DTM 2019: The strongest DTM of all time

Motorsport fans can look forward to the strongest DTM of all time. With new turbo engines and more than 610 horsepower the 2019 DTM enters a new era.

The new Class 1 regulations coming into effect in the DTM this year, and in 2020 largely in the Japanese Super GT Championship as well provide the basis for joint races of the two popular racing series. This year will already see the first joint events of the turbo race cars from Asia and Europe: The Super GT will send three of its cars to Hockenheim for the DTM finale in October 2019. On November 23 and 24, the first joint races of the DTM and the Super GT are scheduled on the Japanese race track at Fuji. “This will set off a fireworks of racing,” Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass is convinced.

The DTM itself promises to deliver action and suspense galore as well. Aston Martin is a new manufacturer on the grid. WRT Team Audi Sport is the first customer team in the modern era of the DTM to compete with the same “material” as the three Audi factory teams. The new two-liter turbo engines, a Push-to-Pass system that provides a short-term boost of some 30 additional horsepower, plus another optimization of aerodynamics are intended to make for better racing than ever.

DTM CEO Gerhard Berger desires a “cannonball ride” and in this respect likes to compare his series with the MotoGP. The new turbo cars mark a further step in this direction for the DTM. “After the first test, I got out of the car with a big grin on my face,” says René Rast, the 2017 DTM Champion. “The new turbo engines have awesome output. Putting this power on the ground and keeping the tires alive over the long runs will be crucial factors.”

As before, the DTM uses standing starts. Per race, every driver has to change tires at least once, with a maximum of nine mechanics being allowed to work on the car during the pit stop – tension and stress galore for the crews. The Indy-style restarts following a safety car period, at which the cars lineup in rows of two for the restart, will make for maximum adrenaline surges in the cockpits. Last but not least, a new rule requiring the drivers to leave each other enough room while cornering side by side has proven its viability and resulted in gripping duels last year.