The three DTM contructors: Audi, BMW and Mercedes have started to get ready for the start of the season in DTM – even where there are still almost 2 months until the start at Hockenheim on May 6th-8th.
There are very strict rules about testing in DTM, so when the teams are allowed to test, they use the opportunity to full extend.
All three brands tested at the Spanish Monteblanco track near Seville, and they will have one final test at Hockenheim on April 5th to 8th, before the season starts.
Audi Sport
Audi was represented by Mattias Ekström and Jamie Green. For this season, Audi will once again retain the Audi RS5 DTM.
“Obviously, all our drivers would like to drive in Spain as well, but to achieve optimum test results, we prefer to use only one driver per car,” Head of Audi Sport DTM Dieter Gass said
Photo: Audi Sport
The cars are very similar to last year’s technical rules, and here Audi won 10 out of 18 races. So there has only been slight improvements on the car.
Audi’s driver pairings in DTM 2016 are:
Audi Sport Team Abt
#17 Miguel Molina, #51 Nico Müller
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline
#5 Mattias Ekström, #48 Edoardo Mortara
Audi Sport Team Phoenix
#99 Mike Rockenfeller, #10 Timo Scheider
Audi Sport Team Rosberg
#53 Jamie Green, #27 Adrien Tambay
BMW
BMW had 4 drivers testing. The reigning constructor champions had the DTM 2014 Champion Marco Wittmann, DTM Champion from 2012 Bruno Spengler, GP2 2007 Champion Timo Glock and vice-champion DTM in 2013 plus double Bronze medal winner in WTCC, Augusto Farfus behind the wheels.
“It was great fun to finally be back in the BMW M4 DTM. It has been quite a while. You always really look forward to getting back into a DTM car, and it is exciting to start the final phase of the pre-season preparations. We can be really happy with the test. We did a good job, but we obviously still have plenty to do before the first race. We will continue to improve the set-up of our car in order to be as competitive as possible this season.” Spengler said after the test.
Photo: BMW AG
BMW’s driver pairings are:
BMW Team RMG:
#11 Marco Wittmann, #16 Timo Glock
BMW Team MTEK:
#7 Bruno Spengler, #18 Augusto Farfus
BMW Team RBM:
#31 Tom Blomqvist, #36 Maxime Martin
BMW Team Schnitzer:
#13 António Félix da Costa, #100 Martin Tomczyk
Mercedes-AMG
Mercedes won the drivers championship with Pascal Wehrlein in 2015, but he has switched to Formula 1, so the other drivers have to take over the aim of defending the title. They have kept 7 out of 8 drivers from last season, while welcoming Esteban Ocon to the team.
Robert Wickens, Christian Vietoris, Paul Di Resta and Gary Paffett shared the 3 days between them and managed to do more than 500 laps and collect a lot of data. The car is a Mercedes AMG C63 DTM.
“We’re generally satisfied with the test. We completed most of our test programme and gained some important insights,” head of Mercedes-AMG’s DTM programme Ulrich Fritz said.
Mercedes-AMG driver lineup in 2016:
Mercedes-AMG DTM Team ART
#2 Gary Paffett, #34 Esteban Ocon
Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA I
#12 Daniel Juncadella, #6 Robert Wickens
Mercedes-AMG DTM Team HWA II
#3 Paul Di Resta, #84 Maximilian Götz
Mercedes-AMG DTM Team Mücke
#22 Lucas Auer, #8 Christian Vietoris
