The countdown for the 2017 DTM season is on: in less than 40 days, the popular touring-car series will start into its season with an adapted format. According to the new sporting regulations, the two rounds of a race meeting will feature the same distance and in both races, the drivers will have to come in for an obligatory pit stop. These are just two of the reasons why the fans can look forward to even more race action, this year. In combination with the technical modifications – the new DTM racers of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-AMG Motorsports will produce more than 500bhp and less downforce, thus representing a bigger challenge for the drivers – the 2017 season promises thrilling and entertaining motor racing at the very limit
TWO EQUAL RACES PER WEEKEND
Each of the 18 races of the forthcoming season will feature a distance of 55 minutes plus one lap. So, the duration of a race will be increased by 10 minutes compared to 2016. “The new race format encourages creative strategies and highly perfectioned sport from both teams and drivers. For the spectators, the DTM intends to offer an increased number of spectacular races and entertainment on both days of the race weekend.”, says ITR board member Florian Zitzlsperger.
Furthermore, the use of tyre warmers will be prohibited. Therefore, it now is up to the drivers to get their tyres to optimum working temperature – both after the start and after the pit stop. DTM champion Marco Wittmann:
“The pit stop with tyre change in both races combined with the new Hankook tyres and the ban of the tyre warmers will make for clearly more tactical options and hopefully more overtaking manoeuvres and action for our fans.”
The number of slicks will be limited to eight sets per driver and weekend and with the new race format, the pit-stop regulations also have been clearly simplified. This year, there isn’t a regulation stipulating when the pit stop has to be executed. A driver may come in for his tyre change at any time from the second to the penultimate lap. A change that massively increases the number of tactical options for the teams.
PIT STOPS A BIGGER CHALLENGE FOR THE TEAMS
The significance of the pit stops will be increased, this year: the teams have to execute the pit stops during a race with clearly less staff members than in the past and only two members of the pit crew – one per side – may use the wheel guns. This inevitably will result in longer immobility phases for the cars, with every single mechanic having to execute additional tasks and, consequently, having to take more responsibilities than to date.
FOUR HOURS OF TRACK TIME FOR THE DTM VEHICLES
The DTM racers of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-AMG Motorsports can be watched on the track even longer, this year: in addition to the two races in three 30minute practice sessions – on Friday, Saturday and Sunday – as well as in the two 20-minute qualifying sessions. All this results in a total track time of four hours per race meeting.
The 2017 DTM season will be kicked off from 05th to 07th May at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg.
DTM Press Release
