Donington remains on DTM calendar

DTM organisers have unveiled a ten round calendar for 2003, with the only major change the addition of a race at the Adria International Raceway in Italy. The new venue means that four rounds of the DTM will take place outside of Germany, with the A-1 Ring in Austria and Zandvoort in the Netherlands remaining on the calendar for next season.

The round at Donington Park is listed as being subject to series officials reaching agreement with the race organisers. DTM officials are believed to want upgrades to the circuits infrastructure, including new pits and a mew media centre. They are also understood to want Donington to increase their spending on promotion and publicity for the race.

Explaining why the DTM has remained set at ten rounds for 2003 Hans Werner Aufrecht, chairman of series organiser ITR, said: "We are proud that many more organisers both in Germany and abroad were trying to get a DTM race, which shows the great appeal of the DTM. However, for the moment, we wanted to stick to the total number of ten rounds."

It has also been confirmed that, from next season, the DTM will adopt Formula 1's new point scoring system for the main race at each round. This means that points will be distributed to the top eight finishers on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Also, following a 45-minute qualifying session the ten fastest qualifiers will participate in a single-lap 'Super-Pole' competition to determine their final grid positions.



Hockenheim (D)
Adria (I)
Nurburgring (D)
Eurospeedway Lausitz (D)
Norisring (D)
Donington Park (GB)*
Nurburgring (D)
A1-Ring (A)
Zandvoort (NL)
Hockenheim (D)