The 2012 DTM grid guide

As you're probably aware by now, 2012 marks the dawning of a new era for the DTM. The technical regulations that were devised for the category's return 12 years ago and have featured only minor tweaks since then have been thrown out, to be replaced with an all-new rulebook dictating cheaper, safer cars with fewer driver aids and aerodynamics and even a number of spec parts - 57 in all.

Of more significance to the fans is the return of BMW after 20 years away (although this would not have happened without the rule changes) and its recruitment of star drivers Bruno Spengler and Martin Tomczyk.

Twenty-two cars are set to line up on the grid at Hockenheim on Sunday, with four previous champions heading a host of experienced and rookie hopefuls for the three competing manufacturers: Audi, Mercedes and BMW.

MERCEDES

HWA
Car: Mercedes C-coupe DTM

#5. Jamie Green (GB)
Age: 29
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2005
Starts: 73
Wins: 7
Poles: 6
Fastest laps: 10
2011: 5th in DTM (1 win)

Nobody else within the Mercedes fold quite has the blistering turn of speed that Green possesses, and it's for this reason that he ought to be a title contender if the new C-coupe is up to the job. This is Green's eighth year in the DTM - all with Mercedes - and now is the best chance the Monaco-domiciled Brit has ever had to assume number-one status within the manufacturer. Always a superb qualifier (he had the second-best Saturday average of all last year), one area that has let him down over the past 12 months has been his starts; Green usually going backwards off the line and elsewhere on the opening laps of races. One place he did get it spot-on, though, was at the Hockenheim season finale, in which he took a dominant victory to head into the winter on a high.

#6. Ralf Schumacher (D)
Age: 36
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2008
Starts: 42
Best finish: 2nd
Poles: 1
Fastest laps: 1
2011: 8th in DTM

Three races into the 2011 season, Ralf Schumacher appeared to have undergone something of a radical transformation. His first two DTM podiums in the bag, the multiple grand prix winner lay second in the championship and looked a dead cert for a win (Norbert Haug put his good form down to the new-for-2011 Hankook tyres rewarding sensitivity far more than the Dunlops that preceded them). But as the year wore on the old Ralf (in the DTM sense anyway) returned, and his only strong performance in the second half of the year - in the wet at Oschersleben - went away when he rejoined without looking after a spin (for which he copped a grid penalty for the next round after nearly harpooning Oliver Jarvis) and then promptly fired Filipe Albuquerque into the barriers. An all-new car does give him a fighting chance for yet more improvement.

#11. Gary Paffett (GB)
Age: 31
DTM debut: Nurburgring, 2003
Starts: 81
Wins: 16
Poles: 7
Fastest laps: 7
Titles: 1 (2005)
2011: 7th in DTM

Last year couldn't have gone much worse for the 2005 champion, who began the year in high spirits after a tremendous end to 2010. A crash minutes into the first qualifying session of the year set the tone for a season that failed to reward him with a single podium finish and reached a low when a steering problem put him in the wall at a wet Norisring with second place looking secure. He's much happier with the new C-coupe and in particular the wider Hankooks in use this year, claiming that - unlike in 2011 - pushing harder actually yields a better laptime. He's still hungry for a second title and is the most likely man to stand in Green's way of becoming Mercedes' number-one driver.

#12. Christian Vietoris (D)
Age: 23
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2011
Starts: 10
Best finish: 5th
Best qualifying: 9th
Fastest laps: 0
2011: 14th in DTM, 7th in GP2 (2 wins)

Moving up to Mercedes' A-team following Bruno Spengler's departure to BMW is Vietoris, who dovetailed a campaign in a year-old C-class with Persson in 2011 with a GP2 programme that yielded wins, but ultimately not much more after a crash at Istanbul forced him to skip two rounds while he recovered from injuries. His maiden year in saloons was solid, although not spectacular, with just a single points finish coming at a wet Oschersleben. He is highly regarded by Mercedes hwever and could, if he's up to the job, establish himself as the manufacturer's next Bernd Schneider. Putting Green and Paffett in the shade won't be an easy task.

Mucke Motorsport
Car: Mercedes C-coupe DTM

#19. David Coulthard (GB)
Age: 41
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2010
Starts: 21
Best finish: 8th
Best qualifying: 3rd
Fastest laps: 2
2011: 16th in DTM

It's a third year for DC in the DTM and, as in the previous seasons, he will spend it with Mucke Motorsport. Coulthard's post-Formula 1 career hasn't exactly been impressive so far and he's managed just a pair of points finishes, but his race pace was usually within a couple of tenths of the best last year; his results let down generally by his qualifying form (third on the grid at Valencia last year came in a car later thrown out for an illegal positioning of its rear wing). If he can address this during the season then there's every chance he can be inside the top 10 on a regular basis. But you just wonder whether, with the 'main part' of his racing career behind him, the motivation is still as strong as in the past.

#20. Robert Wickens (CDN)
Age: 23
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2012
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Fastest laps: 0
2011: Formula Renault 3.5 champion (5 wins)

The Canadian forms one third of Mercedes' revived Junior Team along with Vietoris and Roberto Merhi, and has project mentor Michael Schumacher to call on for advice when he needs it. Whether he will need it is another question - Wickens showed incredible resilience to stem the mid-season momentum against him in Formula Renault 3.5 to beat his team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne to the title, and has impressed HWA driver Paffett in particular with his speed in the C-coupe during testing. If he keeps his mind on finding speed from his car and ignores the temptation to concentrate on beating Merhi, he should thrive.

Persson Motorsport
Car: Mercedes C-coupe DTM

#23. Roberto Merhi (E)
Age: 21
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2012
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Fastest laps: 0
2011: F3 Euro Series champion (11 wins), FIA International F3 Trophy champion (4 wins)

The final member of Mercedes' revived junior team, Merhi makes the switch from single-seaters to the DTM after deciding that a manufacturer programme could provide him with a better route to F1 than a very expensive, and potentially fruitless, foray into GP2. It worked for Paul di Resta, after all... His dominant F3 campaign with Mercedes-powered Prema Powerteam was achieved by experience, some blistering starts and extreme pace on cold tyres. However, there were also some ill-conceived overtaking attempts and startline tactics, which he'll have to eradicate quickly. Paffett, Ekstrom and co aren't as easily intimidated as some of his single-seater rivals.

#24. Susie Wolff (GB)
Age: 29
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2006
Starts: 61
Best finish: 7th
Best qualifying: 10th
Fastest laps: 0
2011: 18th in DTM

Ahead of her seventh DTM campaign, Susie Wolff, as the former Miss Stoddart has been known since her marriage to Williams F1 bigwig Toto Wolff last year, can now be considered something of a series veteran. The continuity that comes from staying with Persson Motorsport as the entire Merc brigade switches from C-class to C-coupe models should be to her benefit, and the ability to race in equal machinery to the HWA boys - for the first time in her tin-top career - gives her the best opportunity to reward her talent with solid top-10 results.

AUDI

Abt Sportsline
Car: Audi A5 DTM

#3. Mattias Ekstrom (S)
Age: 33
DTM debut: Nurbrurging, 2001
Starts: 113
Wins: 17
Poles: 19
Fastest laps: 11
Titles: 2 (2004, 2007)
2011: 2nd in DTM, Spa 24 Hours winner

Which Eki will turn up this year? The driver so disillusioned with his car's pace at Spielberg last June that he withdrew at quarter distance claiming, "I'm saving the planet rather than wasting fuel," or the one who scored three wins and 38 points out of 40 during four late-season races? If it's the latter - and you get the feeling it will be - then the Swede is probably just about the favourite to win the championship. The new A5 will be quick and nobody else within the Audi fold is quite as complete a driver. How the massed ranks that fill out the grandstands at Hockenheim this weekend would love to see another Ekstrom v Paffett title battle, the like of which was commonplace during the past decade.

#4. Timo Scheider (D)
Age: 33
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2000
Starts: 116
Wins: 6
Poles: 9
Fastest laps: 8
Titles: 2 (2008, 2009)
2011: 4th in DTM, Spa 24 Hours winner

Like Ekstrom, 'Super Timo' is a two-time champion. Unlike his Abt team-mate, the German failed to win a race last year and, in fact, only made the podium once after a late strategy call to run a long first stint at Lausitz paid off handsomely after a poor qualifying effort. On the Hankooks the 2009-spec A4 used last year, the car had a tendency to oversteer - something Scheider struggled to drive around, but if the new A5 has a more neutral balance, you can expect something pretty special from him. Paired with Ekstrom for the teams' championship, this is probably the best two-car line-up in the DTM.

#17. Rahel Frey (CH)
Age: 26
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2011
Starts: 10
Best finish: 12th
Best qualifying: 15th
Fastest laps: 0
2011: 19th in DTM

Little was expected of the Swiss in her rookie season in the DTM last year, and it was probably a good thing as her name was regularly to be found propping up the timesheets. She was never particularly off the pace though and usually within a second of the top names; her Brands Hatch performance being particularly impressive. But a pointless campaign as team-mate to champion Martin Tomczyk wouldn't usually grant a driver a move to Abt, would it? Being the second driver in an outfit with one team leader is one thing, being potentially the fourth driver in a squad with two of them could be a nightmarish scenario.

#18. Adrien Tambay (F)
Age: 21
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2012
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Fastest laps: 0
2011: 4th in Auto GP (1 win)

The son of grand prix winner Patrick Tambay, Adrien's signing by Audi was something of a surprise as the manufacturer only made an extremely late decision to expand its line-up from seven cars to eight a month before the start of the season. He's won at virtually every level he's raced at in single-seaters and was a front-runner in Auto GP last year. But he's new to saloons and his late deal means that hes had limited testing; most of which came at the wheel of an old A4 in Spain. A tough season awaits.

Phoenix Racing
Car: Audi A5 DTM

#9. Mike Rockenfeller (D)
Age: 28
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2007
Starts: 51
Wins: 1
Poles: 1
Fastest laps: 2
2011: 6th in DTM (1 win), three starts in ILMC

After a year at Abt, Rockenfeller returns to his home of 2009-10 as a bona fide DTM racewinner and a ready-made team leader. Martin Tomczyk credited the family atmosphere at Phoenix and the ability of the team to mould itself around its lead driver as a key factor in his surprise title-winning campaign last year and Rockenfeller is certainly capable of repeating the achievement. With Abt having led the test and development programme of the A5 though, it could be tough for either Phoenix driver to provide regular competition. Then again, Abt's wealth of A4 data was supposed to give it an advantage last year, too.

#10. Miguel Molina (E)
Age: 23
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2010
Starts: 21
Best finish: 3rd
Poles: 2
Fastest laps: 1
2011: 11th in DTM

Midway through 2011, the momentum that Molina had built up during an impressive debut season looked to have slowed to a halt, especially after a wily drive to fourth at Lausitz was left unrewarded when an innocuous-looking meeting with a kerb snapped his driveshaft. A breakthrough pole at Oschersleben was a shock, but he followed it up with another and a maiden podium at the Hockenheim finale, leaving him to head into the winter brimming with confidence. Phoenix boss Ernst Moser has already picked up on that and reckons the Spaniard has all the qualities needed to push Rockenfeller - and the Abt squad that he's left - hard during 2012.

Team Rosberg
Car: Audi A5 DTM

#21. Edoardo Mortara (I)
Age: 25
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2011
Starts: 10
Best finish: 3rd
Best qualifying: 4th
Fastest laps: 0
2011: 9th in DTM

Last year's standout rookie remains with Team Rosberg, and it's probably a good thing, as the continuity will help him. The Italian's wet-weather podium finishes at Brands Hatch and Oschersleben were hugely impressive, but overall he made too many mistakes and ruined his last two races of 2011 by binning his car in qualifying and leaving himself with too much to do on Sunday. He admits that he needs to put this erratic streak behind him. There's little doubt that once he does, he'll be demon quick, as proved by his early-season race pace last year.

#22. Filipe Albuquerque (P)
Age: 26
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2011
Starts: 10
Best finish: 2nd
Best qualifying: 2nd
Fastest laps: 0
2011: 12th in DTM, 3rd in Blancpain Endurance Series

Last year was just as difficult for the Portuguese driver as it was for Mortara as both had to spend rookie DTM campaigns without the benefit of an experienced team-mate. With a year each in the bag, and staying with Arno Zensen's squad, both should threaten the top six on a regular basis this time. Albuquerque's drive to second at Valencia was sublime and showed what he is capable of if he qualifies well. Too often though he was accused of over-aggressive driving by rivals (one Mercedes driver branded him 'an animal'), and while he didn't really do anything untoward on-track, toning this down may just gain him the respect he deserves from the rest.

BMW

Team RMG
Car: BMW M3 DTM

#1. Martin Tomczyk (D)
Age: 30
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2001
Starts: 111
Wins: 7
Poles: 8
Fastest laps: 6
Titles: 1 (2011)
2011: DTM champion

It's hard to know which was more of a surprise: Martin Tomczyk winning last year's title in an old-spec Audi A4, or the German leaving the four rings for BMW shortly afterwards. A bit of disillusionment with Audi management after being moved from Abt to Phoenix ahead of the 2011 season played its part, but there's little doubt that his new employer sees him as one of its stars. It does look a tad strange that he's been placed with Team RMG, which didn't even exist until last June, but the squad is brimming with former BMW Sauber F1 staffers, so he's in good hands. A title defence is unlikely given BMW's newcomer status, but stranger things have happened.

#2. Joey Hand (USA)
Age: 33
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2012
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Fastest laps: 0
2011: ALMS GT champion, Daytona 24 Hours winner

The first American in the series since Danny Sullivan drove an Alfa Romeo in a handful of non-championship ITR Cup races nearly 20 years ago, Hand was nicely establishing himself as one of the top GT drivers stateside when the call came to take his place in the DTM. He doesn't know the circuits, has had to learn the M3 DTM as quickly as he can and needs to sharpen up on pitstops - they don't do three-second tyre changes in endurance racing...

Schnitzer Motorsport
Car: BMW M3 DTM

#7. Bruno Spengler (CDN)
Age: 28
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2005
Starts: 73
Wins: 9
Poles: 11
Fastest laps: 12
2011: 3rd in DTM (2 wins)

The Canadian's move from his long-time employer Mercedes to BMW had been anticipated since last June and sets up an intriguing dynamic as both he and Tomczyk battle to be the Munich make's number one. Common perception says that Spengler is the faster driver; he's had more wins, poles and fastest laps despite starting 38 fewer races, but Tomcyzk proved last year that when he's on a run, it's difficult to halt him. The performances of both Spengler and Tomcyzk will show how fast BMW is from the outset, and will put the manufacturer's quartet of rookies under instant pressure if, as expected, they aren't quite a match for the experienced duo right away.

#8. Dirk Werner (D)
Age: 30
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2012
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Fastest laps: 0
2011: 2nd in ALMS GT class

The least well-known of BMW's line-up, but Werner has probably chalked up more test miles than any of his stablemates during the winter, such was the amount of running undertaken before Spengler and Tomczyk were announced. Since 2004 his career has been exclusively GTs and sportscars and in that time he's chalked up two GT class titles stateside in Grand-Am, to add to a German Porsche Carrera Cup title and, randomly, a Dubai 24 Hours victory. How he gets on will depend largely on how quickly he learns from his team leader Spengler. Oh, and in case you were wondering, he's not related to three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Marco Werner.

RBM
Car: BMW M3 DTM

#15. Andy Priaulx (GB)
Age: 37
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2012
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Fastest laps: 0
2011: 5 races in ILMC

The Briton is one of the oldest DTM rookies in a generation, but Priaulx believes that the experience his decade with BMW brings will be invaluable. He's been a racewinner in pretty much everything he's competed in and hit the big time during the past decade with three World Touring Car titles in successive years to add to his European crown of 2004. All those titles came with RBM, and he is a natural choice to lead Bart Mampaey's team this year. Audi ace Ekstrom has already gone on record saying that he believes Priaulx drives with more intelligence than anybody else on the grid. He'll need to use all of it to acclimatise quickly to what he refers to as "the highest level I've raced at".

#16. Augusto Farfus (BR)
Age: 28
DTM debut: Hockenheim, 2012
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Fastest laps: 0
2011: 6 races in ILMC, Dubai 24 Hours winner

Like his team-mate Priaulx, Farfus is a DTM rookie. In fact, he was paired with the Brit at RBM in the WTCC for a year before both switched to BMW's GT programme with Schnitzer in 2011. The Brazilian usually qualified well in the WTCC (when success ballast against the rear-wheel-drive 320si allowed), but was regularly outsmarted by Priaulx when race day arrived. If he's learned enough about racing without swapping paint during his GT sojourn, then he could be one to keep an eye on. If not, the year could be a tough one.