DTM Ready to Go

In a field full of champions the most significant is reigning DTM champ Mattias Ekstrom - in 2004 he made winning look easy, finishing every race in the top six to set up a cruise to the title. If this year's Audi is as good as last year's, he may well be untouchable.

Behind him was Mercedes driver Gary Paffett, who will be hoping he can go one better and claim the title this year. Paffett stepped up a level last year, effectively taking over as team leader after a slow season from Bernd Schneider - the pair will be leading the Mercedes charge in 2005.

Joining Mercedes this year, former dual World Champion Mika Hakkinen will be hoping he can come to terms with the car as quickly as possible - testing so far has been limited and understated, but the Finn is convinced that his two year lay off from racing hasn't dampened his desire to win.

Opel are in their final year in the DTM, with the team hoping that success on track will force the manufacturer to reconsider their decision to pull out. Heinz-Harald Frentzen has been very quick in testing, seeming to have come to grips with the series at last. Teamed with capricious former champ Laurent Aiello, the pair will be hoping to surprise the rest of the grid.

Ekstrom will be pushed from within his team by Tom Kristensen, seemingly now up to speed with the cars after a slow start, and Martin Tomczyk, who is hoping his race results this year will be as good as his qualifying was last year.

Allan McNish is looking to make an impact at Audi in his rookie year, while further back Pierre Kaffer and Frank Stippler have been given the chance to step up from the Porsche Supercup, and will be wanting to impress.

Finally, 2004 F3 Euroseries champion Jamie Green is the most prominent of three drivers stepping up from the series. While most expected the Briton to move up to the GP2 series this year, he decided instead to tie his career to Mercedes.

It's hard to expect too much, especially running with a non-AMG team, but Green is certainly a big talent of the future and many people will be watching to see how he comes to terms in the DTM.

2005 DTM Entry List

No. Driver                 Team               Make
 1. Mattias Ekstrom        Abt Audi Sport     Audi A4 DTM (05)
 2. Martin Tomczyk         Abt Audi Sport     Audi A4 DTM (05)
 3. Gary Paffett           AMG-Mercedes       AMG-Mercedes C-Class (05)
 4. Jean Alesi             AMG-Mercedes       AMG-Mercedes C-Class (05)
 5. Tom Kristensen         Abt Audi Sport     Audi A4 DTM (05)
 6. Allan McNish           Abt Audi Sport     Audi A4 DTM (05)
 7. Bernd Schneider        AMG-Mercedes       AMG-Mercedes C-Class (05)
 8. Mika Hakkinen          AMG-Mercedes       AMG-Mercedes C-Class (05)
 9. Marcel Fassler         OPC Opel           Opel Vectra GTS V8 (05)
10. Heinz-Harald Frentzen  OPC Opel           Opel Vectra GTS V8 (05)
11. Laurent Aiello         OPC Opel           Opel Vectra GTS V8 (05)
12. Manuel Reuter          OPC Opel           Opel Vectra GTS V8 (05)
14. Christian Abt          Joest Audi Sport   Audi A4 DTM (04)
15. Pierre Kaffer          Joest Audi Sport   Audi A4 DTM (04)
16. Stefan Muecke          Muecke Motorsport  AMG-Mercedes C-Class (04)
17. Alexandros Margaritis  Muecke Motorsport  AMG-Mercedes C-Class (04)
18. Rinaldo Capello        Joest Audi Sport   Audi A4 DTM (04)
19. Frank Stippler         Joest Audi Sport   Audi A4 DTM (04)
20. Bruno Spengler         Persson Mercedes   AMG-Mercedes C-Class (04)
21. Jamie Green            Persson Mercedes   AMG-Mercedes C-Class (05)

2005 DTM Calendar

April 17      Hockenheimring (D)
May 1         Lausitz (D)
May 15        Spa-Francorchamps (B)
June 5        Brno (CZ)
June 26       Oschersleben (D)
July 17       Norisring (D)
August 7      Nurburgring (D)
August 28     Zandvoort(NL)
September 18  Avignon (F)
October 2     Istanbul (TUR)
October 23    Hockenheimring (D)