Norisring preview: The stars change shoes for the big dance

The third round of the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season takes place this weekend at the iconic circuit of Norisring, the street track located in Nuremberg. Audi Sport arrives to their home race as the clear favourite, after dominating all the races so far this year.

Jamie Green leads the Drivers’ standings after winning three of the four races. The Briton has finally found himself and his place within the four-ring manufacturer, having shown an impressive form at the wheel of his RS 5 DTM. ‘Mr. Norisring’ arrives to one of his favourite circuits as the top favourite.

Being ahead of everyone has its downfalls, and Audi will be the most penalised manufacturer with the performance weights. Dieter Gass expects this to become an issue for the Ingolstadt cars, but still hopes to finish the weekend ahead of their competitors.

The biggest issue for Mercedes and, in a greater measure, BMW has been the standard tyres provided by Hankook as the only compound available this year. The Bavarian manufacturer, whose M3 and M4 DTM models have dominated the series since their return in 2012, has clearly struggled with the new tyre.

Tests were held at the Lausitzring last week in order for manufacturers to work with Hankook to understand better the rubbers. On his part, the tyre manufacturer has agreed to go back to the specification of last year’s standard tyres, which is what the car makers were expecting in the first place.

The 2.3-kilometre street circuit is located in the town of Nuremberg, and is one of the highlights of the German racing calendar, and the most iconic scenery in the DTM. All drivers and manufacturers want to excel at this difficult circuit.

The action packed weekend starts on Friday afternoon, and will have the following agenda (all times are CEST, GMT + 2):

Friday 26th of June

12:15: Roll out.

16:45: Free Practice 1.

Saturday 27th of June

10:15: Free Practice 2.

13:25: Qualifying for Race 1.

16:48: Start of Race 1 (40 minutes plus one lap).

Sunday 28th of June

9:50: Warm Up.

11:40: Qualifying for Race 2.

15:18: Start of Race 2 (60 minutes, plus one lap).