DTM tyre supplier change won’t be a “gamechanger” for teams
DTM team bosses believe the championship’s switch from Michelin to Pirelli tyres next year won’t be a “gamechanger” that will favour teams experienced with the Italian brand's products all season.
Following the DTM’s takeover by the ADAC, as the Gerhard Berger-led ITR organisation that previously promoted the series announced it would be disbanded, it was announced that DTM will run on Pirelli rubber next year.
That brings it in line with the ADAC GT Masters series, which has subsequently been rebranded as DTM Endurance and realigned as a support series, and championships run by the Stephane Ratel Organisation – which has also been appointed as the DTM’s new Balance of Performance partner.
Pirelli introduced the new DHF compound for GT3 racing in 2022, and DTM teams that haven’t run the tyre in other series may face a period of adjustment to get ready for next season.
Insight: The dark arts "revolution" giving British GT teams a brain workout
However, the team principal of 2021 DTM title-winning squad HRT, which ran the latest Pirelli in the SRO-run GT World Challenge Europe series this year, believes it won’t be a determining factor in the outcome of the 2023 championship.
“Of course, you know the philosophy of the tyre for sure and it helps in the beginning, but I think in DTM the teams are so professional in the meantime that they would quickly catch up,” Ulrich Fritz told Autosport.
“For me, it’s not like it will be a gamechanger for the whole season.
“It might be a help maybe for the first two or three races, but then it will be I think everybody catching up.”
Nico Muller, Team Rosberg Audi R8 LMS GT3
Photo by: DTM
Team Rosberg is one of the teams that has concentrated its GT3 running on DTM, running Michelin tyres, in the past two years and hasn’t run on Pirellis since its last GT Masters campaign running the DHD2 tyres in 2018.
Team principal Kimmo Liimatainen agrees that teams with more recent experience on the Pirellis in other series “might have a slight advantage initially”, but is optimistic that the delayed start to the season will allow time to catch up.
“I think if you test then you will work it out. At least, that’s the plan!” he told Autosport.
“The relatively late start will give us some time to sort things out.”
The Team Bernhard Porsche outfit also has no experience with the DHF following its departure from GT Masters at the end of 2021, but team boss Timo Bernhard believes it will be only a small factor in its plans towards adding a second car to its line up.
“I think going to the test probably yes,” he said when asked if the team would start 2023 on the back foot.
“On the other hand I have to say that when there is a lot of other ingredients running in DTM, like focusing on one driver, I think that’s quite a bit different.
“It’s what we experienced this year, which was also part of our learning process, that dialling in the car for one driver takes some time.
“Performance pitstops and tyre changes will for sure be also a big part of the performance. “So yes, on the tyre, there will be something that we have to catch up, but there are also other ingredients to focus on.”
The plug in and play stand-ins who got their timing just right
Ranking the 10 greatest BMW Motorsport machines
How do the best races of F1 2022 stack up to 2021?
OPINION: A system to score all the grands prix from the past two seasons produces some interesting results and sets a standard that 2023 should surely exceed
Bird "could've won" second Diriyah FE race if FIA added further extra lap
Sam Bird reckons he could have won the second Formula E race at Diriyah, feeling the FIA should have added two extra laps to the race distance instead of one.
BMW boss Rahal says finishing Daytona was "almost like a win"
BMW team boss Bobby Rahal has described getting the two new M Hybrid V8 LMDh prototypes to the finish on debut in last weekend’s Daytona 24 Hours as “almost like a win”.
Why Monte Carlo success could spark another past master’s WRC revival
Some 39 years on from his Monte Carlo Rally debut, World Rally Championship legend Francois Delecour continues to pick up silverware. Proving that age is purely a number, the 60-year-old's desire to compete against the WRC’s latest young talents could be the start of a new chapter in the Frenchman’s storied career
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022
The plug in and play stand-ins who got their timing just right
Nyck de Vries’s Italian GP exploits weren’t the first post-eleventh-hour call-up in motorsport history, and won’t be the last either. Here are some offbeat tales from the past
The longest-serving Red Bull driver revealing F1’s true brutality
His day of days in Formula 1 came at Indianapolis in 2005, a day grand prix racing strives to forget. But Patrick Friesacher, the long-serving Red Bull lieutenant, remains active today driving a two-seater that provides ordinary people with a glimpse of an F1 car’s savage potential, including this writer...
How the DTM has come back stronger from its Norisring nadir
OPINION: Questionable driving standards and farcical team orders meant the DTM's first season under GT3 regulations ended under a cloud. But the organisation has responded firmly by banning team orders and welcomed new manufacturers, making for an intriguing season ahead as new and returning names prepare for battle
The remarkable career of a 'classy' champion who rejected politics
Over two decades as a factory driver with Audi and BMW, Martin Tomczyk earned the respect of team-mates and rivals as a hard but fair racer. After calling time on his racing career, the 2011 DTM champion sat down with Autosport to look back
The other Hamilton conqueror seeking career revival
On his rise through the ranks before reaching Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton was usually a cut above the rest. But he never truly asserted himself over a Mercedes-backed fellow Briton who traded single-seaters for touring cars and is now seeking new opportunities after a year largely spent on the sidelines
How the DTM's shambolic finale poses awkward future questions
OPINION: The scenes at the Norisring as Mercedes used blatant team orders to secure the first DTM title of the new GT3 era totally undermined the credibility of the championship. But as well as overshadowing the season, it also presents uncomfortable questions to series bosses about the direction it is headed in
How Audi's new DTM star is channeling Rast to achieve his "childhood dream"
Having learned the ropes in GT3 alongside Rene Rast, Kelvin van der Linde is in line to take up the three-time champion's baton as Audi's new DTM king. From humble origins in South Africa, it's been a remarkable journey so far for the current series leader, but he knows that the 2021 title is a long way from settled just yet
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.