[DTM] Round 1, Hockenheim

[Last2LiftOff]

Originally Posted by helgi

Hankook tyres give semi-works drivers a unique chance to fight for a strong result.

Not much of an impact, the Hancook tires, not so's I could notice anyhow. I had a tough time keeping the liveries straight. Ralf suddenly on the podium.

[helgi]

At least Tomczyk was very quick. And Ralf suddenly drives much quicker. Maybe it's all about right tyres.

[helgi]

And I think past 2-3 years were not so good for DTM and fans prefer to go to the park at May Day (or how it's called in Europe). But the race itself was interesting. At dry track you can not wait more from 500ps RWD prototypes with all professional drivers at the wheel and no BoP. Well, -25 kg for 2008spec cars is still here. But it's a common handicap. Audis are still better in aerodynamic, and Mercedeses are faster out of turns thanks to more torque from their V8. But the baseline is always the same, so we have the same leaders and small gaps that are hard to overcome because all the drivers are of a high quality. All in all it was a good race. Wait for Zandvoort and some surpises from Tomczyk-jr.

[Andy77]

Again I am disappointed by the lush penalties handed out for driving off track. Especially at the parking lot Eunuchenheim it would make sense to play the rules hard instead of some whiny black/white flags.
The race again disappointed me. High quality of drivers ? Maybe at the top 6 but behind nothing.
Spectators don't seem to care much about it anymore either. It was labour day but still no explanation to such a low spectator count. At one point during saturdays coverage of f3 race and dtm qualifying I thought there were more marshals than spectators. Cars are as ugly as ever despite less flaps and 2nd hand car , oops 2008 car drivers, have to play water carrier again.
It all reminds to the final days of ITC to be honest

[helgi]

Disagree. Eki, Rocky, Sheider, Paffett, Spengler, Green, Tomczyk have already prove that they are good enough. Mortara, Vietoris are very quick, and van der Zande can make a great career in tin-tops. There's already at least 10 drivers. And next year BMW will bring Priaulx and Farfus I think that are not amateurs at all.

There's no connection to ITC. In mid-90s they've tried to organize a very expensive world series. Now Aufrecht is more smart. He gives a basis with new rules and creates collaboration with Super GT and Grand Am. In one case (Japanese) DTM cars will go for endurance which is great - and GT500 cars will come to do some sprints which is not bad at all too. In other case (North American) three German brands should meet at least one US-based and made a proper road-racing championship on tracks like Montreal or Sonoma. And keep in mind that cars will be 50% cheeper than today.

I'll prefer to be an optimist.

[kurski]

Nico Rosberg drives first meters in DTM Mercedes. (Video)

[helgi]

It's interesting to know which brand does he support more in his mind. He drives for Mercedes, but his father owns Rosberg-Audi. An interesting situation.

[Valenok]

His father raced for Mercedes in DTM too, and switched to Audi few years ago.

[FIRE]

Only watched the first few minutes of the race. I was surprised by the empty seats. I always thought Hockenheim is a sellout.

[helgi]

It still should be. But Labour day (or how is it called) is not cancelled. But at Zandvoort grandstand shouldn't be empty as racing between old and new, Audi and Merc was better than year ago. Coulthard has no "Stallorder" and overtook Green for example. And show by Paffett was good. So, it was better than 2010, but Herr Aufrecht should better check holidays when he plans a callendar.

[helgi]

Originally Posted by Valenok

His father raced for Mercedes in DTM too, and switched to Audi few years ago.

Wasn't it Opel?

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Only watched the first few minutes of the race. I was surprised by the empty seats. I always thought Hockenheim is a sellout.

With Hockenheim being the only track with two races on the schedule nowadays, the spring race usually tends to sell worse than the finale in October. That said, things were worse than usual this time around from what I've heard.

[Valenok]

Originally Posted by helgi

Wasn't it Opel?

Ok, but Merc was first

[helgi]

Originally Posted by Valenok

Ok, but Merc was first

Berlin 2000 car alongside with Ellen Lohr IIRC. Opel was not so good and the most memorable episode was an off at Norisring with 200 m flight to the nearest tree and some rally-crossing later.

[Jimmy Magnusson]

It did look even more sparse than last year's opening race. I know you can hide a big crowd in that place but apart from the area around Südkurve it was borderline embarrasing. I was interested to see how all the new guys would do, but as usual I lost interest after 15-20 minutes. You just can't have two stops in a hour long race. It's terrible.

[helgi]

As it was already said time for race was not right at all. People had to have their holidays outdoors but far from racetrack. I bet there'll be more at Zanvoort and full house at Spilberg.

As for pit-stops - it's all made for the spectators who watch the show from the grandstands. Tyre change in 3,5 sec is very impressive, especially when you watch it live.

[Andy77]

Originally Posted by helgi

As it was already said time for race was not right at all. People had to have their holidays outdoors but far from racetrack. I bet there'll be more at Zanvoort and full house at Spilberg.

As for pit-stops - it's all made for the spectators who watch the show from the grandstands. Tyre change in 3,5 sec is very impressive, especially when you watch it live.

I still highly doubt that the low attendance had anything to do with Labour Day at all. Maybe they just get the bill now for going international with a national series

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Originally Posted by helgi

As it was already said time for race was not right at all. People had to have their holidays outdoors but far from racetrack. I bet there'll be more at Zanvoort and full house at Spilberg.

As for pit-stops - it's all made for the spectators who watch the show from the grandstands. Tyre change in 3,5 sec is very impressive, especially when you watch it live.

Impressive schmessive, they add nothing to the race. If you're going to have pit stops there needs to be a lot more tactical options - hard/soft tyres, more/less fuel and a race distance where this has some impact. Look to the V8's for inspiration. Of course if you put more than a milk carton of fuel then the poor spectators wouldn't get those 3.5 second stops. But hey, if they prefer that to good motor racing then all the power to them, I suppose.

[DS"]

The race wasn't so bad at all. There were some decent fights in the midfield like Tomczyk vs. Engel, Paffett vs. Mortara/Molina. Appearantly, the new tires seem to have improved things a bit.

As for the pitstops, they only make sense if the race go for a distance like 200/250 KM. But then again, which TV-Station wants to show a racing series for 2 hours that isn't Formula One? Why don't they try something like the V8Star series then? Technically a race that is split into two heats? So that for example heat 1 goes for 80 KM, then there is a mandatory pit stop where everyone has to come to the pits (Thus adding a bit excitement, as pit stops determine the grid for heat 2), and then heat 2 starts.

[helgi]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Magnusson

Impressive schmessive, they add nothing to the race.

Did I say that they do? I agree with you about all that, but it's spectacular for an average fan, not a ..hm .. professional fan (just can't find words after a working day) who usually read this forum.

[Valenok]

As for me, 3,5 seconds is not impressive. Too fast. I'd like to see less mechanics and more time. Like nascar.

[helgi]

Or like GT1 with that portable pneumatic rucksacks and helmets from Star Wars. That would be impressive enough even for a single pit-stop.

[FIRE]

NASCAR has the best pitstops.

[helgi]

And there's a rumour that there will be no refueling in 2012 in the light of two accidents at Hockenheim. Does it mean no pit-stops - I don't know.

[sventhedog]

i'm quite new to this wtcc and touring car championships. do most of you watch these races on tv? i'm from asia so i don't think i can watch this on tv. anybody know where i can watch these races?