Glock renews calls for Supercars approach in DTM

The DTM has been left in a crisis after both R-Motorsport Aston Martin and Audi announced that they would leave the series during the extended 2019-20 winter break. R-Motorsport quit the DTM with immediate effect, a year after joining the category with a license from Aston Martin, while Audi will drop out of the championship at the conclusion of the 2020 season.

With BMW the only manufacturer left in the DTM for 2021 and Japanese marques unwilling to join the category to fill the void, ITR is likely to abandon Class One regulations, with upgraded GT3 cars and LMDh machinery being shortlisted by series boss Gerhard Berger as the two most likely future routes.

Glock, who first advocated a move to Supercars-like low-downforce, high-horsepower formula when Mercedes exited the DTM after 2018, remains adamant that Australian championship's approach is something the DTM could learn from.

"It's already late in the year so it will be difficult," said Glock, who has been racing for BMW in the DTM since 2013. "But I'm not giving up hope [on the DTM] because there is still the chance to do something based on GT3.

"As I've been saying for years, I would take the car in a more simple direction like Supercars. There are fewer aero parts, which would make the base cost of the car cheaper. That could be a way.

"I think the cars have around 300kgs of downforce, which, really, is nothing. And they more or less look like a road car.

"You could also go for a common chassis concept that could be used everywhere. As a brand you simply make your bodywork, and off you go.

"Then you don't have to ship the cars all the time. Instead you have three or four cars in America and three or four cars in Japan. You can just run the cars anywhere when you have a consistent concept. That would be the right way forward in my eyes."

Although Supercars has been praised internationally for its limited reliance on aerodynamics for performance, several leading drivers from the series have called for more aero cuts to improve racing.

The championship had previously evaluated a move to Class One amid Berger's push to make it an international formula, but the proposal was eventually shot down after it was deemed that it was too expensive for the series.

Supercars, which is also losing a long-time manufacturer in Holden after the current season, will instead introduce its own Gen3 regulations - the details of which are yet to be determined - in 2022.