2011 DTM Season

[Bram Hengeveld]

Does anybody know what rules are exactly changing for the DTM series in 2012? After the announcement of BMW yesterday to return I am curious what changes have been made to get them on board next to Audi and Mercedes.

 

[James Johnson]

No idea but i got this. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87473

 

[Eric Estes]

Nice - hope they end up coming - would be sweet to go see the DTM's around VIR during a Grand-Am weekend.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Lets hope they don't rape the cars by running on ovals USOTM - US Oval Touring Masters

 

[Christopher Aponte]

don't think they will be running ovals
but most likely the road courses that they have on nascar calender....
So that will be Infinion raceway, Watkins Glen, Road America (Elkhart Lake) & Montreal are the 4 that comes on my mind
there are 2 left, and those must certainly be on ovals with infield road course.....Indy, Las Vegas, PIR, Charlotte and Daytona are such tracks.....but I do not think they will combine it with infield road course, as that will kill they camping site that they have in the infield during a nationwide and sprint cup race....maybe only indy will escape this problem

 

[Eric Estes]

Speedweeks at Daytona would be good. Grand-Am already runs the 24 there, as well as GS and ST races.

Also the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series has a June race at Mosport that might be an option.

Unfortunately, Road Atlanta is not close enough to Atlanta Motor Speedway to be considered an option, nor are Talledega and Barber, though they are closer.

Also: Pocono can be configured to about 6 road course combinations, and a large part of that infield (toward T1) only has single day camping.

 

[Eric Estes]

A tidbit - not much:

"The 2012 DTM rules package, which has not yet been publicly revealed, is reputed use a standardized carbon fibre tub with an increased number of spec components to substantially reduce costs. "

 

[Ben Buitendijk]

I smell a masters of DTM event coming up, with Super GT cars in DTM-spec, the German ones, and the American cars

 

[Xosé Estrada]

That would be interesting Ben

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

I smell a masters of DTM event coming up, with Super GT cars in DTM-spec, the German ones, and the American cars

Hmm that makes sense!

 

[Günthar Rowe]

Lets hope whatever changes are put in place that they don't have RD Club event like starts like at Hock in October this year...

 

[Günthar Rowe]

BMW expects to have six cars on the grid for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2012 when the new rules come in to force.

 

[Yann Laprevotte]

Nice for DTM I guess, that 1 to 1 war between Audi and Mercedes tended to be unhealthy. And hey, maybe we'll have decent sized grids for the first time in years.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Still waiting for Opel to make their comeback announcement

 

[Rhys Gardiner]

Wouldn't it be awesome if Alfa Romeo were to come back too...? That's something to dream about... :love:

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

from the German dtm homepage:

Three newcomers for Audi in the DTM

Audi will start the 2011 DTM season with a newly formed driver squad including three newcomers with the goal of bringing back the title of the most popular international touring car series to Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm.

New to the Audi DTM team are Swiss Rahel Frey (25), Portuguese Filipe Albuquerque (25) and Italian Edoardo Mortara (24). "All three made an excellent impression during our driver sighting tests in December," explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "I’m convinced that they will be a genuine reinforcement to our driver squad and that we are in a good position for the 2011 season."

Albuquerque, whose full first name is Filipe Miguel Delgadinho, comes from single-seater racing and was Formula 1 test driver for Red Bull and Toro Rosso. In 2010 he drove an Audi R8 LMS for Audi Sport Italia in the Italian GT Championship and was runner-up after scoring two victories and ten podium finishes. The Portuguese made international headlines following his sensational "Race of Champions" triumph in Düsseldorf in November 2010 where he beat Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel and World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb.

Rahel Frey was also mainly active in single-seater racing until now. The young Swiss girl recorded her greatest success to date at the Nürburgring in 2009 when she became the first lady driver in German Formula 3 Cup history to win a race. In 2010, she contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a GT1 car in an "all women" team. Her motto: "Go fast and never ever give up."

Geneva born Edoardo Mortara, who has both French and Italian citizenship but races under the Italian flag, is the reigning Formula 3 Euro Series champion. The former Volkswagen factory driver became, in addition, the first driver in history to win the famous Formula 3 race in Macau twice. His promotion to the DTM ranks within the Volkswagen Group was therefore destined.

Mortara and Albuquerque contest the DTM for Audi Sport Team Rosberg. Rahel Frey is team-mate to Martin Tomczyk at Audi Sport Team Phoenix.

After four years at the wheel of a year old car, Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller (D/27) finally gets a chance to race for championship honors with an Audi A4 DTM of the latest generation. For this purpose he moves to Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, for which both two-time DTM Champions Mattias Ekström (S/32) and Timo Scheider (D/32), plus Oliver Jarvis (GB/27) and Miguel Molina (E/22), again compete. Molina continues with a 2008-spec A4.

"The last DTM season did not run according to plan for Audi," says Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "Which is why we tried over the winter to improve in every area - this also includes the driving squad. I see it as a chance for Martin Tomczyk that he races in an older car and in a team other than Abt Sportsline for the first time. British race drivers Jamie Green and Gary Paffett are examples of the fact that you can certainly win races with a last year’s car and give his career new impetus."

so, who was given the axe (three names): Katherine Legge, ? , ?

 

[Sérgio Marques]

Great news for Albuquerque, he really deserve this place!

 

[Yann Laprevotte]

so, who was given the axe (three names): Katherine Legge, ? , ?

Legge, Markus Winkhelock, and Alexandre Premat(who was already dropped for Darryl O'Young at the Chinese round)

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

thx

 

[Zeynel Babacan]

BMW Motorsport presents the teams for its DTM project.


BMW Motorsport heralds a new era on its way entering the DTM. Development of the car has been running at full speed in Munich for some months now, as has the central preparation for the logistics and assembly of the race cars. Three teams, each lining up with two BMW M3 DTM cars, will be responsible for the races themselves.
BMW Motorsport has enjoyed great success in production car racing in the past with both BMW Team RBM and BMW Team Schnitzer, and all those involved are hungry for more of the same. In Reinhold Motorsport GmbH they are joined by a new team still in its fledgling stage, but which boasts individual members with a vast wealth of motorsport experience.
Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director, says: “In recent months we have worked very intensely on the DTM project. The agreement with the teams was of paramount importance. We were pleased with the high level of interest and numerous applications and presentations received from a number of professional teams. The concepts presented by BMW Team RBM, BMW Team Schnitzer and Reinhold Motorsport GmbH ultimately convinced us. This is an excellent team line-up for BMW. For us, it is important that all three teams have absolute equal rights. We are looking forward to cooperating over the coming years – and hope to enjoy great success together.”
Bart Mampaey, Team Manager of BMW Team RBM, says: “The DTM is one of the toughest and the most popular racing series in the world for production cars. From a sporting point of view this poses a great challenge – but an appetizing one. We are honoured to be able to continue our successful cooperation with BMW Motorsport, which has yielded many WTCC titles, in the DTM. We still have a lot of work ahead of us over the coming months, and are now looking forward to getting to grips with the project.”
Stefan Reinhold, founder of Reinhold Motorsport GmbH, says: “In April last year, BMW announced its intention to compete in the DTM. From this day on, we have always wanted to be a part of this project. Shortly after the announcement, we presented our concept to BMW in Munich, and started to work on meeting the prerequisites for any potential cooperation. We are very proud to have been given the nod. To be part of the BMW Motorsport family with immediate effect and to strive for DTM success together is simply fantastic. We can hardly wait to get started and to vindicate the huge amount of trust BMW has placed in us.”
Charly Lamm, Team Manager of BMW Team Schnitzer, adds: “We are really looking forward to tackling the DTM project together with BMW. Schnitzer Motorsport has enjoyed a successful past in the DTM and achieved many victories together with BMW. However, past success is no guarantee that we will also be victorious in the future. The bar is set really high in DTM, and our preparations will be intensive to meet this challenge. Every team is highly motivated and the anticipation is mounting every day as we get closer to the start of the 2012 DTM season.”
BMW Team Schnitzer will run two BMW M3 GT cars for BMW Motorsport at the major endurance races in Europe and Asia. BMW Team RBM is involved in BMW customer racing projects, including the development of the BMW 320 TC and the further development of the BMW Z4 GT3.
Mario Theissen says: “While the preparation for this year's involvement on the endurance racing circuit with the BMW M3 GT is in its final phase, the DTM project has picked up pace over the past few months. In naming the teams, we have taken the next step. As well as developing the car, it is now a matter of assigning tasks and establishing structures and processes. The cooperation between BMW Motorsport and the teams, as well as that between the team bases and the race track, must be well established. Only then will we make a statement regarding the driving line-up.”