The DTM: all you need to know

There is not a single motorsport fan or fanatic in the world who has not heard of the DTM and who does not associate this acronym with races, cars and iconic drivers. And in fact this championship, even though it can in recent years no longer be referred to as a championship, not for sporting but purely for legal reasons, is an integral and founding part of the history of motor racing since its establishment. But what hides behind the acronym and how did it evolve?What are today's regulations and which makes are competing?

Starting with that three-letter acronym helps us better understand what this series is and how it has changed over time. However, without ever betraying its essence as a reference platform for cars derived from standard production vehicles, which was recently supplemented with the GTWC, and as a showcase for the German automotive industry and beyond.

DTM stands for Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, launched in 1984 as the German Gran Turismo car championship, immediately becoming the most important one, not only in Germany, up until at least 1995, the year in which the series came across some difficulties, to such an extent that it had to be suspended. Re-established in 2000, the DTM did not amend its ambitions and nothing changed in the perception of its fans, who welcomed the return of this type of competition. What did change, in addition to the costs, which were made more affordable to meet the needs of teams and manufacturers, was only the meaning of the acronym M, which went from Mastershaft, or championship, to become simply Masters. Why is this? A national championship, according to the regulations of the FIA (International Automobile Federation) can only have one race outside the reference territory and the organisers of the DTM at that time, as well as those of the present day, had international ambitions and did not want to give up on their intention to take the series races across borders from time to time. Hence the partial name change, which has been maintained over time. The perception of substantial continuity of the greatest German car competition has also remained unchanged, but in the following decade it underwent more significant changes, at least in the regulations.

The 2024 DTM season represents the 25^th season  since it was re-established, the second organised by ADAC, and the 38^th since the series' inception.The six manufacturers present the previous year (BMW, Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes and Porsche) were joined by McLaren with its own team, which brings the total number of teams in the race up to ten. Pirelli will still be the sole tyre supplier, confirmed until 2025, after the excellent début in 2023. Also in the 25^th edition of the DTM, there are to be 8 series appointments, as per tradition divided into two races, identical in format and score. Here are the appointments for the 2024 season, two of which are across the Germany border:

1  Oschersleben, Magdeburg: 27 April - 28 April

2  Lausitzring Klettwitz, Brandeburg: 25 May - 26 May

3  Zandvoort, Northern Holland: 8 June - 9 June

4  Norisring, Nuremberg, Bavaria: 6 July - 7 July

5  Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate: 17 August - 18 August

6  Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Sachsen: 7 September - 8 September

7  Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria: 28 September - 29 September

8  Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg: 19 October - 20 October

The teams, mostly if not exclusively German, competing this season are:

Red Bull – Team ABT with Audi, Schubert Motorsport with BMW, Emil Frey Racing with Ferrari, GRT Grasser Racing Team, Paul Motorsport and SSR Performance with Laborghini, Dörr Motorsport with McLaren, Mercedes-AMG Team HRT and Mercedes-AMG Team Winward with Mercedes, Manthey Racing with Porsche.

There are 20 drivers, two per team, including defending champion Thomas Preining (Porsche) and his two pursuers last year, Mirko Bortolotti (Lamborghini) and Ricardo Feller (Audi), who last season fought tooth and nail for the final victory until race two of the last round at Hockneheim. This confirms the high level of competitiveness and spectacular appeal of a series that proves extremely popular with German fans and those from other European countries, who often make long trips to sit on the circuit stands or to visit the ever crowded paddocks of the DTM.

Since 2015, each event consists of two separate sprint races, which are currently   60 minutes long plus one lap (previously 55 minutes long plus one lap). This format, which goes down particularly well with the public, does not show any substantial changes compared to what was seen in the two-year period 2021-2022, when ADAC was not the promoter of the series yet. The two races are preceded by a double session of free practice on Friday, by a qualifying round aimed at Race-1 which is held on Saturday and another round of qualifying for Race-2, which take place respectively on the morning and afternoon of Sunday. Each car is driven by a single driver and both races have a mandatory pit stop. At a technical level the Balance of Performance used in the DTM to avoid the overwhelming power of cars or teams during a weekend or the championship even is the one designed by SRO for GT3 cars. The cars have been powered for a few years by a fuel composed of 50% renewable materials and more in keeping with the environmental sustainability requirements pursued so keenly in the world of motorsport.

In order to enable the reversal of the standings, overtaking and various strategies, the drivers are obliged to make at least one pit stop during each of the two races, regardless of the state of wear of their tyres. The rule that required the first 5 qualifiers to start with the same tyres used to get the best time in Q2 was extended to the first 10 drivers.

The allocation of points is exactly the same for both races, with the driver who comes first being awarded 25 points, the second 18 points, the third 15 points, the fourth 12 points and so on and so on minus two points up to the ninth place, to whom two points are awarded, and only one point for coming tenth.

The cars currently eligible to take part in the DTM are GT3 cars, which are road cars or from which racing variants have been derived, to comply with the Gran Turismo Class 3 regulations. They are, therefore, fully-fledged cars derived from standard production vehicles, unlike in the past when the cars taking part in the German Gran Turismo Championship were mostly prototypes, designed and developed specifically to participate in the DTM.

The sole tyre supplier has been Pirelli since 2023, which has dedicated to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters the latest developments in tyres developed for the GT2, GT3 and GT4 cars of all the championships and series which the Italian brand partners. The dry version is the P Zero DHF, an evolution of the DHE, which in its first season of use in the DTM showed great versatility, ensuring performance and durability in all conditions. The wet version is the new Cinturato WHB, destined to début in the German series before being extended to the other races for GT cars which Pirelli supplies. The WHB has a new tread pattern that has allowed the use of the latest generation materials. These new compounds, together with the increased tread stiffness, have improved the footprint, optimising grip and warm-up at low temperatures, without compromising stability in wet-to-dry transition conditions and increased aquaplane sensitivity.  This increases the range of use of the WHB compared to the previous generation tyre.

The teams have 5 total tyre sets at their disposal per weekend to be used both for free practice and qualifications and during races.