The new BMW M4 DTM will take to the track at Hockenheim on May 4 for the first round of the 2014 DTM season. The event marks the beginning of the 30th season for DTM; when competition began in 1984 Harold Grohs won the first race of what was then the German Production Car Championship in a 635CSi.
BMW is the defending manufacturers’ champion; the series is contested by BMW, Mercedes, and Audi.
BMW Motorsport is once again fielding four teams in the series. Augusto Farfus, runner-up to Audi’s Michael Rockenfeller in the 2013 drivers’ championship, and Joey Hand, still the only American in DTM, return to BMW Team RBM. Bruno Spengler, who won the 2012 drivers’ championship, returns to BMW Team Schnitzer, where his teammate will be 2011 champion Martin Tomczyk, who raced for BMW Team RMG in 2013. Timo Glock, winner of last year’s season finale in Hockenheim, returns to BMW Team MTEK, where he will be partnered with rookie António Félix da Costa, who is coming to DTM from open wheel racing. Marco Wittman, who raced for Team MTEK in 2013, switches to BMW Team RMG, where his teammate will be Maxime Martin, who ran endurance races for BMW in 2013 in both the US and Europe.
Several DTM regulations have changed: 1) the four-session qualifying format used in 2013 is being replaced by a three-session system similar to that used in Formula One. Five racers will be eliminated in Q1, ten more will be eliminated in Q2, and the fastest eight qualifiers in Q2 will move on to a final session to battle for the pole; 2) The number of mandatory pit stops is being reduced from two to one. No stops are allowed during safety periods; 3) a performance ballast system is being introduced that adds or subtracts weight on a race-by-race basis depending on finishing positions. The maximum gain or loss in a single race is five kilograms; 4) the use of option tires is limited to 50% of the race.
More information on the series and links to online coverage of races are available at the series website.—Brian S. Morgan
