2010 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
The 2010 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the twenty-fourth season of premier German touring car championship and also eleventh season under the moniker of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since the series' resumption in 2000. The season began on 25 April at the Hockenheimring, and ended on 28 November at the Shanghai Street Circuit, after eleven rounds held in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy and China. Having finished second in 2008 and third in 2009, HWA Team's Paul di Resta became champion for the first time, having come out on top of a three-way title battle in Shanghai.
2010 season would be Dunlop's final season as the sole tyre supplier in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters as the company announced on 19 November 2010 that it would not renew its contract at the end of the season. After several months of deliberation, Hankook was chosen as the tyre supplier for the 2011 season at the Hankook Tire company meeting in Seoul, South Korea on 17 January 2011.
Season summary
Di Resta had trailed teammate Bruno Spengler – a race winner at Lausitz and the Nürburgring – by as many as fifteen points after four races, but by the ninth race, di Resta had taken the championship lead after five top-two finishes including three wins. A poor finish for di Resta at Adria – ninth after being helped into spins by Audi drivers Mike Rockenfeller and Miguel Molina – coupled with Spengler's third place allowed the Canadian driver to take a three-point lead into the final race. Another HWA driver, 2005 season champion Gary Paffett remained in mathematical contention, succeeding in needing a top-two finish at Adria, which left him nine points behind with ten available. Spengler left himself immediately in trouble in Shanghai, crashing during the qualification session which left him 17th on the grid, while di Resta and Paffett lined up on the front row. Spengler could only advance to thirteenth in the race, while his teammates battled for victory. Ultimately, Paffett won the race – ended early due to a collision between Rockenfeller and Susie Stoddart – but di Resta's second place allowed him to take the championship by four points. Paffett's victory also enabled him to overhaul Spengler for second place, by just one point.Best of the rest went to the defending two-time champion Timo Scheider, who finished as top Audi in fourth place in the championship standings. Scheider, albeit scoring in each of the first five races, struggled for form in the early running, but recovered towards the end of the season and took a single victory during the season, winning at Adria. Mattias Ekström was the only other Audi driver to win a race during the season, winning the series' inaugural race at Valencia but only returned twice to the podium after that; finishing the season in fifth place. Jamie Green was the season's other race-winner, winning for the third season in a row at the Norisring, each of which had been taken in a 2008-specification car. Green finished three points behind Ekström, in sixth place in the points standings.
Rule changes for 2010
- With the championship undergoing a development freeze until the 2011 season, teams will use 2008 and 2009 cars only.
Teams and drivers
| Car | Team | Drivers | Rounds | ||
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2009 | Abt Sportsline | 1 |  Timo Scheider | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2009 | Abt Sportsline | 2 |  Oliver Jarvis | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2009 | Abt Sportsline | 5 |  Mattias Ekström | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2009 | Abt Sportsline | 6 | Martin Tomczyk | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2008 | Abt Sportsline | 18 |  Miguel Molina | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2008 | Team Phoenix | 9 |  Alexandre Prémat | 1–10 |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2008 | Team Phoenix | 9 |  Darryl O'Young | 11 |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2008 | Team Phoenix | 10 | Mike Rockenfeller | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2008 | Team Rosberg | 14 | Markus Winkelhock | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2008 | Team Rosberg | 15 | Katherine Legge | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2009 | HWA Team | 3 | Gary Paffett | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2009 | HWA Team | 4 |  Bruno Spengler | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2009 | HWA Team | 7 | Paul di Resta | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2009 | HWA Team | 8 | Ralf Schumacher | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2008 | Persson Motorsport | 11 | Jamie Green | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2008 | Persson Motorsport | 12 | Susie Stoddart | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2008 | Persson Motorsport | 21 |  Congfu Cheng | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2008 | Mücke Motorsport | 16 | Maro Engel | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2008 | Mücke Motorsport | 17 | David Coulthard | All |
Driver Changes
Changed Teams- Oliver Jarvis: Team Phoenix → Abt Sportsline
- Katherine Legge: Abt Sportsline → Team Rosberg
- Mike Rockenfeller: Team Rosberg → Team Phoenix
- Congfu Cheng: A1 Grand Prix → Persson Motorsport
- David Coulthard: Sabbatical → Mücke Motorsport
- Miguel Molina: Formula Renault 3.5 Series → Abt Sportsline
- Darryl O'Young: World Touring Car Championship → Team Phoenix
- Christian Bakkerud: Kolles Futurecom-TME → 24 Hours of Le Mans
- Tomáš Kostka: Kolles Futurecom-BRT → Auto GP
- Tom Kristensen: Abt Sportsline → DTM retirement; Sportscars only.
- Mathias Lauda: Mücke Motorsport → Porsche Supercup
- Johannes Seidlitz: Kolles Futurecom-BRT → FIA GT3 European Championship
Race calendar and results
- A nine-round calendar was announced on 18 December 2009. This was later expanded to ten races, with the addition of a street race in Shanghai, China that was announced on 28 January 2010. This race closed the season on 28 November. On 15 July 2010, it was announced that an additional round would take place on 31 October at Adria; returning to the circuit which held races in 2003 and 2004.
| Round | Circuit | Date | Pole position | Fastest lap | Winning driver | Winning team |
| 1 | Hockenheimring | 25 April | Gary Paffett | Bruno Spengler | Gary Paffett | HWA Team |
| 2 | Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia | 23 May | Mattias Ekström | Mattias Ekström | Mattias Ekström | Abt Sportsline |
| 3 | EuroSpeedway Lausitz | 6 June | Paul di Resta | Mike Rockenfeller | Bruno Spengler | HWA Team |
| 4 | Norisring, Nuremberg | 4 July | Ralf Schumacher | Ralf Schumacher | Jamie Green | Persson Motorsport |
| 5 | Nürburgring | 8 August | Mattias Ekström | Bruno Spengler | Bruno Spengler | HWA Team |
| 6 |  Circuit Park Zandvoort | 22 August | Timo Scheider | Timo Scheider | Gary Paffett | HWA Team |
| 7 | Brands Hatch, Kent | 5 September | Paul di Resta | Miguel Molina | Paul di Resta | HWA Team |
| 8 | Motorsport Arena Oschersleben | 19 September | Paul di Resta | Timo Scheider | Paul di Resta | HWA Team |
| 9 | Hockenheimring | 17 October | Timo Scheider | Paul di Resta | Paul di Resta | HWA Team |
| 10 |  Adria International Raceway | 31 October | Gary Paffett | Mattias Ekström | Timo Scheider | Abt Sportsline |
| 11 | Shanghai Street Circuit | 28 November | Paul di Resta | David Coulthard | Gary Paffett | HWA Team |
Championship standings
- † — Driver retired, but was classified as they completed 90% of the winner's race distance.
Teams' championship
| Team | HOC | VAL | LAU | NOR | NÜR | ZAN | BRH | OSC | HOC | ADR | SHA | Points | ||
| 1 | Salzgitter / Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 133 |
| 1 | Salzgitter / Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | Ret | 3 | 13 | 133 |
| 2 | Laureus AMG Mercedes | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 74 |
| 2 | Laureus AMG Mercedes | 8 | 9 | Ret | 9 | 11 | 6 | 9 | Ret | 9 | Ret | 11 | 10 | 74 |
| 3 | Audi Sport Team Abt | 1 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 71 |
| 3 | Audi Sport Team Abt | 2 | Ret | 14† | 11 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 71 |
| 4 | Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | 5 | 6 | 1 | Ret | 2 | 7 | 4 | Ret | 3 | Ret | 8 | 9 | 55 |
| 4 | Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | 6 | 17† | DSQ | 6 | 8 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 55 |
| 5 | TV Spielfilm / Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes | 11 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 36 |
| 5 | TV Spielfilm / Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes | 12 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 15 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 10 | 7 | 14 | 11 | 36 |
| 6 | Audi Sport Team Phoenix | 9 | 10 | 3 | Ret | 7 | Ret | 11 | 8 | 6 | Ret | Ret | DNS | 34 |
| 6 | Audi Sport Team Phoenix | 10 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 34 |
| 7 | Audi Sport Rookie Team Abt | 18 | 8 | 8 | 13 | Ret | 14 | 5 | 4 | Ret | Ret | 17† | 5 | 15 |
| 8 | Audi Sport Team Rosberg | 14 | 15 | 15† | 10 | Ret | Ret | DNS | 15† | Ret | Ret | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| 8 | Audi Sport Team Rosberg | 15 | 14 | DNS | 14 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 14 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 14 | 7 |
| 8 | Deutsche Post / GQ AMG Mercedes | 16 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 9 | 8 | Ret | 11 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 4 |
| 8 | Deutsche Post / GQ AMG Mercedes | 17 | 12 | 13† | Ret | 13 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 14 | Ret | 10 | 8 | 4 |
| Team | HOC | VAL | LAU | NOR | NÜR | ZAN | BRH | OSC | HOC | ADR | SHA | Points |