Season preview: A new turbo era dawns for the DTM
After a long off season, the wait is over: this weekend Hockenheim will host the curtain raiser for this year’s DTM season, with the advent of the turbo era as the series fully implements the Class One regulations.
The series presents many novelties this year, with a strategy to attract more manufacturers and teams as it continues to pursue its internationalisation, a step that should be easier after the agreement on the Class One regulations reached with the Japanese Super GT championship.
Gerhard Berger, president of DTM’s umbrella organisation ITR, expects a tough and exciting battle ahead: “Given the new regulations, it is extremely difficult to accurately say who will be at the front.”
Technical changes
The star of the new season will be the new turbo two-litre, four-cylinder engine, with a power output of 620 bhp, a more efficient, downsized, lighter unit than its predecessor, with 100hp more.
The new Class One regulations also bring simplified aerodynamics and a higher number of standard parts. Still, one of the most striking features of the cars is the new rear wing, with a single element and 520mm wider than before.
Together with the use of the DRS, a new puss-to-pass button has been created to give an extra 30hp during five seconds, with a limit of 12 activations per race.
All put together, with a reduced minimum weight of just 986 kilos for the car (1,070kg with the driver) will mean that the new DTM cars have a power ratio of 1,6 kilos per bhp and are expected to reach speeds of 300 km/h at certain tracks.
Audi Sport was the clear dominator of the pre-season tests, but team principal Dieter Gass refuses to feel overconfident: “No-one knows where they stand. Qualifying on Saturday will provide an initial indication. But even then we won’t know who will be the best over the racing distance.”
BMW had a more difficult preparation for the season, with the M4 DTMs experiencing heat issues with the new engine.
“It will be very interesting to see how the balance of power develops at Hockenheim,” said Motorsport boss Jens Marquardt. “The regulations have really shaken things up for 2019 and all will be revealed at the opening race weekend.”
R-Motorsport showed decent pace at the Lausitzring with the new Aston Martin Vantage DTM despite the rushed development and good reliability in the race runs.
“It is an amazing achievement for every single person in the team that we are in the starting line-up at Hockenheim,” said team principal Dr. Florian Kamelger. “An important prerequisite for this was the founding of Vynamic GmbH which, as a joint venture between AF Racing and HWA, is responsible for the project and manages all the operational aspects. The expertise of both partners has laid the foundation for the rapid advancement of our DTM project.
“Now we look forward to the first race, although as a small team, we’re not in for an easy ride against the established competition. But surprises are always posible,” added Kamelger.
Despite the changes in the engine and cars, the tyres supplied by partner Hankook will remain without changes for 2019, something that should increase the importance of tyre management.
“We have a totally new car with less downforce, a larger rear wing and a new turbo engine which has completely different performance characteristics to the powertrain used previously in the DTM,” said Hankook chief race engineer Thomas Baltes. “As a result, the demands placed on the Hankook race tyres have changed completely.
“More power means we must reckon with wheel spin, which can lead to the surface of the tyre overheating and put greater strain on the running surface than was previously the case. In order to avoid this, the driver must apply the immense power of the turbo engine, the performance characteristics of which are a lot sharper than those of a naturally aspirated engine, in a controlled and measured manner,” added Baltes.
New faces
R-Motorsport, heralding Aston Martin’s arrival to the series, will compete with four cars for the whole season after a marathon development of the new Vantage DTM. Experienced drivers Paul di Resta and Daniel Juncadella will be joined by rookies Jake Dennis and Ferdinand Habsburg.
“I’m aiming to acquire enough experience in the shortest possible time so that I can quickly establish myself in this field of the world’s top touring car drivers and post some respectable results,” said Habsburg.
“Compared to a GT3, it has been a new challenge for me as a rookie to go to the limit in a DTM car with its superior downforce and much better power-to-weight ratio,” added Dennis. “I’ve enjoyed that right from the start, and I’m really looking forward to my first race.”
Audi Sport have secured a customer team with WRT, which will compete with two RS 5 DTMs for series’ rookies Jonathan Aberdein (21) and Pietro Fittipaldi (22).
Sheldon van der Linde will be another new face in the paddock, making his series debut for BMW Motorsport.
“It’s my first season in the DTM, so I have to learn a lot, also from my team-mates, but so far it has been going very well,” said the South African.
New tracks and joint events with Super GT
The calendar has nine dates on the agenda, with two new circuits added for this season, Zolder in Belgium and Assen in the Netherlands, replacing Zandvoort.
The season finale at Hockenheim will be the first of the joint events held with the Japanese Super GT, with one car present from Honda, Nissan and Lexus.
The date for the finale was also moved forward to the first weekend in October to allow enough time for 12 cars from the DTM field to travel to Japan for the Super GT season finale at Fuji on November 23rd-24th.
2019 DTM Calendar
04-05 May – Hockenheim
17-19 May – Zolder
08-09 June – Misano
06-07 July – Norisring
20-21 July – Assen
10-11 August – Brands Hatch
24-25 August – Lausitzring
14-15 September – Nürburgring
05-06 October – Hockenheim
2019 DTM entry list
Number – Name – Team – Car
3 – Paul di Resta – R-Motorsport – Aston Martin Vantage DTM
4 – Robin Frijns – Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline – Audi RS 5 DTM
7 – Bruno Spengler – BMW Motorsport Team RMG – BMW M4 DTM
11 – Marco Wittmann – BMW Motorsport Team RMG – BMW M4 DTM
16 – Timo Glock – BMW Motorsport Team RMG – BMW M4 DTM
21 – Pietro Fittipaldi – WRT – Audi RS 5 DTM
23 – Daniel Juncadella – R-Motorsport – Aston Martin Vantage DTM
25 – Philipp Eng – BMW Motorsport Team RBM – BMW M4 DTM
27 – Jonathan Aberdein – WRT – Audi RS 5 DTM
28 – Loïc Duval – Audi Sport Team Phoenix – Audi RS 5 DTM
31 – Sheldon Van der Linde – BMW Motorsport Team RBM – BMW M4 DTM
33 – René Rast – Audi Sport Team Rosberg – Audi RS 5 DTM
47 – Joel Eriksson – BMW Motorsport Team RBM – BMW M4 DTM
51 – Nico Müller – Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline – Audi RS 5 DTM
53 – Jamie Green – Audi Sport Team Rosberg – Audi RS 5 DTM
62 – Ferdinand Habsburg – R-Motorsport – Aston Martin Vantage DTM
76 – Jake Dennis – R-Motorsport – Aston Martin Vantage DTM
99 – Mike Rockenfeller – Audi Sport Team Rosberg – Audi RS 5 DTM
Timetable
Friday 3rd May
13:10 – Free Practice 1
16:30 – Free Practice 2
Saturday 4th May
10:30 – Qualifying for Race 1
13:30 – Race 1 (36 laps)
Sunday 5th May
10:45 – Qualifying for Race 2
10:30 – Race 2 (36 laps)
