The initial verdict on DTM's move to GT3 cars

Fourteen months after Audi's shock exit plunged the future of the DTM into doubt, 19 GT3 cars lined up on the grid at Monza last weekend for the start of a new era for the series, one based around GT3 cars and privateer teams as opposed to silhouette tourers and factory competition.

Red Bull's rising star Liam Lawson became a popular winner in the first race, earning his place in the history books for more than one reason, with Audi GT3 ace Kelvin van der Linde taking top honours a day later.

Coming into the weekend, the reaction from fans had been overwhelmingly negative, with many questioning how the series can still be called the 'DTM' following its top-to-bottom revamp over the winter. High-performance, purpose-built touring cars have always been the USP of the DTM, and only two seasons earlier the series raised the stakes further by introducing even more powerful Class One engines like the one used in Japan's SUPER GT championship.

So, moving to a slower, production-based formula that had been designed with gentleman drivers in mind was seen as taking two steps backward, while making it harder for fans to perceive the DTM as any different to dozens of GT3 championships running across the globe.

Then there's the small matter of manufacturers leaving the series, with Mercedes, Audi and BMW all having ended their factory participation in the last few seasons. It was the presence of luxury German marques that meant the DTM had one of the strongest line-ups in all of motorsport in the last decade, with some of the drivers nurtured from an early age via a ladder that previously included the highly-competitive European F3 series.

Timo Glock, ROWE Racing, BMW M6 GT3

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

Not to mention, these big-ticket manufacturers spent millions of euros a year in marketing and played a major role in boosting the profile of the series vis-a-vis other racing categories. That meant it wasn't unusual for fans to align themselves with their favourite manufacturer, further adding value to the multi-brand value rivalry that the series so often bragged about.

Taking those two factors into consideration, it was perhaps not a surprise that some fans were already disapproving of the direction the DTM had taken even before the series had a chance to show what it put together over a long winter.

But now with the benefit of having overseen the season opener, can we label the 'new DTM' a success? Or were the fans right to be pessimistic all this while about the series' overhaul?

This was an all-professional field, albeit with some pay drivers, and the first two races at Monza were certainly a good barometer of that

Well, based on the first impressions, the DTM both looked and felt like a completely different championship to the one we are used to, despite the format being carried over from last year. The racing also was more akin to GT3 competition and not the bumper-to-bumper action that normally characterises touring car racing.

That said, the quality of wheel-to-wheel battles was very high, with none of the silly or overly ambitious moves that are common in some other pro-am championships. This was an all-professional field, albeit with some pay drivers, and the first two races at Monza were certainly a good barometer of that. Sheldon van der Linde's double pass on Lawson and Nico Muller going into the first Lesmo on Sunday was one of the highlights of the weekend and a sign of what to expect from the rest of the season.

It's perhaps why five-time DTM race winner Lucas Auer enjoyed the first DTM weekend under GT3 regulations, as artificial overtaking aids were pushed aside in favour of more conventional passing manoeuvres.

Kelvin van der Linde, Abt Sportsline

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

"In the past DRS and push-to-pass [made passing cars easy]," he says. "Even if there are less overtakes these are proper overtakes, you do it on the brakes and not going on the perfect line even before you brake.

"So I believe this is what you want to see and this is the tough thing about it. So I think racing is great, the first laps were where I was completely crazy!"

Lawson's charge from seventh to first in the first race of the weekend also drew widespread interest in the new era of the DTM, and his presence - along with that of Red Bull team-mate Alex Albon - will ensure the series will remain in the headlines for much of the year.

It was also quite pleasant to see cars from four different manufacturers lining up inside the first three rows on Sunday after an Audi and BMW duopoly in 2020. Earlier in the weekend, Mercedes appeared to have the upper hand over its rivals, with the AMG GT3s locking out the top four spots on Saturday’s grid. But after two rounds of Balance of Performance tweaks by DTM’s new partner AVL Racing, Sunday’s race offered a much more competitive battle between the different manufacturers.

It’s also worth highlighting that Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Lamborghini and even Ferrari are providing technical support to their customer teams in the DTM, with some even going as far as writing big paychecks for drivers or spare parts. So, while the fully-fledged factory teams of yesteryear may be long gone, there's at least some sort of rivalry between manufacturers, which can only be healthy for the series.

A multi-brand grid is something fans would appreciate when they are allowed trackside again, especially with each engine emitting a very different sound that could be recognised from afar.

All in all, it won't be wrong to say the DTM put on a decent spectacle at the Italian Grand Prix venue, ticking most of the boxes for a regional series of this scale. But is the DTM's loyal fanbase ready to look past its history and embrace a radically different GT3 championship? And is there really an appetite for another championship based on the GT3 regulations? These are some questions that will only be answered in time.

Car of Lucas Auer, Mercedes AMG Team Winward Mercedes AMG GT3

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz