Touring Cars - German Style

[SJ Spode]

Forsaking the joys of BTCC at Oulton Park I spent last Sunday at the DTM meeting in Oschersleben, Germany.

It was excellent; the weather was hot and sunny all day, and more importantly there was a great programme of racing. In addition to the 2 DTM races, there were races from the German F3 Championship, Porsche Cup, VW Lupo Cup and a junior 'formula BMW' series.

The DTM cars are just awesome (the noise, speed etc) and are arguably more impressive than the old BTCC Super Tourers. Overall the Mercedes emerged victorious but this year the second marque is definitely Audi, with the Opels trailing behind somewhat.

It was a pretty good weekend for the Brits too. Gary Paffett won one of the F3 races and Peter Dumbreck finished 4th and 5th in the DTMs. Current BTCC Champ Alain Menu's weekend was not so good, trailing in 16th and 19th.

All the elements are there for the ideal ten-tenths jaunt; copious amounts of excellent beer; opportunity for barbecues; no speed limits on the adjacent autobahns; and cheap flights to Berlin. Ticket prices are roughly equivalent to BTCC (about £20 for a race day ticket) & shock horror, the merchandise prices are not as shall we say politely 'high' as at home.

Oschersleben is about midway between Berlin & Hannover and the Motopark has been designed in such a way that you can get close to the action without the need for the normal huge fencing that restricts viewing / photography. The viewing areas are about 20 feet above the track, and the circuit shape means that you can see virtually all the track from most viewing areas.

So if the DTMs make it to the UK next year its a must, but alternatively I'd recommend a visit to Oschersleben or Lausitzring (both accessible from Berlin) or any other DTM round as a potential ten-tenths trip next year.

SJ

[Craig]

I'm up for a trip over...