FEATURE - DTM Series
The other brand's car sounds like a WWII V1 Doodlebug on its pitlane limiter. And just like the first modern weapon of mass destruction, when the noise stops people scatter -- as the red and blue car swoops into the pit box, still seemingly at the full pitlane speed limit.
Mercedes' silver dream racers have an altogether more conventional sound -- like an Aussie V8 Supercar with the rough edges knocked from it. Onto Le Mans Circuit Bugatti's main straight they pull hard out of the last corner and accelerate quickly through second-fourth gears and then seem to labour just a touch through fifth and sixth in the sequential six-speeder.
Restricted to around 480-500hp, both the Audi and the Benz are close to 180hp shy of the best Aussie V8s. But at 1050kg, they're 300kg lighter. They fair jump off the corners when their tyres are warm and the track dry. As the speed rises the cars' higher downforce (and the restrictor plates in their inlet plenum) restrain the acceleration -- hence the (incorrect) impression that the cars are slow.
Racing is usually close and qualifying even more so -- less than one second separated the top ten at the penultimate race of the 2008 series at Le Mans. As well as closely monitored regulations the cars get success ballast. Drivers are limited to using just three engines for the whole season. They're sealed by the series organiser and in-season testing, for all intents and purposes, is banned.
The whole show is impossibly slick -- in a slightly sanitised, dare I say it, Germanic way. The drivers are the heroes, but the manufacturers are the stars, not the teams -- little wonder given it's Benz and the Ingolstadt mob that are picking up the bill.
THE 'OTHER' TINTOP SHOW
If you believed everything you read, you'd be forgiven for thinking V8 Supercars is the only game in the racing world's tintop town. There is, however, another 'touring car' series that is looking outwards to grow its reach -- and we're not talking about the oval-afflicted good ol' boys of NASCAR.
DTM, Deutsche Tourenwagen-Meisterschaft, the German touring car championship has had a chequered history -- not unlike our own production-based sedan formula. Once production based, it re-emerged in 2000 as a tightly-controlled silhouette formula. A two-make championship, that since 2001 has seen Audi and Mercedes-Benz duke it out.
Now the cars wear bodywork recognisable as Audi and Mercedes' volume models -- the A4 and C-Class. They are, however, tube and monocoque framed open-wheel racecars underneath.
They are powered, as noted above, by scratch-built 4.0-litre naturally aspirated V8s -- pure race engines. These are front mid-mounted -- almost impossibly rearwards and oh so low, when you see the cars undressed. The drivers, it seems, sit even lower -- and well inboard towards the centerline of the car. There they are protected by an integral carbon-fibre safety tub.
This year the DTM series comprised 11 rounds, with the finale scheduled for Hockenheim, this coming weekend (Oct 25-26). As well as rounds in Germany, in season 2008 DTM went to Italy (Mugello), the UK (Brands Hatch), The Netherlands (Zandvoort), Spain (Catalunya) and France (Le Mans).
Though the crowd at the Le Mans round we attended was small in European terms (less than 40,000), the DTM circus cut few corners with a paddock full of matching transporters and hospitality facilities that dwarf those of all series, except perhaps Formula 1. As noted above it's a slick operation, right down to the precision parking of the race team's pantechs. Even the pressure cleaners match!
At the final round at Hockenheim this weekend, raceday crowd will top 120,000, say insiders. Bigger than F1, and it even has its own Schumacher -- though Ralf seemed to have trouble getting his Mercedes further forward on the grid than last place at Le Mans. Indeed, he's hardly set the series alight in 2008, despite his pedigree.
There's plenty of talented youngsters though, and the series even has female racers -- Susie Stoddart does the honours for Benz and Katherine Legge for Audi.
One of Benz's other 'stars' is Mathias Lauda, son of Austrian F1 legend Niki. Benz also has the series' stalwart -- the winningest DTM driver in history, Bernd Schneider.
Like many race series worth their salt, the latest fast guys seem to be imports -- reigning champion Swede Mattias Ekstrom's main Mercedes opposition this season has come from young ex-F3 driver, Paul di Resta. The latter has an Italian name and a broad Scottish accent -- just like his cousin and IndyCar champ, Dario Franchitti.
Just seven of the 21 DTM regulars are German. Other nationalities represented include Canadians, Danes, French and the Dutch -- an eclectic bunch.
WHO'S ITR
Indeed, while success at home is important for Benz and its opposition, the raison d'etre of the series is 'win on Sunday, sell on Monday' on a wider scale -- Europe, for the moment, but eventually in burgeoning markets like Russia and Southeast Asia.
Thus with the blessing of the series' manufacturer partners, the series governing body, ITR is approaching growth in a novel manner...
Based in Wiesbaden, ITR's responsibilities are the organization and marketing of the DTM series.
"The DTM umbrella organisation represents the interests of the automobile manufacturers involved in DTM, coordinates the planning, organisation and staging of the DTM events and is responsible for marketing and public relations," the press blurb says.
What it doesn't say is that ITR is in corporate structure not a company but a "club". Most tellingly, it runs as a not for profit organisation, returning any surplus into the expansion of the series and its support races (which include Euro F3 as a "stepping stone to DTM and F1").
Presided over by AMG founder and now HWA boss, Hans-Werner Aufrecht, the organisation's chief responsibility is to provide a stable and credible racing platform and return a "good cost-benefit ratio" to the manufacturers involved. Not surprisingly, both Mercedes and Audi's respective racing/motorsport bosses both get a seat at the ITR board table.
Aufrecht promises that when subsequent manufacturers arrive in the series (more on that later), they too will get a seat and an equal vote on the board.
Forget about the tracks or the cars... This is where the difference between DTM and our local V8 Supercars starts to fall into sharp contrast. Sure, Aufrecht no doubt gets his pound of flesh for running the series (and the main Mercedes race teams) but his pay day is not derived from the licence fees ITR charges the teams, the tracks and the endorsees and sponsors. Unlike V8 and NASCAR, there's little doubt this series is run by and for the manufacturers.
In 2010, the regulations to which the scratch-built cars are constructed will be tweaked to make racing even closer and to reduce costs. Aerodynamics will be standardised and chassis subject to a similar 'blueprint' process as our own series. A significant amount of componentry across the cars will be harmonised.
The racegoers won't see any changes Aufrecht promises (it's easier to distinguish between Audi and Benz than VE and BF/FG on the track currently, and that's the way it will stay) but the dollars required to run the series will be reduced "by up to 30 per cent", he claims.
With less chance to leverage long-term knowledge in the formula and lower costs, but an even better show, that's when Aufrecht expects new manufacturers will arrive. And guess what -- ITR's bottom line won't change even if Lexus, Cadillac or Citroen come -- or indeed all three.
There'll be no grab for cash, he promises -- only the eyes, ears, hearts and minds of car fans across Europe (and the world). Contrast this difference between the German 'taxi' series and ours... Which one do you think has the stronger long term prospects?
EXPORTING IP
Aufrecht appears a different character to our V8 'pollies'. He's happy for the series to play away games, but is not prepared to fund world domination via speculative forays to non-aligned racetracks around the world.
Though DTM travelled to China a few years ago (another parallel with V8s), the Chinese footed the bill. Aufrecht says at this stage Dubai, Bahrain and other 'maybes' are off-limits for DTM.
The same goes for an airing Down Under -- despite the fact the German series has been linked to the rejigged Indy Carnival on the Gold Coast. Though Aufrecht says nobody has spoken to him about it, he's happy to bring DTM to Australia... As long as somebody else foots the estimated $A5m bill.
DTM will expand, he says, not just on the back of the current marques' Deutschmarks, but via exporting its regulations, not its existing championship rounds.
"For us it is very important that our regulations go around the world. We are talking for the moment with the Japanese federation. [Its influence will help] our regulations go forward in several markets," Aufrecht told the Carsales Network.
"We'd [also] like to be in the United States... We are talking with the AOC [l'Automobile Club de l'Ouest] and ALMS [American Le Mans Series] and maybe that's the future. [That] we have the same regulations in the ALMS and the Japanese federation."
The attraction of the Japanese connection to Aufrecht is obvious -- Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti and Honda all contest the Japanese Super GT championship at the highest level. This silhouette formula -- not unlike DTM -- also has a second tier of competition that attracts a factory entry from Subaru. It's not a huge jump to see Super GT tweaked to match DTM -- it could also allow the cars to run in series in both Asia and Europe.
In the US-based ALMS series both Chevrolet and Aston-Martin currently field factory entries. Cadillac has also competed in the past.
Aufrecht says the type of cars companies build for the street should have no bearing on their eligibility. The series he says is not limited to luxury marques -- nor predominately rear-wheel drives [Ed: Audi is essentially a front-drive builder these days any way!]
In Europe Citroen has shown strong interest. Now almost certain to grab the WRC drivers crown for the fifth year in succession, it's not too long a bow to draw that the maker is looking at other ways to use motorsport to market its products. After all, it says it built its C5 to take on the Germans.
"The important point is our manufacturers like that our series is not an office that tell you how many kilos dadadada and tells you 'you are the winner' or 'you are the winner'... Everything must be in the regulations and [the winner decided on the track] -- I believe that is the big strength of our regulation," Aufrecht opined
"For all [manufacturers] it has the same possibilities. It doesn't matter what [powertrain] they produce in their standard cars," he said.
According to the ITR boss, Audi and Mercedes-Benz are therefore very supportive of the moves to internationalise the regulations -- especially if it paves the way to a wider acceptance of the formula and more manufacturers.
"For our manufacturers it is very important that they have the possibility not only to race in Europe but also some other countries. And that means our regulations have to go world wide -- that is one of the main goals that we have to reach,' Aufrecht explains.
And, leveraging his knowledge of the strength of Toyota and other Japanese marques in our local market: "And why not in Australia," he says with a glint in his eye.
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