DTM 2019 not so 'Deutsche' anymore
DTM has been around for almost 20 seasons. Starting as The GT series for German brands, hence the name of the series. For many years the BMW's , Mercedes, Audi... and Opel (do you remember?) were on the grid to battle for the win in the prestigious championship. And in 2000 all the races took place the German tracks. But even at that first season, 9 out of 21 drivers were not from Germany. In 2018 this number is up to 12 out of 18 drivers, so a majority is non German.
In the end, it's to sell more cars
Obviously this series was initiated to promote the luxury German cars in their home market to sell more cars and to claim a position as GT sports cars. An expensive marketing approach, but after 20 years the series is increasingly popular. Still this year most likely, sales is the main reason why the brands spend serious money on this series. Don't forget that these cars, are high tech 1 million euro's a piece cars. The new developed engine for 2019, a 4 cylinder with a turbo, is more in line with their road cars, instead of the V8. But developing the race engine and cars, is a massive investement.
No more retirement series
DTM was sometimes seen by drivers that retired from F1, as their retirement racing series. And obviously DTM wanted their name in the grid to attract more audience, so a win-win. But these days, GT series are more popular, and the road towards other high end series like F1 is narrow and full of obstacles. So drivers commit to this series as their main objective. Although still former F1 (test) drivers are on the DTM grid, but most of them build their career in the DTM. The drivers for the factory teams in DTM have always been well paid, which made it attractive. Around 2005 this was around 250.000 euro a year for a mid field driver, for that time already a well paid job.
More international, less German
The more international approach of the series, most likely was a cultural change for the big 3 German brands. It's not a secret that around 10 years ago, the German drivers were a preferred winner in the series. Which sometimes also meant that teams 'helped' the German drivers to have an advantage... But times seem to have changed over time, and more international drivers and tracks have been added to the calendar.
New brand; Aston Martin
Mercedes Benz AMG has shift their focus towards Formula E for 2018/ 2019, ending their DTM participation after many years. But now a new non-German brand will join the grid; Aston Martin. With the help of the management of Formula 1 team Red Bull Racing, (having Aston Martin as a sponsor/partner) the English brand has decided to enter the world of DTM. Most likely with a Vantage look-a-like. So we can expect that we will see Red Bull joining them as a partner sponsor. During a press conference of DTM and Aston Martin, it became clear that they are preparing 4 cars for the 2019 season together with the HWA team (associated with Mercedes). And they are not expected to be ready a the start of the season, so we can expect them during the season on the grid. The engine they will use is a bespote HWA developed engine. And as all other teams, the will benefit form the generic parts that all team use in order to save on budget.
2019 new regulations
DTM's 2019 regulation changes, will tie it up with Super GT. The DTM will switch from V8 engines to four-cylinder turbo engines. It is expected that the new engine outputs will rise by 100bhp to a total of 620bhp. The top speed should be in excess of 290 Km/h.
Check out this video by Hugo de Brito of the 2019 test.
www.dtm.com
In the end, it's to sell more cars
Obviously this series was initiated to promote the luxury German cars in their home market to sell more cars and to claim a position as GT sports cars. An expensive marketing approach, but after 20 years the series is increasingly popular. Still this year most likely, sales is the main reason why the brands spend serious money on this series. Don't forget that these cars, are high tech 1 million euro's a piece cars. The new developed engine for 2019, a 4 cylinder with a turbo, is more in line with their road cars, instead of the V8. But developing the race engine and cars, is a massive investement.
No more retirement series
DTM was sometimes seen by drivers that retired from F1, as their retirement racing series. And obviously DTM wanted their name in the grid to attract more audience, so a win-win. But these days, GT series are more popular, and the road towards other high end series like F1 is narrow and full of obstacles. So drivers commit to this series as their main objective. Although still former F1 (test) drivers are on the DTM grid, but most of them build their career in the DTM. The drivers for the factory teams in DTM have always been well paid, which made it attractive. Around 2005 this was around 250.000 euro a year for a mid field driver, for that time already a well paid job.
More international, less German
The more international approach of the series, most likely was a cultural change for the big 3 German brands. It's not a secret that around 10 years ago, the German drivers were a preferred winner in the series. Which sometimes also meant that teams 'helped' the German drivers to have an advantage... But times seem to have changed over time, and more international drivers and tracks have been added to the calendar.
New brand; Aston Martin
Mercedes Benz AMG has shift their focus towards Formula E for 2018/ 2019, ending their DTM participation after many years. But now a new non-German brand will join the grid; Aston Martin. With the help of the management of Formula 1 team Red Bull Racing, (having Aston Martin as a sponsor/partner) the English brand has decided to enter the world of DTM. Most likely with a Vantage look-a-like. So we can expect that we will see Red Bull joining them as a partner sponsor. During a press conference of DTM and Aston Martin, it became clear that they are preparing 4 cars for the 2019 season together with the HWA team (associated with Mercedes). And they are not expected to be ready a the start of the season, so we can expect them during the season on the grid. The engine they will use is a bespote HWA developed engine. And as all other teams, the will benefit form the generic parts that all team use in order to save on budget.
2019 new regulations
DTM's 2019 regulation changes, will tie it up with Super GT. The DTM will switch from V8 engines to four-cylinder turbo engines. It is expected that the new engine outputs will rise by 100bhp to a total of 620bhp. The top speed should be in excess of 290 Km/h.
Check out this video by Hugo de Brito of the 2019 test.
www.dtm.com