DTM 2024

[Matt K]

Thankfully the race was salvaged. Nice to see Kelvin van der Linde in the top form again. The season will be wide open though, as usual. Have to say that before ADAC took over, the results seemed less like a lottery (talking about 2021 and 22, Class 1 was a completely different thing).

[Matt K]

Well, have to say - as much as Lausitzring is not famous for creating exciting races - today's one was fantastic, really entertaining. The Preining vs van der Linde vs Feller battle for the lead was superb. More of that please! Great to see Abts going so strong and Preining being back in the top form, was really strange when they were so much off at Oschersleben.

On a completely different note, I have to say that Verena Vriedt - as much as she's likeable and already quite a DTM icon, being involved ever since I remember - she's a terrible interviewer. Difficult to listen to the interviews she does with the drivers/team bosses etc. Her questions are either obvious, pointless or already contain answers in them, that's why it's rarely interesting to see what drivers say.

[porsche962fan]

Originally Posted by Matt K

I have to say that Verena Vriedt - as much as she's likeable and already quite a DTM icon,

she will never be anything close to Christa Haas / Gierke from the original DTM

[airbusA346]

Another weekend to forget for Manthey.

[Matt K]

Today's race was pretty wild and eventful. Very glad to see Wittmann back on the top step of the podium, his car was in a pretty rough shape and didn't expect him to finish the race, let alone win it with such an advantage over Bortolotti.
Aitken must be the biggest loser of the race. Apart from his two wins this year he's never been in the Top 10! Crazy.

Have to say though, that I dislike the BOP in GT3. Hadn't been following GT3 racing very closely before DTM switched to these regulations but it seems like there's way too much lottery in that and seeing drivers such as Thomas Preining limping somewhere in the back of the field because of BOP is discouraging. Okay, Manthey seems in a big hole at the moment but with BOP you never know if it's team's/driver's performance or the BOP. One can only dream of DTM going back to some own technical regs.

[chunterer]

BMW and RMG are parting ways at end of the year.

That's quite a ahock considering the amount of homologation and development work that squad has done for BMW in recent years.

Wonder what they are plannimg for next year, and who and what with?

Corvette? Maybe get involved with the Toyota/Lexus progranne?

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by chunterer

BMW and RMG are parting ways at end of the year.

That's quite a ahock considering the amount of homologation and development work that squad has done for BMW in recent years.

Wonder what they are plannimg for next year, and who and what with?

Corvette? Maybe get involved with the Toyota/Lexus progranne?

The next in an increasingly-long line of teams that BMW have dropped. Seems like in Europe, they are going all-in with WRT.

Ford would be more likely than Corvette, if Ford want more presence alongside Proton/Dinamic, or maybe bolster Ferrari's ranks like Frikadelli? I can't see RMG waiting too long to partner with a manufacturer.

[porsche962fan]

Nurburgring had quite good racing

[Matt K]

Very good I'd say. Enjoyed both races, really entertaining.

[Vassago]

Kelvin van der Linde takes pole for Race 1 so the gap to Bortolotti is down to 12 points with two races left.

[Matt K]

Anything is possible now, today's race will be crucial.

[Vassago]

Kelvin van der Linde held off Lucas Auer in Race 1 and leads Bortolotti by 2 points ahead of tomorrow's finale.

[Vassago]

Bortolotti takes pole for season finale so he leads KVL by 1 point now.


KVL qualified 5th so he's withing striking distance.

[Matt K]

Disastrous race for Kelvin, just no pace at all. With Bortolotti's P1 and KVL with the additional ballast following yesterday's victory, it was unlikely for Kelvin to grab the title but he was shockingly nowhere in the race. Really hope for the success ballast to be removed for next year, BOP is enough.
Bortolotti is the first Italian champion since Nicola Larini in 1993 - at the same time, Lamborghini is the first non-German brand to win the Drivers' title since Alfa Romeo in that same season (happens to be Italian as well). However, the Manufacturers' title goes to Mercedes.

Really curious about how Bortolotti lost the lead in that race. He was leading Thiim by almost 5sec before the pitstop and Luca Engstler was only 4th before his pitstop and suddenly Bortolotti fell behind Luca, even though Bortolotti's pitstop was 2sec quicker thatn Engstler's. Something during the outlap perhaps?
Anyway, super happy for Engstler, he had an up-and-down season and quite some bad luck but the talent is undeniable.

Btw the last time the DTM champion won only one race in the season was in 2007 when Mattias Ekstrom won just the season opener. There were only 10 races back then though, not the 16 we had this year!