed of most Mercedes in the 2000 season, the hastily developed Abt-Audis were mainly outclassed. As the TT shape had rather bad aerodynamic properties, and Abt was allowed to use a stretched form later. Further benefits like a higher rear wing helped the Abt-Audi TT-R win the DTM championship in 2002 with Laurent Aïello.Ups and downs for Opel
In 2000, Manuel Reuter came second in the championship. After that year, no Opel driver was under the top three, with few podium finishes and no victory for the disappointing "lightnings". One the other hand, it was Opel team boss Volker Strycek who brought a new highlight to the fans, by racing a modified DTM car on the traditional old version of the Nürburgring in 2002, 20 years after the top classes had moved to the modern Grand Prix track, and 10 years after the old DTM stopped racing there. The Opels did not win in most of their entries in the VLN endurance races as they were mainly testing, but the speed was impressive, and the fans loved it.24 Hours of Nürburgring
Since 1999, the organizers of the 24 Hours Nürburgring had provided special rules to invite the factory teams with existing high performance race cars. After Opel announced a 2003 entry, Audi took up the challenge by supporting the Abt-TTRs, and BMW went to the museum to re-activate their 2001 ALMS winner, the BMW M3 GTR V8. Only Mercedes stayed away, still remembering their 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans disaster with the flying Mercedes-Benz CLR. In addition, the 24h at the Ring with over 100,000 spectators was allegedly denounced as "Kirmes-Veranstaltung" ("county fair").After an exciting race that covered more distance than several DTM seasons, Opel won the 2003 race, beating Audi, while the BMWs had embarrassing gearbox failures in lap 1 as factory team Schnitzer Motorsport had cooled them with too much dry ice in anticipation of the slow parade lap. This was Opel's first overall win of the 24h, as well as the highlight of their rather disappointing DTM career. While the winning #5 car went to the museum, another Astra V8 Coupé was sold to privateer VLN racers - ironically owners of a Mercedes-Benz dealership who had since raced a 1993 DTM Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo.
All three factories were back in 2004, but this time the BMWs prevailed in bad weather. For 2005, only BMW returned, to win again.
Audi joins DTM in 2004
After their successes with the Audi R8 and the official support of the Abt-TTRs at the Nürburgring, Audi finally joined the DTM as a factory entry in 2004. The three constructors involved decided to switch to sedan bodies. The road models used as patterns since 2004 are the Audi A4, Opel Vectra GTS and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. All dimensions, like wheelbase etc., are made the same in order to provide equal opportunities without the actual design of the road cars having any influence, like in NASCAR.DTM future
The championship suffered a setback in 2004 when long-time also-ran Opel decided to pull out of the series at the end of the 2005 season, as part of a large cost-cutting operation in General Motors' European division. Initially the gap looked set to be filled by MG Rover, however their plans to enter the series were cancelled after the company collapsed in April 2005. Audi and Mercedes are willing to field extra cars in 2006, but the important television deal requires three marques in 2007. It has been rumored that the Gumpert Apollo will take Opel's place, but those rumors are probably incorrect.DTM drivers
The drivers are a mixture of young and older drivers, including well known former Formula One drivers Bernd Schneider, Allan McNish, Jean Alesi, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and former two-time F1 world champion Mika Häkkinen. Others, such as Laurent Aïello, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello, have made their career racing sports cars and touring cars.
However increasingly the DTM is being used by young guns such as the newly-crowned champion Mattias Ekström or Gary Paffett to jump-start their racing career in single-seaters. One driver this strategy appears to have worked for is the Netherlands' Christijan Albers, who built a reputation by finishing 2nd and 3rd in the 2003 and 2004 championships and then graduated to Formula One in 2005.
Gary Paffett has also used his championship win to gain a test with Team McLaren, and they signed him as permanent Test Driver for 2006. This prevents Paffett from defending his title in 2006, however he aims that it will be a springboard for a Race Seat during the 2007 Formula One season. The team has signed Fernando Alonso, though.
For 2006, two female drivers were announced, Vanina Ickx for Audi and Susie Stoddart for Mercedes, along with Mathias Lauda.
DTM results
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Gary Paffett Mercedes-Benz C-Class | Mattias Ekström Audi A4 | Tom Kristensen Audi A4 |
| 2004 | Mattias Ekström Audi A4 | Gary Paffett Mercedes-Benz C-Class | Christijan Albers Mercedes-Benz C-Class |
| 2003 | Bernd Schneider Mercedes-Benz CLK | Christijan Albers Mercedes-Benz CLK | Marcel Fässler Mercedes-Benz CLK |
| 2002 | Laurent Aïello Audi TT | Bernd Schneider Mercedes-Benz CLK | Mattias Ekström Audi TT |
| 2001 | Bernd Schneider Mercedes-Benz CLK | Uwe Alzen Mercedes-Benz CLK | Peter Dumbreck Mercedes-Benz CLK |
| 2000 | Bernd Schneider Mercedes-Benz CLK | Manuel Reuter Opel Astra | Klaus Ludwig Mercedes-Benz CLK |
For the winners of the original DTM from 1984 to 1996, see Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft.
External links
Auto racing series | Motorsport in Germany | Touring car racing
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"Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters"