Photo: Audi Sport

Gerhard Berger to work with the teams to promote the DTM

The DTM media day took place today at Hockenheim, with new series boss, former Formula 1 driver Gerhard Berger, outlining his ideas about the task ahead.

The future of the DTM is a pressing issue, with the series having lost some interest from fans, even in Germany, and also being hit by cost reduction measures translating in a downsized grid from 2016.

Berger, who was appointed as ITR’s chairman two weeks ago, thinks the series has already taken steps into the right direction: “I’ve always enjoyed watching the DTM, moreover in the recent years because of my nephew, Lucas Auer. In the last two weeks I have looked even closer into things. It’s still early to draw conclusions.”

“But I think that the DTM has made a lot of good decisions, for instance, the unit design concept or the weekend format. The series has done a good job,” said the Austrian, highlighting the work of his predecessor Hans Werner Aufrecht.

The focus for the series now will come from two of the main requirements from the manufacturers: promotion and internationalisation, an issue that was key for BMW’s return back in 2012 and that hasn’t advanced as the Bavarian manufacturer would have preferred.

Berger said: “Of course, there are lot of screws that can be turned. We will put our efforts together with the three manufacturers and with Florian (Zitzlsperger, new ITR board member), we are a team and we will look at things very closely to make suggestions.”

Giving the series an international outlook is also important, but Berger believes making the DTM into an intercontinental championship isn’t the way to go: “We already have a series in Japan orientated towards the path the DTM wants to take, and it would be desirable if they would also implement it in America.”

“However, we are at home in Germany, and we will continue to focus here with additional visits in Europe, but I don’t believe the DTM should race in South America or China, far from its fans,” the Austrian pointed out.

Florian Zitzlsperger highlighted the changes already adopted for 2017: “We will now have two equal length races on Saturday and Sunday, with every race having a pit stop. The number of mechanics in tyre changes has been reduced, with only one wheel gun per side, and the pit window has been eliminated, so the pit stop can happen at any time during the race.”

The DTM also announced that, from this year, each manufacturer would have an open pit garage, so the fans can have a closer look at the teams’ work during the pit walks.