- Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft
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Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Category Touring cars Country or region Germany Inaugural season 1984 Folded 1996 Constructors Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Opel, Alfa Romeo, BMW Tyre suppliers Michelin, Dunlop, Bridgestone Last Drivers' champion Manuel Reuter Last Teams' champion Opel Official website http://www.dtm.de/ The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (German Touring Car Championship, or DTM) was a touring car racing series held from 1984 to 1996. Originally based in Germany, it held additional rounds elsewhere in Europe and later worldwide.
The original DTM had resumed racing with production based cars, as the former Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft had switched to Group 5 in the mid 1970s and even to expensive Group C sportscars in the 1980s, leading to its decline. Since 2000, a new DTM has been run as the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, again organised by ITR.
Contents
History
Rise of the original DTM
The original DTM was started in 1984 with cars entered by privateer teams and under FIA Group A rules, but was extensively modified throughout the years, allowing more modifications. In the late 1980s, works teams joined the DTM, and it became one of the most popular motorsports in Europe. In 1993, the Group A rules were abandoned in favor of a more liberalised 2.5 L engine category called FIA Class 1 Touring Cars, with extensive use of ABS, four-wheel drive, electronic driver aids and carbon fibre chassis, the former three were technologies that were banned from F1. Opel, Mercedes-Benz and Alfa Romeo all fielded works teams after Audi and BMW had abandoned earlier.
DTM to ITC and demise
The DTM expanded its horizons for the 1995 season and the teams contested the inaugural FIA International Touring Car Series [1] as well as the traditional DTM.[2] The former was contested over ten races, all held outside of Germany and the latter over fourteen races within Germany. Plans were then made to combine the two into one new series, the International Touring Car Championship, for 1996. The ITR governing body then sought approval and support from the FIA to begin the new series. In exchange for FIA support, the ITR let the organisation take control over many aspects of the way the ITC was run: crucially, the financial side of the championship was revolutionised. A large proportion of the revenue generated by the championship went to the FIA, with the result that less went to the teams who subsequently complained of little return on their increasingly large investment in the high-tech series (this was further exacerbated by the travel costs to the new international rounds in Suzuka, Japan and Interlagos, Brazil). The FIA also increased the price for television rights dramatically with the result that television coverage of the series disappeared from all European countries except Italy, Germany and Finland, prices for tickets to races were almost doubled, and access to the circuit paddock to meet the drivers (which had previously been a big hit with fans) was drastically reduced. The choices of circuits on which to hold rounds of the championship were also unsuccessful - the rounds at Magny-Cours, France and particularly Interlagos suffered very poor attendance. Questions were also raised by the manufacturers as to why they were racing in countries in which their cars were not actually sold (Alfa Romeos were not sold in Brazil, and neither Opels nor Alfa Romeos are sold in Japan).[citation needed] Opel and Alfa Romeo both left the championship after the 1996 season, leaving only Mercedes; the championship was consequently cancelled.
The new DTM
The DTM returned in the year 2000 with different rules and without International Championship status. The DTM initials now stand for Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (German Touring Car Masters).
Champions
Season Series Name Champion Second Third Manufacturers Champion [3] 1984 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Volker Strycek Olaf Manthey Harald Grohs not awarded 1985 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Per Stureson Olaf Manthey Harald Grohs not awarded 1986 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Kurt Thiim Volker Weidler Kurt König not awarded 1987 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Eric van de Poele Manuel Reuter Marc Hessel not awarded 1988 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Klaus Ludwig Roland Asch Armin Hahne not awarded 1989 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Roberto Ravaglia Klaus Niedzwiedz Fabien Giroix not awarded 1990 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Hans-Joachim Stuck Johnny Cecotto Kurt Thiim not awarded 1991 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Frank Biela Klaus Ludwig Hans-Joachim Stuck Mercedes-Benz 1992 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Klaus Ludwig Kurt Thiim Bernd Schneider Mercedes-Benz 1993 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Nicola Larini Roland Asch Bernd Schneider Alfa Romeo 1994 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Klaus Ludwig Jörg van Ommen Nicola Larini Mercedes-Benz 1995 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft Bernd Schneider Jörg van Ommen Klaus Ludwig Mercedes-Benz International Touring Car Series[4] Bernd Schneider Jan Magnussen Dario Franchitti Mercedes-Benz 1996 International Touring Car Championship Manuel Reuter Bernd Schneider Alessandro Nannini Opel 1997-
1999DTM / ITCC NOT HELD 2000-
dateDeutsche Tourenwagen Masters See Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters - In 1995 there were two different series with same drivers and teams competing. DTM consisted of seven German (2x Hockenheim, Avus, Norisring, Diepholz, Nürburgring and Singen) events and ITC five non-German (Mugello, Helsinki, Donington, Estoril, Magny-Cours) events.
See also
- Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
- V8Star Series
External links
References
- ^ 1995 ITC schedule and standings Retrieved from www.motorsport-archive.com on 17 November 2009
- ^ 1995 DTM schedule and standings Retrieved from www.motorsport-archive.com on 17 November 2009
- ^ www.motorsport-archive.com Retrieved on 17 November 2009
- ^ FIA results for the 1995 International Touring Car Series Retrieved from web.archive.org on 16 November 2009
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 (DTM & ITCS) • 1996 (ITCC)Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Categories:- Defunct auto racing series
- Touring car racing series
- Auto racing series in Germany
- Organizations established in 1984
- Organizations disestablished in 1996
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