Are automobiles being intentionally parked within the DTM on Saturdays? On the Nurburgring, six automobiles have been already out of the Saturday race after eight laps – despite the fact that GT3 automobiles aren’t precisely thought to be unreliable. In complete, solely twelve of the 21 automobiles reached the end, which is a brand new adverse document. On Sunday, 16 automobiles completed.
The reason being clear: on the Nurburgring, every driver has solely three units of tyres accessible for each qualifying periods and each races. So anybody who finds themselves in an unfavourable place on Saturday would reasonably retire earlier than the cease – and have another new set of tyres accessible on Sunday. However that’s now inflicting main discontent.
“I actually did not wish to see that many individuals simply retired as a result of they’d no probability or as a result of they anyway had the penalty or no matter,” Manthey Porsche driver Thomas Preining makes his stance clear. “I believe this isn’t good for the followers that pay to be right here.”
Preining requires penalties: “Not within the spirit of the game”
The Austrian is asking for penalties: “You need to have extra management over what the groups do – or penalise them if somebody parks the automobile – as a result of it’s not within the spirit of the game.” From the groups’ viewpoint, nonetheless, it’s “one hundred pc comprehensible that you simply do it if the laws permit it – everybody would do this.”
The “Grello” driver was overtaken on the ultimate lap of Sunday’s race within the struggle for second place by Landgraf Mercedes outsider Tom Kalender, who was driving with abandon and who on Saturday had retired as early as lap seven after the collision with Nicki Thiim, giving him a transparent tyre benefit.
Kalender virtually overtook winner Wittmann as effectively. “I see it equally to Thomas, that we have now to assume over the winter about how we will put a cease to this,” the Schubert BMW driver additionally feels a line has been crossed. “Groups will at all times discover some causes for a DNF and might park the automobile, however the steadiness is totally fallacious now. Tom had two new tyres, we had no new tyres in any respect.”
Seven drivers stopped automobiles early
Not solely Kalender, but in addition Mirko Bortolotti, Marco Mapelli, Timo Glock and the 2 HRT Ford drivers stopped their automobiles within the first eight laps on Saturday. Within the instances of Arjun Maini and Finn Wiebelhaus, the strategic background was particularly apparent as a result of, after the drive-through penalty, they’d no probability anyway and put every little thing on Sunday.
Kelvin van der Linde at the least drove till the tyre change – after which reported that the rear anti-roll bar may need damaged. One lap later, the Schubert BMW driver retired.
“Particularly now with the brand new tire this season there’s an enormous drop-off and an enormous distinction between a greater or a great tire and the very used tire which particularly on a 3 tire weekend is related,” says Preining. So based on him the state of affairs in 2026 has additionally been exacerbated by the brand new DTM-spec tyre, which degrades somewhat sooner.
Wittmann thinks about penalties: Can deliberate parking be confirmed?
However how can the issue be solved? “The one method you may stop that’s both 4 units and just one pit cease on Sunday, or 5 units and two pit stops like now,” Preining replies. “As a result of in any other case it’s important to run some set from Saturday on Sunday as effectively.”
Wittmann would even go a step additional. “I do not assume you resolve that with extra or fewer units of tyres,” he says. “You would possibly even have to consider penalties if parking the automobile is pointless.”
That leaves solely the query: how do you need to show {that a} automobile actually was not undriveable if a driver claims it was? Aside from that, in an unfavourable beginning state of affairs a crew would have the ability to put together a automobile in such a method that it doesn’t final the entire race.
Retirement fee on Saturday: statistics present fascinating development
However do the statistics show that the retirement fee on Saturday actually is greater than on Sunday? On common, over the six weekends in 2026, 15.5 automobiles reached the end on Saturdays, whereas on Sundays it was 17.5. What’s placing, nonetheless, is that the distinction was best most just lately at Oschersleben and on the Nurburgring.
At Oschersleben, 14 automobiles reached the end on Saturday and 18 on Sunday. And on the Nurburgring, the comparability was 12:16. At each weekends, three units of tyres have been accessible as an alternative of 4 – as is the case in Spielberg, at Zandvoort, on the Sachsenring and in Zandvoort.
And – not like on the Lausitzring and on the Norisring – there was no rain bathe within the Saturday race that additionally introduced moist tyres into play and eased the burden on the groups. It would subsequently already be potential to get the issue below management if, on the weekends with three units in 2027, a fourth set is used.
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