There has been talks for many years, but now it’s a fact – DTM switches to new regulations in 2019.
The cars will be built according to the Class 1 regulations, which DTM (ITR) and the Japanese Super GT (GTA) have commonly agreed.
The two series have been trying to find a common rule set for many years, to be able to use the cars in both championships. The DTM cars have already worked towards the same regulations as the Japanese has been running, but now they take the last step.
That results in a goodbye to the characteristic V8 engines in the DTM, being replaced by a 2 litres 4-cylinder turbo engine. They will produce about 620 bhp, which is about 100 bhp more than the current engines. The cars are expected to exceed 300 kph on the straights.
All cars will run the same monocoque, like all DTM already does today.
Super GT will change to the new Class 1 regulations in 2020, where the cars will be similar to DTM, however with a few changes allowed since Super GT runs some endurance events, whereas DTM runs sprint races only.
Photo: DTM
The concept is to make the cars as similar as possible, so the same spare parts can be used all around the world, so it gets cheaper for everybody.
Currently we have the DTM manufacturers spending about 50 million Euros per season – per manufacturer that is!
The plan is for DTM and Super GT to share two race meetings in 2019, one in Europe and one in Japan, where the cars will be balanced to each other, so they can do the same laptimes, and compete against each other, even though they don’t run the exact regulations.
We are still awaiting BMW and Audi Sport to announce how many cars they are going to run in 2019. It’s already clear that Mercedes-AMG no longer will enter, since they announced their switch to Formula E already one year ago. That leaves the DTM field with 12 cars only, unless BMW and Audi Sport decide to run more cars.
BMW has had a wish for Class 1 regulations and especially the 2 litres engines, while Audi Sport hasn’t spoken any opinion about the new regulations so far. The fact is, both BMW and Audi Sport have their heads turned very much in the direction of Formula E, where Audi is already present as a works team, and BMW will enter as drive train manufacturer at Andretti Autosport for this upcoming season.
The questions is – have the new rules arrived too late, or will be DTM bloom with these new regulations.
We will have to wait and see.
