The 2008 DTM Season Preview

The DTM is on the verge of a make or break season in 2008. The departure of Mika Hakkinen from the Mercedes line-up leaves the series without a 'star name' fighting for the title, while new rules for 2009 have still not taken shape.

But it's not all doom and gloom for the German-based championship. Those in charge have successfully weathered the storm that was Audi's withdrawal from the Barcelona race last September, meaning that two manufacturers will continue to do battle for another season.

Yet again the strength in depth of the driver line-up has improved for the new season, and there are plenty of tantalising prospects for this campaign.

A taste of F1

First of all, an apology to Bernd Schneider. While the German has made himself the king of the DTM for many years now, his handful of F1 starts nearly 20 years ago aren't enough to qualify him as a former F1 star racing in the DTM. Hakkinen's retirement at the end of a season that was as successful as it was frustrating for the Finn left the DTM without a big name. That cannot be disputed.

Ralf Schumacher © Reuters

But then came Ralf Schumacher. The six-time Grand Prix winner initially tested a Mercedes C-Class for fun at Estoril, but when he returned to test again it was clear something was up. A deal was eventually signed, but not the one everyone expected.

Rather than jump straight into the seat vacated by Hakkinen, Ralf will have to feel his way in tin-tops driving a one-year-old car, which inevitably means he will be towards the back of the field. It's something he acknowledges, and the fact that he will accept this shows he is prepared to swallow his pride and put in the groundwork all over again.

After initially heading towards a season with no ex-F1 drivers (Schneider still not included), the field will in fact feature two men to have recently left the Formula One paddock, and the second of these is a face familiar to the DTM pitlane, and even the top step of the podium.

Much like Schumacher, Christijan Albers has taken the bold decision to work his way up from the bottom in DTM, and in the Dutch driver's case, he's starting from the very bottom.

Albers, a former race winner and title contender with Mercedes, will return to drive a two-year-old Audi for the Futurecom TME squad. As if that isn't remarkable enough, it means he is racing for Colin Kolles, boss of the Spyker F1 team that fired Albers during the middle of last season.

Apparently the two have put that all behind them, but the relationship could be strained again if Albers is not satisfied with the job Kolles' team does through the year. While the Dutch driver won't be making the same impact he did when he was promoted by Mercedes in 2003, still expect fireworks.

Audi's new dawn

In the weeks leading up to the Hockenheim opener last year, Audi was extremely vocal about how its fancied its chances of winning the first race. That may not sound out of the ordinary, but it was considering that it had gone several years without much success to speak of at the German track.

Mattias Ekstrom delivered on that promise as he led home an Abt Sportline one-two with Martin Tomczyk, and the Swede returning in October to secure the title at the same track.

But the vibe coming from Audi this year is far more measured, and with good reason. It enters 2008 with a new model of the A4, whereas last year's car was a known quantity.

Testing has gone well, with Ekstrom and Timo Scheider in particular setting a good pace, but in the DTM, a series where even practice times from a race weekend are entirely meaningless, Audi is sensibly remaining cautious about its form.

Ekstrom's bizarre accident at the pitlane exit in testing at Oschersleben last week may also be a cause for concern, although apparently not on the health front for the reigning champion.

While he may have spent a few days nursing a slight concussion, Ekstrom was certain that he was back to full fitness following last weekend's season launch in Dusseldorf.

Mattias Ekstrom practices pitstops in the 2008 Audi A4 © DTM

But if the continuity of the car has gone, Audi has at least retained some consistency from last season, as for the first time in its DTM history, the Abt Sportsline team will start a season with the same four drivers from the previous year.

Keeping Ekstrom and Tomczyk was an obvious choice after both fought for the title last season, while the supporting role played by an ever-improving Scheider last season has been rewarded.

A fully-fit Tom Kristensen returns as well, and the Dane is determined to re-establish himself as a title contender after a season plagued by fitness problems as he recovered from his Hockenheim smash from one year ago.

After losing the title to Mercedes two years in a row in 2005 and 2006, Audi bounced back last year to prove that it can take the fight to its only rival in the series. The challenge facing it this year is an even bigger one though, as Mercedes effectively has a one-year head-start on development ...

The Mercedes fight-back

This season should start with most of the cards stacked in favour of Mercedes. It has already got through the teething troubles that a new car brings, as it introduced a new C-Class last season.

The speed of the car was never particularly in doubt, but two power steering failures in the first two races for Bruno Spengler played a huge part in the Canadian not winning the title.

Towards the end of last year, the progress that Mercedes had made was clear. With another winter of development on the 2008 model as well, the package it arrives with at Hockenheim should be very strong.

On the driver front, it's hard to see a weak link at Mercedes, and in the end that could prove to be its downfall. An all-star line-up is great, but it can often lead to team-mates taking points away from each other rather than only fighting the opposition.

Audi has mastered this scenario in the past by working out early in the year who is being supported for the title, but even that won't be so easy this year with team orders now banned.

Spengler has finished runner-up in the standings for the past two seasons, while Schneider has a habit of coming back from a season where he has been put in the shade to win yet another DTM crown.

Jamie Green, HWA Mercedes-Benz © DTM

But the two men who fought each other for the 2006 title are by no means the favoured sons in the HWA line-up. After nearly three years of trying, Jamie Green finally broke his DTM duck in the controversial Barcelona race last season, and then to prove all the doubters wrong, he beat everyone fair and square in the Hockenheim finale.

He has justified Mercedes' faith in him, and now he has cracked how to win in these cars, he will be a force to be reckoned with.

Hakkinen's replacement in the four-car squad is another driver who made himself very popular with those in charge last year, even if he caused them headaches at the same time.

Paul di Resta regularly did things that people thought weren't possible with his two-year-old car last year, and he often embarrassed those in newer machinery.

He only really has two boxes left to tick in the DTM now, a race win, and a title. Both are within the grasp of the man who beat Sebastian Vettel to the F3 Euro Series title when the two were team-mates in 2006.

Golden oldies

While it's a certainty that the title battle will come down to those driving the 2008 cars, the DTM's current rules mean that you can't rule out those in older cars any more, as di Resta, and perhaps more spectacularly, Oschersleben winner Gary Paffett proved in 2007.

Paffett should lead the Mercedes charge of the older cars this year, while Schumacher will be kept on his toes by his Mucke Motorsport team-mate and fellow rookie Maro Engel. Mathias Lauda is back for a third season in the series, and Susie Stoddart moves up from a two-year-old car, as Mercedes will only run 2007-spec machinery.

Alexandre Premat could be forgiven for feeling a little aggrieved at missing out on a promotion to a brand-new Audi, but the French driver is blindingly quick, and his Zandvoort performance last year proved he is capable of winning in an old car.

Oliver Jarvis testing at Oschersleben © DTM

Mike Rockenfeller is retained for another year after showing flashes of speed in his rookie season, while his former Porsche team-mate Lucas Luhr has been sent back to sportscars.

Markus Winkelhock's efforts in a two-year-old car last year have earned him a full Audi contract for this year and a newer car, while Macau Grand Prix winner Oliver Jarvis has made a very good first impression with Audi's bosses since he was signed up.

Unlike Mercedes, Audi will run two-year-old cars this year, and they go to former race winner Albers, and the DTM's latest female racer Katherine Legge, who should put up a better fight than Vanina Ickx did during her time in the series.

So for all the troubles the DTM may or may not be going through at the moment, the quality of drivers in this championship cannot be in doubt. There is no disputing that seeing these names going head to head 11 times this season is a mouth-watering prospect, and it all starts this weekend.