[DTM] discussion - 2023 season

[Cheeveer]

Lets leave the gloom and doom of Norisring 2021 and the "gT3's aRe N0T tOurInG cArS" discussion behind us.

Schedule, with heavy emphasis on the domestic scene:

26 MAY - 28 MAY
OSCHERSLEBEN

23 JUN - 25 JUN
ZANDVOORT

7 JUL - 9 JUL
NORISRING

4 AUG - 6 AUG
NURBURGRING

18 AUG - 20 AUG
LAUSITZRING

8 SEP - 10 SEP
SACHSENRING

22 SEP - 24 SEP
RED BULL RING

20 OCT - 22 OCT
HOCKENHEIM

Team Rosberg withdraws from 2023 DTM season.

https://www.motorsport.com/dtm/news/tea ... /10434594/

Kelvin van der Linde leaves the Audi factory team.

https://www.motorsport.com/dtm/news/gt3 ... /10434519/

Cannot really move posts as such, but quoted from the BTCC thread.

Counterpoint:

https://sportscar365.com/other-series/d ... -dtm-grid/

5 new teams, including Porsche's defacto factory outfit Manthey. Expecting close to 30 cars this season. Rast in a BMW will be interesting!

6 factory Merc's, spearheaded by Lucas Auer, Maro Engel and Luca Stolz. Jusuf Owega has been handy in ADAC GT Masters and in the NLS, will be interesting. Arjun Maini is good, David Schumacher is meh but has a name at least. Göts not returning is loss however:
https://sportscar365.com/other-series/d ... es-lineup/

4 factory Beemers with Wittman, Rast, SvdL and one unnamed driver: https://sportscar365.com/other-series/d ... mw-m4-gt3/

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Oh good. Someone got the message.

[Vassago]

Well, I'm willing to give it another try after all. Oschersleben for IMSA-style cars is a hard sell though. I think Portimao worked quite well last season but I imagine economy has driven the schedule back to the usual roots of Zandvoort & Red Bull Ring being the only "foreign" rounds.

[Cheeveer]

Well, I'm willing to give it another try after all. Oschersleben for IMSA-style cars is a hard sell though. I think Portimao worked quite well last season but I imagine economy has driven the schedule back to the usual roots of Zandvoort & Red Bull Ring being the only "foreign" rounds.

I for one is glad the series is more "German" now. I didn't get all those international rounds where the public didn't care. There is enough international GT3 as it is, with GTWC and ELMS and GT Open and all the national championships. Let DTM be the German national championship, that's it's big draw after all, at least to me.

[Vassago]

I've been following DTM since the early 90s when they still raced at AVUS, Singen or the Diepholz Airport (who remembers that one now?) but even then they had international races though Zandvoort has replaced Zolder as the long-time Benelux round these days. I'm fine with the schedule being more old school and the two resident abroad rounds, it's just I really dislike Oschersleben as a track, very bland and difficult for overtaking.

On the other hand we'll have more international drivers coming through? So the "more German" series concept will still meet some limits?

[Cheeveer]

On the other hand we'll have more international drivers coming through? So the "more German" series concept will still meet some limits?

Was that an issue in the series "golden age"? I wasn't around back then, but I just watched the 1989 season and there didn't seem that there were too much grumpiness that the championship contender were from Italy (Ravaglia), Denmark (Thiim), France (Giroix), England (Soper) and then one German with Niedzwiedz.

The news this morning: the two best Porsche drivers from last year Dennis Olsen and Thomas Preining is to race for Manthey! Preining was often spectacular last year, but did cause his own demise at more than one occasion, especially in the Hockenheim finale.

[Cheeveer]

Jack Aitken to run Emil Frey Ferrari, together with unknown Dutch driver Thierry Vermeulen. He scored one podium in GT Masters last year, but he seems very inexperienced.

This will be Aitken's 3rd season in GT3's, but he's yet to prove himself as a top driver in the discipline.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Jack Aitken to run Emil Frey Ferrari, together with unknown Dutch driver Thierry Vermeulen. He scored one podium in GT Masters last year, but he seems very inexperienced.

This will be Aitken's 3rd season in GT3's, but he's yet to prove himself as a top driver in the discipline.

Jack Aitken seems to think he is the future of Sportscars!.. Remember reading a recent article saying he had declined Williams Reserve driver offer for 2023 as he felt more comfortable that his future was in Sportscar racing (whilst admitting at the time he had nothing confirmed.) IIRC he was talking a bit further up the ladder as his target.....like WEC , LMP2 and Hypercars mentioned.

Good to have ambition I guess.

[Vassago]

On the other hand we'll have more international drivers coming through? So the "more German" series concept will still meet some limits?

Was that an issue in the series "golden age"? I wasn't around back then, but I just watched the 1989 season and there didn't seem that there were too much grumpiness that the championship contender were from Italy (Ravaglia), Denmark (Thiim), France (Giroix), England (Soper) and then one German with Niedzwiedz.

The news this morning: the two best Porsche drivers from last year Dennis Olsen and Thomas Preining is to race for Manthey! Preining was often spectacular last year, but did cause his own demise at more than one occasion, especially in the Hockenheim finale.

The original demise was caused by rising costs, the cars were getting super expensive with automatic gearboxes, active suspensions, adjustable rear wings, qualifying tires and so on. Audi and BMW retired after the 1992 season when the Group A rules era ended and then we only had Mercedes, Opel and Alfa Romeo, the last of which was also involved in BTCC at the time. The international drivers had nothing to do with how the series collapsed, Thiim was the DTM champion in 1986, his rookie season, and always one of the more popular drivers IMO.

[Vassago]

SSR Performance has switched from Porsche to Lamborghini and will enter three cars in 2023 - for Mirko Bortolotti, Franck Perera (both with vast experience with the make) and... Alessio Deledda. Sheesh. Deledda keeps coming back like Freddy Kruger. Where does his money come from? He's done literally nothing in F3 and F2 and keeps getting these high-profile chances. He scored one point last season in the very last race with a depleted grid after that mayhem in Hockenheim Race 1. He makes Ghinzani look like Nuvolari to quote a classic...

[theracer120]

$ talks.

[Vassago]

Just to list the current 2023 line-up:

Audi
Abt Sportsline: TBA, TBA
Team Engstler: TBA

BMW
Schubert: Sheldon van der Linde, Rene Rast (Dries Vanthoor will fill-in for Rast at Zandvoort due to Formula E date clash).
Project 1: Marco Wittmann, TBA

Mercedes
Team HRT: Luca Stolz, Arjun Maini
Team Winward: Lucas Auer, David Schumacher
Team Landgraf: Maro Engel, Jusuf Owega

Porsche
Manthey/EMA: Dennis Olsen, Thomas Preining
Team Bernhard: Ayhancan Guven, Laurin Heinrich
Toksport: Tim Heinemann, Christian Engelhardt

Ferrari
Emil Frey Racing: Jack Aitken, Thierry Vermeulen

Lamborghini
SSR Performance: Mirko Bortolotti, Franck Perera, Alessio Deledda
Grasser Team: TBA, TBA

So this looks like 26 car field with six vacant spots to be filled - half of them at Audi.

[Cheeveer]

Kelvin van der Linde, who is no longer an Audi driver, will race an Audi for Abt: https://www.autosport.com/dtm/news/van- ... /10437304/

Ricardo Feller also returns.

[Vassago]

Word (in German) is that Clemens Schmid will be retained as one of Grasser drivers:

https://www.motorsport-total.com/dtm/ne ... m-23030101

[Vassago]

Mick Wishofer has been announced as the second Grasser driver. He competed in ADAC GT Masters the last four seasons.

Only one empty seat left at Project 1.