DTM promoter Hans Werner Aufrecht: “Class One will happen”

The 2016 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season is just two and a half weeks away, with the series seeking to build on last year’s success. Hans Werner Aufrecht, chairman of promoter ITR e.V, talks about the challenges the DTM is facing in the near future.

2015 saw the DTM returning to a two-race weekend format, reintroducing Friday free practice, which had been ditched the previous year on cost cutting grounds. Aufrecht thinks the changes have had positive consequences for both teams and spectators:

“The change in the programme from one to two races on the weekend was very positive”, Hans Werner Aufrecht said to TouringCarTimes. “Not only the fans liked it, also the drivers and teams were very positive about the decision. The free practice on Friday has been re-introduced because the program was pretty much packed over the weekend, particularly in days with an early start time of the race. The overall mileage for the cars is not much higher than in previous years,but the amount of race laps is definitely higher. This is what the fans want to see in the end.”

The series has modified the much debated regulations on performance weights. Tyres were another subject of controversy last season, with a new compound being tested for 2017. “There won’t be changes regarding the tyres in 2016. Also for all other regulations there are only minor changes. Regarding the performance weights, the decision has been taken and we hope it will help us to have closer races and more fights on the track. The calculation will be based on the results of the qualifying and not on the race”, said the ITR chairman.

The 2015 DTM calendar had six out of nine events in Germany, with other two in bordering countries and only travelling a considerable distance for Moscow. There were talks about possible races in Portugal and Spain, with the series choosing Hungary instead for the forthcoming season. Talking about a possible expansion of the calendar, Hans Werner Aufrecht said: “We are in continuous discussions with various tracks. The DTM will always have its roots in Germany and an important number of races will be held there. Races outside Germany are also a matter of costs, which have to remain on reasonable level.”

Cost management is an important issue for the manufacturers involved in the series, with BMW having expressed concerns about the use of high technology wind tunnels by their rivals. The ITR chairman thinks the DTM already has enough provisions in place to avoid cost escalation: “There are already a lot of regulations in place regarding the development of the cars, like the common parts and the homologation freeze, which include a number of aspects apart from the use of wind tunnels. We think that these rules help us to keep the budgets in a reasonable frame.”

Toto Wolff said over the winter that withdrawing from the DTM had been on the cards for Mercedes AMG. With the series relying on each manufacturer providing eight cars to have a grid of 24. Asked if there were more manufacturers interested in the DTM, Aufrecht was concise: “It would be a pleasure to welcome other manufacturers. But, for the moment, we don’t expect a new entry for the foreseeable future.”

The probability of the ‘Class One’ coming to fruition has been thrown into question, with the new two-litre engines have been delayed until 2019 and IMSA stalling in the adoption of the common technical regulations. Aufrecht thinks these issues do not pose a threat to the common project: “The postponement of the introduction of the new engines has no impact on ‘Class One’. We are in continuous discussions with our partners in Japan und USA regarding a future cooperation. The date for the first race has not been fixed yet, but it will happen.”

The DTM has had little openings in the drivers’ market, with Mercedes AMG’s Esteban Ocon being the only new face in the series for 2016. Asked about the impact of the manufacturers’ policy on opportunities for new talents, Hans Werner Aufrecht said: “From my perspective I would like to see more changes in the driver line ups. But this is up to the manufacturers. The young talents usually get their chance during the winter tests. The reason for the constant and unchanged line ups is the fact that DTM is a very demanding series on a high level and experience is an important factor for success.”

The 2016 DTM season kicks off in Hockenheim from 6th to 8th of May.