DTM: Runners and riders

Consistency is the word when it comes to the DTM line-ups this year, as there aren't many major changes to the Audi and Mercedes camps.

Audi sticks with its policy of "don't change a winning team" by retaining all of its factory drivers, with the only change being Katherine Legge moving into a one-year-old car run by Abt Sportsline.

There are only eight Mercedes on the grid this year, but no new names on that side of the paddock either. But there are changes - Bernd Schneider is gone, while Ralf Schumacher and Gary Paffett move into brand new cars. Jamie Green loses out though, and moves down to a one-year-old car.

Despite the lack of new faces, the competitiveness of the field cannot be called into question. There's eight 2009-spec cars in the field, and several of those will have genuine title contenders at the wheel - that's all that counts.

Audi Team Abt Sportline

#1 Timo Scheider (D)
Age: 30
Starts: 85
Wins: 3
Debut: Hockenheim 2000
Titles: 1
2008: 1st

Most people expected the Scheider bubble to burst after his lightning start to 2008, but he sustained his form for the entire season to take a deserved title. This year will be tougher, as it is unlikely that Audi will enjoy a performance advantage at the start of the season, and with stronger opposition from Mercedes he will need to be tough as well as fast.

#2 Tom Kristensen (DK)
Age: 41
Starts: 49
Wins: 3
Debut: Hockenheim 2004
Best championship pos: 3rd (2006)
2008: 8th

Despite rumours about his future, the eight-time Le Mans winner is back for a sixth year, and he's determined to put together a title charge. He's lost none of his speed, as his qualifying form last year showed, but he admits that he needs to up his game in the races this year.

#5 Mattias Ekstrom (S)
Age: 30
Starts: 81
Wins: 13
Debut: Hockenheim 2001
Titles: 2 (2004, 2007)
2008: 3rd

The double-champion is the most complete driver in the Audi line-up. While that means he is good at getting aggressive, he can take it too far when it comes to getting rough with the Mercedes drivers. But in a straight (and fair) fight, he has the potential to beat anyone.

#6 Martin Tomczyk (D)
Age: 27
Starts: 80
Wins: 3
Debut: Hockenheim 2001
Best championship pos: 3rd (2007)
2008: 7th

The pressure mounted on Tomczyk again last year, as he failed to continue the good form that nearly won him the title in 2007. Like all of his team-mates apart from Scheider, he'll be hoping that the 2009 Audi doesn't have the same understeer tendencies that the 2008 car had.

#21 Katherine Legge (GB)
Age: 28
Starts: 11
Wins: 0
Debut: Hockenheim 2008
2008: 19th

While Legge moves up to Audi's top team this year, she only has a 2008 car. However, that leaves her in great shape to mix it with everyone else in older cars, more so than last year where her and Christijan Albers struggled with two-year-old Kolles-run cars.

HWA-Mercedes

#3 Paul di Resta (GB)
Age: 23
Starts: 21
Wins: 2
Debut: Hockenheim 2007
Best championship pos: 2nd (2008)

There is no question about the Scot's speed, and he has done a very good job at adapting his style to a DTM car. He will be one of the leading lights at Mercedes again, and if he has less ground to make up after the early races than he did last year, he is a very strong bet for the title.

#4 Ralf Schumacher (D)
Age: 33
Starts: 11
Wins: 0
Debut: Hockenheim 2008
2008: 14th

The pressure is on the ex-Formula 1 man to prove that his promotion is more than just a publicity exercise. His rookie season was inconclusive regarding how he has taken to DTM, and if anything he seemed to trail off in comparison to his team-mates rather than make up ground.

#9 Bruno Spengler (CDN)
Age: 25
Starts: 42
Wins: 5
Debut: Hockenheim 2005
Best championship pos: 2nd (2006, 2007)
2008: 5th

Mercedes' golden boy of 2006-7 needs to rediscover his form. Was overshadowed by di Resta and Green last year, and with Gary Paffett back at HWA a repeat will be on the cards if he doesn't raise his game.

#10 Gary Paffett (GB)
Age: 28
Starts: 50
Wins: 9
Debut: Nurburgring 2003
Titles: 1 (2005)
2008: 9th

The 2005 champion is back in a top car for the first time since his title-winning season. He has his engineer and several mechanics from that year working on his car again, so he won't take long to settle back in. His performances in year-old machinery for the past two years suggest he's lost none of that spark that won him the title before.

Persson Motorsport-Mercedes

#7 Jamie Green (GB)
Age: 26
Starts: 42
Wins: 4
Debut: Hockenheim 2005
Best championship pos: 4th (2007, 2008)

Moving down to a year-old car for this year, Green has every right to feel hard done by, having led the Mercedes challenge with di Resta for most of last year until misfortune hit him towards the end. He will want to emulate Paffett's achievements of the past couple of years, sneaking into the points as often as possible.

#8 Susie Stoddart (GB)
Age: 26
Starts: 31
Wins: 0
Debut: Hockenheim 2006
2008: 18th

Stoddart can hold her own in the midfield battle, but her aim this year will be to score her first points. She doesn't look out of place on the grid though, and won't be found lagging a long way behind her team-mates.

Audi Sport Team Rosberg

#11 Mike Rockenfeller (D)
Age: 25
Starts: 21
Wins: 0
Debut: Hockenheim 2007
Best championship pos: 11th (2008)

The combined Le Mans Series/DTM programme seemed to affect Rockenfeller's form in the tin-top series, but he doesn't have that distraction this year. The competition between the young Audi drivers is fierce, as they all want to be first in line for a promotion.

#12 Markus Winkelhock (D)

Age: 28
Starts: 28
Wins: 0
Debut: Hockenheim 2004
Best championship pos: 12th (2008)

Winkelhock established himself as a solid performer last year, but he lacked that spark that his team-mates have shown to really pull out a spectacular result. With a strong 2008 Audi at his disposal, he could change that this season.

Audi Sport Team Phoenix

#14 Alexandre Premat (F)
Age: 27
Starts: 20
Wins: 0
Debut: Hockenheim 2007
Best championship pos: 10th (2008)

The former GP2 race winner was a star in his first year with Audi in 2007, but he didn't shine as much last season. However, he was the only man to get a one-year-old car onto the podium last year - on home soil at Le Mans.

#15 Oliver Jarvis (GB)
Age: 25
Starts: 11
Wins: 0
Debut: Hockenheim 2008
Best championship pos: 13th (2008)

Jarvis proved his speed last year, but a lack of experience in the rough world of tin-top racing often caught him out in the early laps of races. His testing pace has been good, and he should have a much stronger season.

Mucke Motorsport-Mercedes

#16 Maro Engel (D)
Age: 23
Starts: 11
Wins: 0
Debut: Hockenheim 2008
2008: 16th

The ex-British Formula 3 frontrunner matched up pretty well to Ralf Schumacher while both were rookies last year. He'll be hoping that the year-old C-class is stronger than the car he had last year, and that it will enable him to fight for points.

#17 Mathias Lauda (A)
Age: 28
Starts: 31
Wins: 0
Debut: Hockenheim 2006
Best championship pos: 15th (2007, 2008)

Lauda worked hard to get as close to Paffett as possible while both were in year-old cars, and he will do the same this year with Green. He was disappointed to only pick up one point last year, so he'll be aiming to make a step forward.

Kolles Futurecom-Audi

#18 Christian Bakkerud (DK)
Age: 24
Debut: Hockenheim 2009

The former GP2 racer will race in DTM alongside his sportscar deal with the same team. He will be expected to lead the three-car team this year, as he is far more experienced than his two team-mates.

#19 Johannes Seidlitz (D)
Age: 18
Debut: Hockenheim 2009

It's unlikely that the DTM paddock noticed when Seidlitz raced in the supporting Formula BMW Germany in 2007. He only finished in the top 10 three times from 18, and this is a big step up from his Formula Renault programme in 2008.

#20 Tomas Kostka (CZ)
Age: 24
Debut: Hockenheim 2009

Kostka has raced old DTM Audi A4s in the Czech Republic, so at least has experience of the car. However, he admits that the performance of a fully-blown DTM machine is still a big jump.