Photo: DTM Media

DTM Zandvoort preview: Showdown on the beach

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The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters heads to Circuit Park Zandvoort this weekend for the fifth round of the 2016 season. BMW Motorsport and Marco Wittmann lead the standings, in a narrow and tight fight for this year’s title.

The Dutch event will mark the halfway point through the season. So far, there have been seven different winners in eight races, with Audi Sport scoring four victories, with BMW Motorsport and Mercedes AMG achieving two wins each.

Circuit Park Zandvoort is located scarcely 30 kilometres away from Amsterdam, and it’s characterised by being next to the beach, with strong winds and sand dunes battering the tarmac. The 4.307-kilometre track features tight corners and smooth bends, with ups and downs and no tarmac run off areas, making of the Dutch circuit one of the most challenging in the calendar.

BMW’s Marco Wittmann leads the standings with 75 points, two ahead of Audi’s Edoardo Mortara and five over Mercedes’ Paul Di Resta, in a primary example of how competitive the season has been so far. The Bavarian manufacturer has been the most regular this year, leading the standings with 310 points, 34 over Audi Sport and 88 more than Mercedes AMG.

Heading to Zandvoort, the Audi RS 5 DTM will start the weekend as the heaviest car at 1,127.5 kg, followed by the Mercedes AMG C63 DTM, with a base weight of 1,117.5 kg. The BMW M4 DTM will be the lightest on 1,115 kg.

Last year, BMW dominated the event with two record-breaking results in both races, which raises the level of expectation for the Bavarian manufacturer, despite having only three wins in Zandvoort, against five for Mercedes AMG and eight for Audi Sport.

The DRS activations per driver are limited to 39 for Saturday’s race, and to 60 for Sunday’s.

The action will be divided into three days, with the following agenda:

Friday 15th July
17:00 – Free Practice 1.

Saturday 16th July
13:45 – Free Practice 2.
15:45 – Qualifying for Race 1.
18:08 – Race 1 (40 minutes plus one lap).

Sunday 17th July
9:20 – Free Practice 3.
11:20 – Qualifying for Race 2.
13:43 – Race 2 (60 minutes plus one lap).