The DTM is not going to use the gravel strip Formulation 1 experimented with on the last two corners of the Purple Bull Ring this yr to repair the circuit’s long-running observe limits downside.
Ever for the reason that Spielberg venue turned a mainstay of the motorsport calendar once more after being refurbished by vitality drinks big Purple Bull, there have been fixed complaints about drivers working off the circuit and breaching observe limits.
To fight this downside, organisers put in gravel beds within the last two ninety-degree right-handers for F1’s annual go to to Austria in June.
The answer was extensively praised by grand prix drivers, particularly after the 2023 occasion was marred by lots of of qualifying laps being deleted for observe restrict violations.
Nevertheless, these gravel beds will probably be absent from Turns 9 and 10 for this weekend’s DTM race, with the collection having to do with the acquainted asphalt run-off.
“The gravel beds that have been briefly put in this yr have been eliminated after the Formulation 1 and won’t be current in the course of the DTM weekend both,” a spokesperson for the Purple Bull Ring informed Motorsport.com’s sister title Motorsport-Complete.com.
ADAC had needed to make use of the identical answer for observe limits as F1, however the gravel beds put in behind the kerbs had to get replaced for MotoGP’s Austrian Grand Prix on 16-18 August.
Observe element with gravel traps
Photograph by: Jon Noble
That is one thing that was all the time deliberate, as two-wheel racing championships want asphalt run-offs for the protection of riders.
Nevertheless, the gravel answer present in Spielberg was particularly designed to be reconstructed at a brief discover, and the circuit has had greater than a month to finish the work forward of this weekend’s DTM race on 28-29 September.
In response to the state of affairs, a spokesperson for DTM’s promoter ADAC informed Motorsport-Complete.com: “We’d have appreciated to do it like in Formulation 1, however the Purple Bull Ring informed us that it couldn’t be carried out on account of time and availability causes.”
Whereas it’s unclear if there have been different causes associated to availability that prevented the re-installation of gravel beds, prices might have additionally been an element within the determination.
Motorsport.com understands that it takes round €50,000 to exchange asphalt with a gravel strip. Whereas this might not be important for world championships like F1 and MotoGP, it’s a big expense to incur for a regional collection just like the DTM.
With the gravel lure not potential, the DTM will probably be counting on an analogous answer to what it used final yr to police observe limits. This may contain three bollards being positioned within the run-off space of the final two turns to indicate drivers how far they’ll run huge.
There have been heated discussions about observe limits on the Purple Bull Ring up to now, with the next penalties making it laborious to determine the beginning grid.
The tactic utilized by the ADAC final yr was profitable in qualifying, however some drivers questioned why rivals have been penalised solely once they have been discovered to have persistently gained a bonus by working off the observe within the race.
