Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters


The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB-FIA since 1984, respectively. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe, racing a silhouette racing car based on a mass-produced road car.
From 2000 onwards, the new DTM continues the former Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft and ITC which had been discontinued after 1996 due to high costs.

History

The new DTM (2000)

During the ITC era, a large proportion of the revenue generated by the championship went to the FIA, with the result that less went to the teams who subsequently complained of little return on their increasingly large investment in the high-tech touring car series. Since 1997, many ideas had been discussed in order to find a compromise for the rules of a new DTM racing series. Opel put the primary emphasis on cost control, Mercedes-Benz supported expensive development in competition, BMW wanted an international series rather than one focused on Germany only, while Audi insisted on allowing their trademark quattro four-wheel drive system.
The DTM returned in 2000 as Mercedes and Opel had agreed to use cars that were based on the concept car that was shown by Opel on various occasions. The series adopted the format of the 1995 championship, with most rounds held in Germany and occasional rounds throughout Europe, but having learnt the disastrous lessons of the ITC format, the ITR constantly made efforts to keep costs in the revived series from exploding to unreasonable levels, and to keep the championship firmly tied to its German roots. As too many races were initially planned outside Germany, no Championship status was granted by the DMSB, and the DTM initials now stand for .
Unlike the previous incarnation, which primarily used saloon models like the Mercedes-Benz W201, the new DTM featured only 2-door coupés. Opel used the upcoming Coupé version of the Astra as in the concept car, and Mercedes used the CLK model which was already used as the basis for the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR GT1-class sports car.
The motorsport arm of the Bavarian tuning company Abt Sportsline was allowed to enter on short notice. Abt used the Audi TT as a basis for a DTM car, as Audi had no suitable 2-door coupé in its model lineup at the time, even though the dimensions of thie car did not fit into the rules of the series. This also meant that the 1999 STW-Supertouring-champion Christian Abt could not defend his STW title as this series was also discontinued, with Opel then moving into DTM.

DTM (2000–2003)

In May 2000, the new DTM started with the traditional Hockenheimring round on the short course. Some cars competing in the race had no or few sponsorship decals. While Opel's cars could match the speed of most Mercedes cars in the 2000 season, the hastily developed Abt-Audi ended up outclassed. As the body shape of the TT had rather poor aerodynamic properties, Abt was allowed to use a version with a stretched wheelbase and bodyshell in later years. Further dispensation was also granted, such as increased rear wing height, which helped the Abt-Audi TT-R win the DTM championship in 2002 with Laurent Aïello.
In 2002, the DTM also introduced the HANS device to increase driver safety and reduce injuries from accidents.

Ups and downs for Opel

In 2000, Manuel Reuter came second in the championship. After that year, no Opel driver was among the top three in the overall championship, with few podium finishes and no victories for the disappointing "lightnings". On the other hand, it was Opel team boss Volker Strycek who brought a new highlight to the fans, by racing a modified DTM car on the old version of the Nürburgring in 2002, 20 years after the top classes had moved to the modern Grand Prix track, and 10 years after the old DTM stopped racing there. The Opels did not win in many of their race entries in the VLN endurance racing series, as they were mainly testing, but the speed was said to be impressive, and the fans loved it. However, they won the 2003 Nürburgring 24 Hours against factory efforts by Audi, who also ran a DTM-spec TT and BMW, who ran an ALMS-spec M3.

Audi joins DTM in 2004

After their successes with the Audi R8 and the official support of the Abt-TT-Rs at the Nürburgring, Audi finally joined the DTM as a factory entrant in 2004. The three constructors involved decided to switch to saloon bodies. The road models used as patterns since 2004 are the Audi A4, Opel Vectra GTS and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. All dimensions, like the wheelbase, are identical in order to provide equal opportunities without the actual design of the road cars having any influence. Audi immediately had success in 2004 with Swedish driver Mattias Ekström, now a long-time veteran of the sport, becoming a DTM series champion for the first time.

DTM in 2005–2006

The championship suffered a setback in 2004 when long-time entrant Opel decided to pull out of the series at the end of the 2005 season, as part of a large cost-cutting operation in General Motors European division. Initially, the gap looked set to be filled by MG Rover, however their plans to enter the series were canceled after the company collapsed in April 2005. As a result, Audi and Mercedes ended up fielding 10 cars each in 2006, but the television deal with the major German television station ARD required three marques to participate in 2007 in order to continue the broadcast agreement.

DTM in 2007–2013

The DTM carried on with only two manufacturers in spite of the television agreement requiring three manufacturers to participate in the series. The 2007–2009 seasons were marked by the dominance of Audi. Swede Mattias Ekström won the second of his two titles in 2007, and Timo Scheider took the driver's championship in the following two years. Mercedes-Benz were in the runner-up positions in both 2008 and 2009. In 2010, Mercedes finally bridged the gap to Audi, as di Resta won the 2010 championship driving for AMG-Mercedes.
In 2011 and 2012, the DTM held a Race of Champions-style exhibition event in the Munich Olympic Stadium.
In 2012 BMW made a return to the series after a twenty-year absence, and won the drivers, teams, and manufacturers titles.
Audi switched from the A4 to the A5 in 2012 and to the RS5 in 2013. In 2013, the Drag Reduction System identical to the system used in Formula 1 was introduced by ITR to improve racing in DTM.

Recent history (2014–present)

In 2014, the body shape and aerodynamic pieces of all DTM cars were modified to improve racing. The double-header races were also revived in 2015, thus switching from races with total laps run to timed races. The qualifying format was also reformatted into a single-session timed qualification, but DTM only run a single 20-minute qualifying session for Saturday and Sunday races. Performance weights were also introduced to determine the winning car's weight.
In 2017, the DTM field size was reduced from 24 to 18 cars total to improve quality as well as increasing affordability for its existing manufacturers, while making the series a more attractive proposition for any prospective entrants and manufacturers.
For the 2019 season, turbocharged engines were reintroduced to the series for the first time since 1989.

International expansion

DTM-SuperGT unification

In March 2010, The GT Association initially announced that the ITR were beginning to align the technical regulations with Super GT's GT500 class and NASCAR's Grand American Road Racing Association Grand Touring division to form a new Grand Touring specification. In October 2012, a cooperation agreement between DTM and Super GT was signed in Berlin. The agreement regarding the use of the 'New DTM' regulations by Japan's Super GT began in 2014 and ran for four years. DTM moved away from its previous 4.0-litre V8 specification in favour of 2.0-litre turbos in 2019, which Super GT had implemented in 2014.

NASCAR Holdings / IMSA

On 27 March 2013, the ITR and NASCAR Holdings road racing division, the International Motor Sports Association announced a North American DTM series that was scheduled to start between 2015 and 2016 based on the 2014 DTM/Class One regulations. As of 2019, a North American DTM series has yet to run, despite interest being shown by the North American sanctioning body to run DTM/Class One, either as a series under IMSA sanction or possible integration into the sports car championship as a potential replacement for the GTLM/GTE class in 2022. The initial 2013 agreement to run a North American DTM Series was signed by IMSA's predecessor, Grand-Am Road Racing and did not take into account the subsequent merger of the sanctioning body with the rival sports car championship American Le Mans Series in 2014 to form United Sportscar Racing, now known as the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.

Race format

When the DTM series returned, it used a similar format to the final season of the former DTM in 1996: two races of 100 kilometres, with a short break between them. In 2001 and 2002 there was a short race of 35 kilometres as well as a long race of 100 kilometres, which included one pit stop and points scored for the top 10 as in earlier seasons. From 2003 to 2014 there was only one race, which had a distance of about 250 kilometres, and two mandatory pit stops.
For the 2015 season a new race format was introduced. Race weekend consisted of 40-minute and 60-minute races. On Saturday's race a pit stop was optional, while on Sunday's race a pit stop was mandatory and all the four tyres had to be changed. Both races had the same scoring system.
In the 2017 season, both races of the weekend featured the same distance – 55 minutes plus a complete lap, with one race being held on Saturday, the other on Sunday. In both races, the drivers had to pit at least once for a set of fresh tyres. For the 2019 season the time limited race format was abolished and the series reverted to the fixed lap race format that was last used in 2014. However, after the opening round of the 2019 season, the series reverted the 55 minute plus one lap distance format due to issues with television broadcasts running longer than expected.

Racing flags

DTM drivers

The drivers have been a mixture of young and older drivers, including well known former Formula One drivers David Coulthard, Bernd Schneider, Allan McNish, Jean Alesi, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher, JJ Lehto, Pedro Lamy, Karl Wendlinger, Emanuele Pirro, Stefano Modena and two-time F1 world champion Mika Häkkinen. Others, such as Laurent Aïello, Tom Kristensen, Dindo Capello, Frank Biela, Marco Werner, Lucas Luhr, Alexandre Prémat, Yves Olivier, Jaroslav Janiš, and Alain Menu have made their career racing in sports cars and touring cars.
The DTM is also increasingly being used by young drivers such as Robert Wickens and Gary Paffett to jump-start their racing career in single-seaters. Wickens was in the 2012 Mercedes young driver program and in his first year of DTM. This strategy appears to have worked well for Christijan Albers, who built a reputation by finishing second and third in the 2003 and 2004 championships with Mercedes-Benz and then graduated to Formula One in 2005. He came back in 2008, but this time driving for Audi. After winning the championship in 2010, Paul di Resta raced from 2011 until 2013 for Mercedes-engined Formula One team Force India. He has now returned to the Mercedes DTM team. Pascal Wehrlein, who has won the championship in a Mercedes car in 2015 went on to race for Sauber F1 Team and was a test driver for the Mercedes F1 team.
Gary Paffett has also used his championship win to gain a test with McLaren, and they signed him as permanent test driver for 2006. This prevented Paffett from defending his title in 2006, however he thought that it will be a springboard for a race seat during the 2007 Formula One season. The plan failed however, and Paffett returned to DTM in 2007, but in a 2006 specification car.
Four female drivers have taken part in the championship. In 2006 Vanina Ickx started racing for Audi and Susie Stoddart-later-Wolff in 2011 for Mercedes. In 2008 Ickx was replaced by Katherine Legge, who was subsequently replaced for the 2011 season by Rahel Frey.

Cars, technology and specifications

Chassis

The DTM is a customized mass-produced touring car. The championship controls and specifies the chassis/car and engine manufacturers that teams are allowed to use each season. The league's choice of manufacturers are changed every three years. Currently Audi and BMW provides the cars to all teams, with Audi and BMW providing the engines respectively. Opel has provided cars and engines in 2000–2005 with two different models. On 24 October 2004, Opel stated that it would be ending its DTM program effective with the end of the 2005 season, citing costs that exceeded value as well as company restructuring, according to then Opel Motorsport Director Volker Strycek, "The company is reviewing the prioritization, efficiency and customer focus of its spending, or instance, it is in the process of analyzing the efficiency of its advertising buying, and has decided to end its participation in DTM racing in Germany after completing the '05 season." The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars closely resemble public road vehicles but heavily modified into a race version. Aston Martin was also provided the cars to R-Motorsport team in 2019, but left DTM after 2020 season due to failed to secure manufacturer's engine supplier.
In 2000, Mercedes-Benz AMG came to the new DTM from the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mercedes-Benz won their first race in 1st Hockenheimring round, as well as the series title. In July 2017, Mercedes-Benz AMG company officials announced the company's withdrawal from German touring car racing after 2018 season and the immediate discontinuation of its DTM program, coinciding with its entrance into FIA Formula E Championship in 2019, and its discontinuation of its DMSB program.
During the first inaugural resumption season, all DTM car styles were utilized shorter two-door coupé-style cars until 2003 season but in 2004 coupé-style cars were minority due to the transition to four-door sedan saloon-style cars. In 2004 the four-door sedan saloon-style cars were introduced due to touring car racing's core philosophy until 2011. For 2012 season onwards the two-door coupé-style cars were returned until to date but the two-door coupé-style cars are much more different than 2000-2003 cars. The updated new coupé-style cars were introduced in 2017 thanks to new rear wing.
The cars are supposed to be fast and spectacular, while still fairly cheap to build and run. All DTM race cars have RWD and 4.0-litre V8 engines which are air-restricted to 460 hp but now into over 500 hp since 2017 until 2018 season and now into 610 hp including 30 hp push-to-pass since 2019 season and later 580 hp + 60 hp push-to-pass since 2020 season onwards, no matter if similar layouts or engines are available in the road cars. Instead of the road car bodies, unrelated purpose-built chassis are used, which are closer to prototype racing. Many drivers have in fact described the handling of the cars as closer to single seater racing cars than road cars. Only the roof sections of the road cars are put on top of the roll cages, and lights and other distinctive design features are used in order to provide a resemblance to the road cars. Also, in order to save money and provide close racing, many common parts from third party specialists are used, like transmission, brakes, wheels and Hankook tyres. The all-important aerodynamic configurations are tested in wind tunnels before the season, brought to an equal level, and kept that way throughout the season.
DTM cars adhere to a front engine rear-wheel-drive design. A roll cage serves as a space frame chassis, covered by CFRP crash elements on the side, front and rear and covered by metallic bodywork. They have a closed cockpit, a bi-plane rear wing, and other aerodynamic parts such as front splitter, side winglets and hood holes.
The price of 1 current DTM car is normally €600,000-€5,000,000.

Aerodynamics

All Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars aero packages are completely assembled. The car floor underbody is flat. Serratured side front fenders are included along with triple-decker front side winglet flicks, multiple side winglet flicks and multiple rear winglet flicks. The 2017-2018 generation of rear wing for all Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars are slightly wider, bi-plane wing and also parallelogram rear wing end plate. Since 2019 season onwards, the new generation of rear wings are wider than 2012-2018 generation of rear wing, single-plane wing and uniquely shaped rear wing plate. DTM cars have included a Drag Reduction System since the 2013 season for helping the driver to overtake.
The HYLO aerodynamic safety is intregated on the rear wing for all Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars started form 2020 season onwards.

Transmission, gearbox and clutches

For the transmission gearboxes, all DTM cars currently use a semi-automatic transmission with 6-speed gearbox operated by paddle shifters and supplied by Hewland Engineering since the 2012 season using a DTT-200 model. From 2000 to 2011, all DTM cars used sequential manual transmission with a 6-speed gearbox operated by the gear shift stick lever. The clutch of all DTM cars are CFRP 4-plate clutch operated by foot-pedal and provided by ZF. Mechanical limited-slip differential are also allowed and constant velocity joint tripod driveshafts are also used. All Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars drivetrain are currently front-engine with rear-wheel-drive layout.

Brakes

supplies monobloc brake calipers, carbon brake discs, pads and disc bells, which are exclusive to all Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars since 2000. The carbon brake discs are thicker for improving braking power while approaching sharper corners.

Suspensions

The suspension of all Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars is upper and lower wishbones, pushrod operated and coupled with adjustable gas pressure dampers.

Wheel rims

exclusively supplies wheel rims for all Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars since the 2017 season. Previously O.Z. Racing, BBS and AMG were wheel rim suppliers per manufacturer. The wheel rims for all DTM cars are made of magnesium alloy wheels. The wheel size of DTM wheel rims are on front and on rear.

Tyres

is currently the sole tyre partner for the series since the 2011 season carrying the Ventus brand until at least 2023 season. Previously Dunlop Tyres was the tyre partner of DTM from 2000 to 2010, carrying the SP Sport Maxx brand. The DTM runs the bespoke compounds and same size as LMP and GT cars since 2000 and re-profiled in 2012. The current front tyre sizes are 300/680-R18 and the rear tyre sizes are 320/700-R18 and the rear tyre sizes were 280/660-R18 in 2000-2003 later front tyre sizes were 265/660-R18 and the rear tyre sizes were 280/660-R18 in 2004-2010 and later front tyre sizes were 260/660-R18 and the rear tyre sizes were 280/660-R18. The compounds of Hankook Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters tyres are currently only one dry slick compound and one wet treaded compound. Option tyres were used as a soft compound in 2013–2014 seasons.

Interior and other safety components

For the safety equipment, all DTM cars seating uses removable carbon-fibre shell driver's seat with 6-point seat belts. The steering wheel of all DTM cars are free design per one manufacturer with multiple buttons. All DTM cars are also equipped with Bosch Motorsport DDU 8 data display units since 2012 until 2018 season before replaced by newly upgraded DDU 10 display in 2019. The fire extinguisher of all DTM cars are included in the bottom right-hand side underneath. The interior rear-view mirror was used in 2000 until 2018 before it was replaced by newly innovated rear-view camera from the start of 2019 season. The rear-view camera display for all DTM cars are supplied by Gentex Corporation.
The cockpit of all DTM cars are fully protected by doors, windshields and roofs because of current coupé-type car.

Fuel tank

The fuel tank of all DTM cars are made of kevlar-reinforced rubber safety tank supplied by ATL. Currently the fuel tank capacity of all DTM cars are since 2012–present. Previously, the fuel tank of all DTM cars were in 2000–2011.
Refuelling during a race is banned due to safety and cost reasons. In 2000-2011 refuelling was allowed during race weekend sessions for the entire weekend.

Other components

All DTM cars carry a Bosch-provided electronic control unit. Live telemetry is used only for television broadcasts, but the data can be recorded from the ECU to the computer if the car is in the garage and not on the track. The power box management of all DTM cars are utilizing Bosch PBX 190. The battery of all DTM cars are supplied by Braille B128L Micro-Lite lithium racing battery since 2012 season.
Side rear-view mirrors for all DTM cars are fully mandated to easily viewing opponents behind.

Engines

First-generation

The cars were powered by traditional classic naturally-aspirated indirect-injected with four-stroke Otto cycle unleaded petrol-burning stock block V8 engines, with aluminium alloy blocks, DOHC valvetrain actuating four-valves per cylinder and limited to displacement since the series' resumption in 2000. These first-generation DTM car engines produced about power output at 8,500 rpm in 2000-2016 and later slightly increased to over in 2017-2018 as a result of intake air restrictor slight increase from. Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz provided DTM engines with the manufacturers and models respectively. Opel were provided DTM V8 engines for Opel Astra Coupe DTM and Vectra GTS V8 DTM cars through its tuning partner Spiess Engineering in 2000–2005. The engines were prototyped race custom-built similar to 2006-2013 Formula One engines, 1997-2011 IndyCar Series engines and other naturally aspirated V8 racing engines.
The bore width and stroke height of first-generation DTM naturally aspirated V8 engines were.
DTM naturally aspirated V8 engines were rev-limited to 9,000 rpm. The valve train was a dual overhead camshaft configuration with four valves per cylinder. The crankshaft was made of alloy steel, with five main bearing caps. The pistons were forged aluminium alloy, while the connecting rods are machined alloy steel. The firing ignition was a CDI ignition system. The engine lubrication was a dry sump type, cooled by a single water pump. The fuel feed of first-generation DTM engines were traditional electronic indirect multi-point port fuel injection.
The first generation DTM engine weight are DTM-mandated minimum without filter and spark box.
The first generation V8 engine normally aspirated 90-degree configuration were used as a required engine configuration until 2018 season.

Second-generation

The current, second-generation Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters engine unit was introduced in 2019, the current engines are based on Japanese Super GT GT500 class engines. All Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars switched from outgoing traditional V8 naturally-aspirated electronic indirect multi-point injection to an all-new road car-based mass-produced fuel-efficient Inline-4 cylinder with four-stroke piston Otto cycle inter-cooled turbocharged direct injection engine from the 2019 season onwards called the "Class One" while the current coupé-style cars will also remain from 2019 beyond. This will mark the return of turbocharged engines in 2019 season for the first time since 1989 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft season. The all-new second-generation engine fuel delivery will be gasoline direct injection instead of traditional electronic indirect multi-point injection. The current second generation engines are fully based on public legal production vehicles. The power output of all-new second-generation DTM engine was increased from in 2019 and later reduced from in 2020.
Audi, BMW and HWA are currently providing DTM new generation engines with the manufacturers respectively but HWA left DTM after 2019 season due to string of poor results.
The engine components are steel/aluminium alloy blocks, DOHC valvetrain actuating four-valves per cylinder, fuel pumps, injectors, pistons, conrods, turbochargers, plenum chamber, crankcase, valve, exhaust valve, spark plugs, ignition and throttle butterfly systems. The new push-to-pass system that usually used in IndyCar Series will be introduced for 2019 season onwards to improve racing spectacle and produced roughly about with a duration about 60 seconds of usage rechargeable, after a 2019 successful the push-to-pass system will be doubled to from 2020 season onwards. The weight of newly second generation DTM engine are minimum with turbocharger.
The new engines rev limit are upgraded to 9,500 rpm with additional 200 rpm for push-to-pass operation. The valvetrain is still a dual overhead camshaft configuration with four valves per cylinder. The crankshaft is made of alloy steel, with five main bearing caps. The pistons still remained forged aluminium alloy supplied by Mahle, while the connecting rods are machined alloy steel. The firing ignition is now spark assisted with digital inductive. The engine lubrication still remain dry sump type, cooled by a single mechanical water pump feeding a single-sided cooling system. The fuel feed injector of current second-generation DTM engines are gasoline direct injection that produces roughly of rail pressure supplied by Bosch.
The specific fuel consumption of current second-generation of DTM engines are extremely low due to weight and lightweight design – especially in the context of avoiding CO2 emissions, environmental impact and air pollution. The fuel-mass flow restrictor rate of current second-generation DTM engines are limited to + push-to-pass and now more limited to and also the increase of extra fuel-mass flow restrictor rate of push-to-pass to.
The current second-generation DTM engines allocation are limited to one engine per season and lasted up to after rebuild. Mid-season engine change including during race weekend is banned and may resulted grid penalty for race session.
Turbocharger
The turbochargers are reintroduced from the start of 2019 season. The turbo configuration is single-turbocharged and producing the turbo boost level pressure up to . Swiss-American turbocharger company Garrett Advancing Motion which is a spin-off company of Honeywell International Inc. currently supplies exclusive turbocharger kits including wastegate for all DTM cars from 2019 season onwards using a 846519-15 model. The turbocharger spin rev limit spins up to 150,000 rpm but not exceeding 155,000 rpm due to higher turbo boost pressure.
Spark plugs
All Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars carried a spark plugs are made of iridium and supplied exclusively by Bosch since 2000.
Exhaust systems
The exhaust systems of all DTM cars are silencer type but made of titanium, steel and nickel/cobalt lightweight with operation of three-way catalytic converter. Currently Akrapovič and Remus are providing the exhaust systems. The exhaust exits were double in 2000-2018 and later cut to single exhaust exit from 2019 onwards due to inline-4 turbo introduction.
Hybrid powertrain
The hybrid components containing ERS/KERS, MGU-K and MGU-H will be adopted beginning from 2022 season onwards due to most major auto racing tournaments are switching to hybrid-powered engines as it was planned by Gerhard Berger on 30 May 2019 and finalized the spec hybrid powertrain components on 21 December 2019. On 23 December 2019, ITR chairman Gerhard Berger announced the potential hybrid powertrain component suppliers bidding candidates are Cosworth Group and Robert Bosch GmbH for 2022 DTM season. The current second-generation 2.0-litre inline-4 turbo DTM engines still remain intact despite hybrid introduction and the power output of hybrid-upgraded engine will produce up to.
The hybrid technology will consist of a multi-phase motor, inverter and electric storage device that will create energy recovery from the car's braking system.
The addition of the hybrid technology to the traditional engine formula will provide some integral benefits for the competitors while enhancing the race action for the fans. In addition to allowing drivers to restart their cars from the cockpit, the system will increase the horsepower of the push-to-pass system and potentially improve the pace and overall time of races.
The addition of the hybrid powertrain will schedule the debut of the new engine formula from 2022. The move will allow DTM to continue working on other future innovations for the new package as well as extend the window of opportunity for an additional OEM to join Audi, BMW and Aston Martin in 2022.
The new engine regulations will be in place for years - 2022 and beyond seasons until at least 2027 or 2028 season - in a concerted effort to provide a clear vision and stability for the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters car, engine manufacturers and teams. It is a continuation of DTM's initial five-year strategic competition plan that originated in 2012.

Fuel

At its inception, all the DTM cars currently use ordinary unleaded racing fuel, which has been the de facto standard in German touring car racing since original DTM 1994 and the reborn of DTM in 2000 until 2019. Since the 2010 season, the fuel of all DTM cars is currently Aral Ultimate 102 RON unleaded racing fuel. In 2005–2009, the Aral Ultimate 100 RON unleaded fuel was used for all DTM cars. From 2000 to 2003, Agip was providing an unleaded fuel for all DTM cars. From 2004, all DTM cars were fueled by Shell with V-Power brand until mid-2005, when they switched to Aral Ultimate 100 RON unleaded racing fuel.
Current Aral Ultimate 102 RON unleaded gasoline is resemble the ordinary unleaded public vehicles gasoline which has better mileage, environmental-friendly and safer than leaded fuels despite no alcohol or biofuel added.
The newly revolutionary DTM fuel will consist of 50 percent of renewable components blend and 50 percent of current 102 RON unleaded gasoline to improve CO2 balance by 30 percent which will start from 2020 season. Aral AG will continue as official fuel supplier of DTM with Aral Ultimate brand from 2020 season beyond.

Lubricants

The lubricant supplier of all DTM cars are mandatory recommendation by per manufacturer and Total.

Cooling components

The car also features internal cooling upgrades, a new water radiator, radiator duct, oil/water heat exchanger, modified oil degasser, new oil and water pipes and new heat exchanger fixing brackets. PWR is the current DTM cooling component supplier since 2000.

Performance

According to research and pre-season stability tests, the pre-2019 model can go 0 to 100 km/h in approximately 2.6 seconds. The car had a top speed of meaning that it is the second fastest touring car behind the Australian V8 Supercars.
Since DTM switched from traditional classic electronic indirect-injected V8 naturally aspirated engines to fuel-efficient direct-injected inline-4 turbocharged engines since 2019 season, the current model can go 0 to 100 km/h in approximately 2.8 seconds and now has a top speed of and thus outperforming Australian Supercars top speed.

Balance of Performance

In 2015, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters were introduced the Balance of Performance weight to improve racing spectacle. The Balance of Performance weight regulations were the car weight allowance range must be in 2015-2016 later changed to from the mid-2017 season. The Balance of Performance weight regulations were scrapped just before the Austrian race due to several protests and criticisms from DTM teams.

Prohibitions

Driver aids like ABS, traction control, launch control, active suspension, cockpit-adjustable anti-roll bar and partial car-to-team radio communications are currently prohibited except fuel mapping and Drag Reduction Systems, which can only be used for 12 laps in 2018 when near enough.

Driver safety

The safety is very important for all Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers. Race suit, Nomex underwear, gloves, socks, boots and headsocks are requiredly by driver. Meanwhile, the helmets for all Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers are made of carbon-fibre shell, lined with energy-absorbing foam and Nomex padding. The helmet type must meet or exceed FIA 8860-2010 certification approval as a homologation for all auto racing drivers. HANS device are required by Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers since 2002 season that meets or exceeds FIA 8858-2010 certification approval. Earpieces also required by Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers to improve communication listening.

Specifications

Year 2011 final

Machine
Machine
General
A Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters car is a single-seat touring car racing.
Over the years both Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and Formula One race schedules are traditionally held in permanent racing courses. The increased stress and speed of these tracks mean that the cars tended to be heavier, wider and have shorter wheelbases than F1 cars.
When the weight of the driver is factored in, a Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters car weighed over 55% more than a Formula One Car. The minimum weight for a Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters car was adjusted from based on the weight of the driver compared to the field average; with the driver included, all cars had a minimum weight of had to have weighed at least 1,080 kg when empty. The minimum weight of a Formula One Car, including the driver, currently. This difference of is just over 55% of the 2017 F1 car's weight.
Beginning in the inaugural season of the reborn DTM that Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars used the naturally aspirated 90-degree V8 engines but that time in 2000 Formula One were used the naturally aspirated various bank angle V10 engines until end of 2005. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars had up to more compared to their Formula One counterparts, as early as in the 70s the cars had in excess of 1,000 hp. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars having on demand and F1 cars having around 700 hp to 840 hp in 3.5L NA era, around 700 hp to 1000 hp for final specs in 3.0L NA V10 era and around 770 hp to 840 hp in 2.4L NA V8 era and currently over 800 hp with an additional 160 hp from the electric motors from their 1.6L V6 turbo-hybrid-electro powerunit. The turbo used mainly to improve the spectacle rather than lap-times with the so-called 'power-to-pass' or 'push-to-pass' system giving drivers an increased amount of power for a limited duration during the race. Another reason for retaining the turbocharger especially in Formula-1 is the muffling effect it has on the exhaust note, which helps keep the cars inside noise-limits, to meet FIA regulations and rules at the many city street races in European cities on the racing season schedule.
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars used unleaded gasoline for fuel rather than leaded gasoline, and refuelling had always been banned during the race since 2012 season. This is a legacy of an incident at the second Hockenheimring race in 2008 that involving Marcus Winkelhock due to fuel spill after over refuelling. Until 1994, when refuelling was re-introduced to F1, the coupling for the refuelling hose was a notable difference between Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars and Formula cars. Refuelling were allowed in DTM from 2000 to 2011 seasons.
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars has flat undersides to improve stability. F1 banned sculpted undersides in a bid to lower cornering speeds for 1983. In an effort to create better passing opportunities, the new spec Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars being introduced in 2012 will generate nearly 50% of the total downforce of the car with flat underside tunnels versus the front splitter and rear wing. This will reduce turbulent air behind the cars, enabling easier overtaking.
Unlike in F1, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters teams were obliged to construct their own chassis for only main teams, and had tended to buy cars constructed by independent suppliers such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-AMG. However Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters had essentially been a semi-spec series since 2006, with all teams favoring both Audi and Mercedes-Benz cars mainly because of Opel's withdrawal after 2005 season.
The Formula One Car is a more expensive and technology-centric platform than a DTM car. This was even the case during the new coupé era since 2012 season. At this time global automotive manufacturers Audi, BMW and Mercedes-AMG vied for dominance. Since Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters's restructuring, a desire to keep costs down and the existence of two car manufacturer helped create a series with far more parity than Formula One in 2006.
For top speeds, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters cars are slower than Formula One car in fact.
Since all DTM cars switched to turbocharged engines, the top speed of DTM is almost 190 mph.

Scoring systems

This is the evolution of DTM points scoring system history since reborn.
;2000
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Points20151210864321

;2001
;2002
;2003 – 2011
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
Points108654321

;2012 – 2014
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Points251815121086421

;2015 – present
Additionally, the top three placed drivers in qualifying also received points:
Qualifying Position 1st 2nd 3rd
Points321

If in the case of a tie, DTM will determine the champion based on the most first-place finishes. If there is still a tie, DTM will determine the champion by the most second-place finishes, then the most third-place finishes, etc., until a champion is determined. DTM will apply the same system to other ties in the rankings at the close of the season and at any other time during the season.

Manufacturer representation

Champions