Super GT link up is DTM's 'main hope' - Audi's Jamie Green
Jamie Green says the DTM's anticipated tie-up with the Japanese Super GT series is its main chance to thrive in the wake of Mercedes' impending exit
Mercedes announced last year it would leave the tin-top series at the end of 2018 to focus on a Formula E programme, which would leave only Audi and BMW as the DTM's remaining entrants.
Speaking at Autosport International, Green was optimistic that the DTM could survive without Mercedes - which alongside Audi had previously propped up the series before BMW's arrival in 2012 - but said he hoped a move to a unified DTM-Super GT rulebook would come off.
Super GT and DTM cars share a number of characteristics, but plans to introduce a common chassis framework, Class One, as well as an identical engine philosophy have previously been pushed back.
"It did do for a number of years," said Green, when asked about the DTM's chance of surviving with two manufacturers.
"When I first came into DTM we had one year with three manufacturers - Opel were still there (pictured below in 2005), then they stopped [and] we carried on for several years with just Audi and Mercedes.
"So it could happen. But I think our main hope is the link to the Japanese Super GT series.
"There is a commitment there to basically have the same regulations. We need to have the same engine rules, which we currently don't have.
"We're using the same chassis and have been for some years now, with Japan using the same fundamental backbone of car.
"Once that's [the engine rules] agreed, then we'll be building cars to the same rules and it becomes a lot more feasible to race together."
Green has contested 13 seasons in the DTM, racing first with Mercedes before switching to Audi in 2013, and until last year had not raced outside the series since joining.
He added he had finally decided to branch out from the DTM - he contested three Blancpain GT races as well as an ADAC GT Masters event in 2017 - after establishing himself at Audi.
"I was always a bit one-dimensional," said Green. "[I've done] 13 years of DTM, and for the first 12 I never did one race in any other category.
"At Mercedes it wasn't encouraged, I wasn't allowed. My other work was related to the Mercedes F1 side, whether it was with McLaren or Mercedes GP. I did some work there.
"But with Audi they're much more flexible.
"I could have been racing GTs from the beginning five years ago when I joined Audi but it was my choice to get myself established within Audi as a competitive DTM driver and won several races.
"When I was offered the opportunity last year to do three Blancpain GT races and one of those was Spa 24 Hours, I thought it was the right time to give it a go."
Brands Hatch GP circuit will scare DTM drivers - Gary Paffett
DTM working 'under high pressure' to find new manufacturers
Mercedes drivers react to wild Bathurst 12 Hours clash
There was understanding between drivers, but frustrations levelled at race officials, following the all-Mercedes clash that decided the outcome of the Bathurst 12 Hour.
The pioneering F1 car that preceded Lotus’s terminal decline
In the hands of Ayrton Senna the actively suspended 99T would be the last F1 race-winning Lotus but, as STUART CODLING reveals, it was a complicated machine that caused more problems than it solved
Horner: Red Bull faces "significant handicap" with F1 aero testing restrictions
Red Bull faces a “significant handicap” for 2023 due to the aerodynamic testing restrictions imposed after winning the Formula 1 world championship and exceeding the cost cap, says team boss Christian Horner.
Bathurst 12 Hour: SunEnergy1 Mercedes wins after dramatic late crash
The SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes defended its Bathurst 12 Hour crown despite Jules Gounon being spun by fellow Mercedes driver Maro Engel inside the last hour.
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.