Il DTM is going through a very complicated phase of its existence.
The famous German Touring Championship has seen in just a few months the exit from the championship of several manufacturers first engaged in the championship.
Who does not abandon the DTM is BMW, which confirms its presence for 2020
In fact, there are 7 BMW M4 DTMs ready for the starting line of the complicated 2020 season, which will see the green flag in August of this year.
Not only that: the Director of the Motorsport division of the BMW Group Jens Marquardt he also talked about the present and secure future of the Bavarian House in the championship, both in the short and medium term.
A statement that is strongly opposed toAudi's announcement to abandon the DTM from 2021.
The future of the DTM is uncertain, but surely BMW will fight to stay and to save one of the most watched and well-known championships in the world.
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What is the DTM?
Before talking about the future of the category, let's try to understand what it is.
Il DTM Championship, which stands for German Touring Car Masters, or “German Touring Car Championship”, is one of the most famous and followed “covered wheels” championships of the global automotive landscape.
Over the years it has often changed its skin, opening up to new manufacturers and pushing competing cars further and further in search of pure performance.
For 2020 there is a duopoly on the grid, with therefore the presence of only two manufacturers, BMW and Audi.
The cars used in the DTM will therefore be "only" Audi RS5 e BMW M4, obviously in DTM configuration.
This championship uses unique cars that are not shared with other categories.
In fact, the Touring Championship has always used real prototypes with a body similar to a production model mounted on it.
For this reason, in fact, DTM cars are considered real single-seater ... with covered wheels.
Following a regulation change, DTM cars have undergone a radical change since last year.
Goodbye to the old naturally aspirated V8 engine, welcome was Turbo.
Since 2019 the cars are equipped with a 2.0 4-cylinder turbo with around 600 HP, with strictly rear traction.
The pilots then have a system of "Push to pass“, That is a power boost obtainable a fixed number of times per race, usable by pressing a button on the steering wheel.
From 2020, this increase in power goes from 30 to 60 HP, and is in addition to the already present DRS, the mobile wing also present in F1.
Also for the 2020 championship, a particular novelty is introduced concerning the fuel.
From this year, in fact, the fuel is cmade up of over 50% ethanol. This new fuel composition allows for a reduction of CO2 emissions by over 30%.
The first championship of the "turbo era" was won by Audi.
The Ingolstadt manufacturer won the drivers' title with Renè Rast, the Team title with Audi Team Rosberg and the Constructors title.
BMW M4 DTM: 7 total cars, 6 officers and top level drivers
As mentioned, if on the one hand Audi has decided to pull the oars on the boat and to focus on Formula E and other types of competitions, BMW strengthens its presence in the DTM.
The House of Monaco has been able since its return in 2012 to immediately become very competitive and to win several championships. Last year, he played the role of "second force" in the championship, with his flagship standard Marco Wittmann able to finish third behind champion Rast and Nico Müller.
For 2020, the Casa dell'Elica confirms its presence with 5 official cars and two semi-official cars, all entrusted to top level pilots.
The 5 official cars of the BMW team are perfectly distinguishable from each other due to the different title sponsor, which totally changes their look.
Let's start right from 2 times DTM champion Marco Wittmann which, in its seventh season with the BMW team, will remain faithful to its now historic livery Shaefller.
From one “haubtuè” of one's livery to another. Philipp Eng it will defend the colors of the ZF, historic gearbox manufacturer for the BMW Group and beyond.
To stay "at home", the standard bearer of the BMW finance company, BMW Bank, will be the Austrian Lucas Auer, falling into the category after a disappointing 2019 in Super Formula.
His car will also be the only one to carry BMW's famous M department colors, red, light blue and blue, on the bodywork.
There will then be room for two South Africans, Sheldon Van der Linde that will run with the colors Shell, Jonathan Aberdein, color bearer of CATL.
The last two drivers of the BMW “galaxy” are two former Formula 1 drivers, a category where they have taken away their satisfactions.
The first is the historic BMW driver Timo Glock, capable of obtaining several podiums in his F1 experience with Toyota and today the standard bearer of the new BMW partner, Iqoo.
The last, but certainly not least, Robert Kubica.
The Polish driver, fresh from a far from exciting 2019 in F1 with Williams and currently third Alfa Romeo driver, will mark a comeback for the entire category.
In fact, he will run for the Team ART, one of the most successful in F2 and F3 and first private team to re-enter the DTM after several years.
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The future of the DTM: revolving doors and few certainties
Once we've seen the present of the DTM, let's drop by our favorite fortune teller and try to see its future.
Mercedes, Audi, Opel and BMW: these are the brands, all German, that have followed one another over the 20-year history of the championship.
Until 2018, a balance seemed to have been established, with the presence on the grid of Mercedes, Audi and BMW, which entered forcefully in 2012 and a true contender for the DTM Meister throne.
In 2019 there was the first earthquake that shook the foundations of the DTM.
Mercedes-Benz, after 18 years of participation, leaves the category.
The DTM thus loses one of its founding members, who was however promptly replaced by Aston Martin.
The British manufacturer, making its debut in the Touring Championship, is controlled in part by the Stuttgart company, so the abandonment of Mercedes was in reality a "half withdrawal", given the permanence of Aston Martin.
At the end of 2019, however, both Aston Martin and Audi announced their exit from the championship.
Aston exited the DTM with immediate effect, so much so that this 2020 season the grid will consist exclusively of Audi RS5 DTM and BMW M4 DTM.
Audi, on the other hand, has announced its retirement from the DTM at the end of the 2020 season, making this championship on the way to the last for the house of the Four Rings.
To date, the future of the DTM is at least hazy, given that, if things were to remain this way, we would be facing a single-make championship dominated by BMW.
ITR (the company still organizing the championship) is considering several hypotheses, from the presence of customer cars, to the merger with the Japanese Super GT championship, to the use of GT3 or GT Endurance cars, or even to the suspension of the championship, pending the "new DTM" completely electric in 2025.
Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport Director: “We hope for good races for 2020. Future? It is not just up to us to decide "
In this climate of great uncertainty for the future of the DTM and other categories at risk of extinction, the words of the Motorsport Director of the BMW Group, Jens Marquardt.
The approach to the beginning of the season generates "mixed feelings".
The desire to restart after the blackout of any type of sport during the containment measures of the pandemic is strong. Wanting to demonstrate the progress made and the steps forward made by the M4 DTM are a great stimulus for BMW.
“We remain passionate about the DTM, and we want to offer all fans great racing in 2020. This is what we are preparing for ”.
In this climate of expectation and confidence, however, the withdrawals of Aston Martin and Audi arrived like a bolt from the blue.
“The announcements of our competitors who will withdraw from the series they cast serious shadows over the coming months and years. "
In fact, if the short-term goal for Marquardt was to get back on track in 2020, the medium-term one was to start developing the arrival of the hybrid in 2022 and the electric one in 2025. With the retirements of rivals, however, this second object "is no longer relevant".
Words moved by a lot of understandable disappointment, also very visible in the examination of the future of the category of the BMW Motorsport Director.
“All of our motorsport engagements have exactly the same DNA as the DTM. That is, the competition between top-level producers. This is what the DTM and the Class 1 regulations below are designed for.
Audi's withdrawal contradicts this. This is clear".
So is the future of the DTM marked, and does it presuppose a withdrawal of BMW too?
"It is not just up to BMW to make a decision. It is now important to work together within the ITR committees to clarify and illustrate the effects of Audi's withdrawal. Once this is done, we will see what it means for the DTM, the underlying Class 1 regulations and the future ”. So concludes Marquardt, hinting that BMW will still be there in the future of the Queen Class for touring cars.
Yes, all nice ... but when do we leave?
Let's leave the future of the DTM aside for a moment, and so onlet's focus on the 2020 season, ever closer to departure.
Following the path marked by the Bundesliga, the German football championship, the ITR is preparing to leave, and has drawn up a new calendar.
This it concentrates the competitions in the single area of Germany and Benelux, eliminating the English, Spanish and Italian tests.
Meanwhile, the teams have finally returned to the track at the Nürburgring for the first seasonal tests, and in these days the 2020 season calendar has been made official. Here are the dates and circuits that we will see in this strange DTM season:
- 1-2 August: Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium)
- 14-16 August: Lausitzring (Germany)
- 21-23 August: Lausitzring (Germany)
- 4-6 September: Assen (Netherlands)
- 11-13 September: Nürburgring (Germany)
- 18-20 September: Nürburgring (Germany)
- 9-11 October: Zolder (Belgium)
- 16-18 October: Zolder (Belgium)
- 6-8 November: Hockenheim (Germany)
The only missing date was the debut one, expected in the Norisring street circuit from 10 to 12 July.
The city of Nuremberg, between whose streets the track winds, has banned the holding of the Grand Prix even behind closed doors.
The first appointment of the season will therefore be held at the famous Belgian circuit of Spa-Francorchamps, where the DTM returns after 15 years, with the last victory on Belgian soil by Formula 1 champion Mika Häkkinen.
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TagsBMW BMW DTM DTM DTM 2020 BMW relaunches its commitment to the DTM: even more cars for 2020 and a concrete commitment for the future
