How a spectacular weekend format could save Fridays in the DTM from 2024 and what idea there is for implementing a test ban
While the first DTM season under the management of the ADAC is about to reach its hot title finale, the new operator of the racing series is already setting the course for the coming season: While they want to stick to the one-driver-per-car principle that sets the DTM apart from other series, they are currently discussing how to reduce costs
“We must continue to cut costs, but not at the expense of the show,” says ADAC motorsport boss Thomas Voss. In this respect, at the Red Bull Ring weekend at the end of September, spectacular suggestions came from the teams at the team managers’ meeting as to how the weekend format could be changed – and a test ban also remains a topic for 2024.
At the centre of the thoughts is qualifying: one idea was to no longer have the battle for grid positions at 9 a.m., as is currently the case, when many fans are not yet at the circuit, but to have a ten- to 15-minute session immediately before the race.
Will Friday be saved with revolutionary idea?
This way, the race weekend could be shortened to two days and Friday could be completely eliminated because the Free Practice would be held on the morning of the respective race day. And the dramaturgy would also be spectacular if qualifying were held at 1pm, for example, and the race followed immediately afterwards at 1.30pm.
On the other hand, the teams would have little time after qualifying to prepare strategically for the race – and the starting grid for the race and the TV lead-up with pre-event coverage and features would no longer take place in the usual form. Nevertheless, TV partner ProSieben is positive about the proposal.
“I find the idea exciting from a TV point of view, because we would have one more live event in the programme,” says Alexander Wölffing, who is the head of motorsport at ran, “Moreover, it would be a unique selling point for the DTM in motorsport. The exact implementation and what that would mean for the pre-event coverage would have to be looked at in detail. “
Shortening of qualifying is being discussed
The idea has also been well received among the teams. “It would improve the show a lot and would also be great for the spectators,” enthuses one team boss.
Another idea is to shorten the current 20-minute qualifying to ten minutes to make it more compact and exciting. However, this is only likely to go down well with Mercedes-AMG to a limited extent, as the tyres on the Mercedes-AMG GT3 do not come up to temperature as easily as on other cars and the teams therefore usually do an out-in-lap first to warm up the tyres via the brakes.
Electric blankets are prohibited in the DTM. In a ten-minute qualifying session, the Mercedes-AMG teams would therefore have less time and tactical leeway than rivals from other brands to get a perfect lap.
Test ban possible thanks to special tyres?
Another proposal that is being discussed is the introduction of a test ban. Because currently, the DTM teams spend a lot of money on private test drives, which take place on almost all tracks in the run-up to the races. However, the ADAC resisted introducing a ban at the beginning of the year, as this is hardly controllable due to the use of the GT3 bolides in numerous other series, unlike in Class 1 times.
“And I once learned: what you can’t control, you shouldn’t ban,” said ADAC motorsport boss Voss. But the teams suggested that instead of the Pirelli tyre, which is currently used in the DTM and in most other GT3 series, a so-called “Confidential Tyre” could be used.
This is currently being developed by numerous manufacturers – including the current DTM partner Pirelli – especially for the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. In this way, a team that is testing without permission could be convicted more quickly.
The problem with this is that the current balance-of-performance service provider SRO Motorsports Group bases its classification in the DTM and all other series on the currently used GT3 tyre Pirelli P Zero DHF.
Stephane Ratel’s company would therefore only have to make its own classification for the DTM – and would also have considerably less data available for this. The likelihood of getting involved can be considered low.
