[DTM] 2014 DTM speculation, rumours and news

[Juntos]

Manuel has too much free time, indeed.

[Accident]

Ekstrom on Zandvoort replacing China:

"I think it's great. I don't like Asia at all, and I have a lot of success and good memories from Zandvoort, so I really look forward to go there."

[JoestForEver]

Neither venue will give Audi a win anyway.This is not their year. Tambay screwed his pole position in Hockenheim and Team Rosberg crew ruined Jamie's race for the second time since Oschersleben. I'm feeling sorry for him now, still, better than Merc veterans Gary Paffett and Paul.

[werner]

I just saw the race in Austria. OMG, Schattling, Merc's teamchef, is a complete moron. He had the nerves to blame in harsch words the decision of the stewards, while he showed he had no idea of the rules.

[MagVanisher]

Originally Posted by Accident

Ekstrom on Zandvoort replacing China:

"I think it's great. I don't like Asia at all, and I have a lot of success and good memories from Zandvoort, so I really look forward to go there."

I feel that sticking to Europe is a good idea, but they'll get stagnant over time...

Well, feel so sorry for spending money on forcing their ruleset onto GTA and now they'll soon be gone along with DTM USA.

[Andrew Abbott]

Originally Posted by werner

I just saw the race in Austria. OMG, Schattling, Merc's teamchef, is a complete moron. He had the nerves to blame in harsch words the decision of the stewards, while he showed he had no idea of the rules.

To be honest, I think he has a point. The whole situation was handled in a poor manner. Was Wickens' release unsafe? That's questionable. Were penalties handed out consistently? Certainly not.

[Metzo]

glock wasnt even in the fastlane when wickens was released

[TheNo1F1Fan]

So how did Wickens got disqualified?

[BtccLee]

Originally Posted by TheNo1F1Fan

So how did Wickens got disqualified?

Front what I understand Mercedes decided to argue with the Stewards over the three laps he could/should/ would have taken penalty ( For the Unsafe release)... Thus a black flag was inevitable.

[Go_For_Pole]

Yes, Mercedes fully covered Wickens saying that they told him to sit out for six laps while they were arguing the penalty. If he had taken the penalty, he would have been within the top 6.

Anyway, bottom line is that we were robbed of a fantastic 2nd half of the race.

[Marcus666]

Originally Posted by Accident

Ekstrom on Zandvoort replacing China:

"I think it's great. I don't like Asia at all..."

Although without knowing the whole context of his quote. Just reading those line's make me surprised over how a fellow Swede can say that!

Shure, circuit wise, yes, the f1 circuit or Zuhai would have been better, but I dont know how to read that quote.

[Andrew Abbott]

Originally Posted by Marcus666

Although without knowing the whole context of his quote. Just reading those line's make me surprised over how a fellow Swede can say that!

Shure, circuit wise, yes, the f1 circuit or Zuhai would have been better, but I dont know how to read that quote.

See for yourself - he said it!

http://www.dtm.com/de/tv/1on1-Mattia...?adParameter=1

[Juntos]

Ekstrom forgot how many cars his boss sells in Asia. A very fool comment from a high paid driver.

[rich07]

Speaking of high paid drivers, what are wages in the DTM like?

[JoestForEver]

No intention to distract the topic, but Marco Wittmann is truly a class of his own. With so much ballast and almost every BMW is out of Q3, he is still in pole position! None of the rest in Q3 is even close to him, regardless of Jamie Green, Rocky, Paul, the lot. 1.22.7 for the pole and the second fastest time is 1.22.925. Just amazing.

[Andrew Abbott]

Not only that but he was also quickest in Q2 by an even greater margin - quite a feat given the 10 kg ballast.

It's been inevitable he'd take the title for some time now. At 24, will he be the youngest in the DTM's history?

http://www.touringcars.net/results/dtm/2014/qual7.php

[TheNo1F1Fan]

Petrov last again in Nürburgring.

[kurski]

Heikki Kovalainen to test BMW Motorsport M4 car, DTM at Lausitzring test next week.

[JoestForEver]

Enough ex-F1 stars common, they aren't really ready for the current gen DTM

[DS"]

Originally Posted by JoestForEver

Enough ex-F1 stars common, they aren't really ready for the current gen DTM

Better to bring ex-F1 stars than bringing in unknown drivers from feeder series.

[JoestForEver]

Originally Posted by DS"

Better to bring ex-F1 stars than bringing in unknown drivers from feeder series.

If you mean Roberto Merhi, Juncadella, Marco Wittmann and etc. Well they are not someone unknown. Merhi is leading WSR now and Marco has already shown us what's domination.

[DS"]

Originally Posted by JoestForEver

If you mean Roberto Merhi, Juncadella, Marco Wittmann and etc. Well they are not someone unknown. Merhi is leading WSR now and Marco has already shown us what's domination.

But what about Joe Everyman? He doesn't know guys like Juncadella or Wittmann, nor does he particularly care about them. But since Joe Everyman is very like an at least casual F1 viewers, he knows former F1 guys like di Resta, Glock, Petrov or Kovalainen at least a bit. That's the demographic DTM has to target: Casual F1 viewers, not hardcore racing fans. Hardcore racing fans hardly fill grandstands or cause high TV ratings.

[FIRE]

Now Joe Everyman knows Wittmanm.

[DS"]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Now Joe Everyman knows Wittmanm.

He doesn't. DTM just barely manages to reach one million viewers on German TV and DTM isn't promoted very much to mainstream Germany. I dare to say that most of the DTM's viewers are indeed hardcore fans but not casual ones. Nico Rosberg, Nico Hülkenberg or Sebastian Vettel are the most well known German racing drivers...by far! That's very sad, because there used to be a time, where guys like Stuck, Ludwig or Schneider were close behind the Schumachers or Frentzen in terms of popularity.

[helgi]

If DTM bosses keep killing the series with tons of silly technical and sporting regulations then even Alonso and Rosberg won't help to save it.