DTM 2005 - German Touring Car Championship

GARY PAFFETT WINS 2005 DTM CHAMPIONSHIP

24 year old British driver won the title after 5 race wins:"It was an incredible feeling when I crossed the line. During the race, I had no time at all to think about what it would be like to be the champion. This has been a nearly perfect season with some minor mistakes - and with a fantastic result. The battle with Mattias was big fun. At the end of the day, the two final rounds turned out to be crucial. In these rounds, our team proved that it is able to deliver in superior style."

2005 GERMAN TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP (DTM)

6th DTM season ; 11 round championship

The premier German national sportscar racing series

Support races: Formula 3 Euro Series, Formula BMW ADAC Championship, ADAC VW Polo Cup , Porsche Carrera Cup

Race in Moscow originally scheduled for June 5th has been postponed till 2006.

2005 races outside Germany:
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Automotodrom Brno, Czech Republic
Zandvoort, Netherlands
Avignon, France
Istanbul, Turkey

2005 RACE RESULTS:

Norbert Haug Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Director: "Congratulations to Gary for being the new champion and to Bernd for having won the race (season finale at Hockenheim). We had to cope with difficult conditions but the team worked well and succeeded in tuning in to these conditions. Because of the competitive grid, we hadn't even dared to dream of a one-two-three. I'd like to thank the entire team for a perfect year. A thank you to our competitors for a tough but fair battle. Thank you for this season and a great year of DTM racing. Such a finale is better than any pay rise - it's a moment of joy you are working for. We have won all the three titles - very valuable titles indeed."

PRE SEASON:

AUDI TO RACE 8 CARS
2004 DTM champion Audi will race 8 cars in 2005 season (up from 6 in 2004). As well as defending champion Mattias Ekström, Audi team will include former Le Mans winner Alan McNish.

OPEL'S FINAL SEASON
General Motors USA which owns Opel has announced that 2005 will be Opel's final season in DTM. This is part of GM Europe's cost cutting measure which is expected to result in loss of up to 12000 employees in Europe.
".. The company is reviewing the prioritization, efficiency and customer focus of its spending ... For instance, it is in the process of analyzing the efficiency of its advertising buying, and has decided to end its participation in DTM racing in Germany after completing the '05 season."

MG ENTERS DTM
MG will become the 4th manufacturer to enter DTM. The new team will race 2 MG ZT, powered by Zytek V8 4 litre engine.
DTM (Hans Werner Aufrecht): "MG's involvement proves DTM's attractiveness for manufacturers. With four brands on its grid, DTM has got on a solid basis and will provide even more excitement and thrill in its forthcoming season."

HAKKINEN'S RETURN FROM RETIREMENT
36 year old dual F1 champion Mika Häkkinen is set to come out of retirement in 2005. He will drive a Mercedes car in the German Touring Car Championship (DTM). He won the Formula 1 titles with McLaren Mercedes in 1998 and 1999. He retired in 2001 after 7 years with McLaren.
HAKKINEN: " .... After the end of my Formula One career in 2001, I soon realised that I'm not ready to retire for good ... It was just the right moment that Mercedes-Benz offered me to test a DTM car. I saw immediately that I still enjoy racing very much and during the test three weeks ago, my lap times were at the same level as those of the touring car specialists ... I know, of course, that I first have to get used to a DTM car to be able to fight with the front runners. The AMG Mercedes C-Class, however, is a great car and with it I want to be consistently competitive soon."
MERCEDES (N Haug): "... We are very happy about Mika's decision to race in the DTM. Our engagement and the Championship will gain a lot from his commitment. Since Mika was driving for us, he was always interested in DTM and we talked a lot about it .... Watching the 2004 season on TV Mika has become a real DTM fan, as he told us. During his test he proved that he didn't lose his speed. We look forward to exciting battles next year."

McNISH'S DTM DEBUT
35 year old former Le Mans and F1 driver Alan McNish will make his DTM debut in 2005 with Audi. He will join the 3 other ex F1 drivers in DTM (Alesi, Frentzen, Hakkinen). McNish won the 1998 Le Mans 24 Hours and the 2000 American Le Mans Series.
McNISH: "... DTM has got a very high pedigree of drivers, some from Formula One like Mika, plus some unfamiliar faces for me like Britain's Gary Paffett but no matter anyone's background, there is not one person racing who wants to finish second. DTM will be new territory for me but having visited the championship finale this year I can confirm the racing is very fast and furious. I will give 100% but being a DTM 'new boy', I am not going to make any predictions"

GREEN'S DTM DEBUT
22 year old Jamie Green will make his DTM debut in 2005 with Mercedes. Green is the reigning Formula 3 Euro champion. He dominated the season with 7 wins driving for Mercedes.
GREEN: ".... my ASM team and Mercedes-Benz gave me great support this year and made it possible for me to win the Euro Series title. Of course, I'm really happy to be promoted to the DTM which is the best touring car series in the world and a great challenge for a young driver like me."
MERCEDES (Norbert Haug): "... Winning the 2004 Formula 3 Euro Series Jamie Green has proved his talent and is a valuable addition for our DTM team ... By signing him we are continuing our programme of supporting young drivers and we believe that he will distinguish himself and repeat in the DTM what several of our Juniors have already achieved."

2005 DMT TEAMS

AUDI TEAMS (Teams Abt and Team Joest) 8 cars

Abt Sportsline Team:

Mattias Ekström (Sweden) - 2004 DTM champion

Tom Kristensen (Denmark)

Martin Tomczyk (Germany)

Alan McNish (UK) - *** DTM debut ***

Joest Racing Team

Christian Abt (Germany)

Rinaldo Capello (Italy) *** DTM debut ***

Pierre Kaffer (Germany) *** DTM debut ***

Frank Stippler (Germany) *** DTM debut *** (2003 Porsche Supercup champion)

OPEL TEAMS

Car: Opel Vectra GTS V8

Drivers:

Laurent Aiello (FRA)
"... I am really happy being able to continue our co-operation next year, because I am feeling really well within the Opel-team. The team members will do everything to be successful in the forthcoming season"

Marcel Fässler (SWI)

Heinz-Harald Frentzen (GER)

Manuel Reuter (GER)
"... I am delighted to be a member of the Opel team again next year. In spite of my long-standing involvement with Opel, that wasn't self- evident. For those team-mates who will be no longer in the team (Jeroen Bleekemolen, Peter Dumbreck, Timo Scheider), I keep my fingers crossed"

MERCEDES TEAMS

Car: C-Klasse AMG-Mercedes

Drivers:

Bernd Scheneider (age 40) - 2003, 2001, 2000 DTM champion

Mika Häkkinen (age 36) *** DTM debut ***

Jamie Green (age 22) *** DTM debut ***

Jean Alesi (age 40)

Gary Paffett (age 23)

DMT CHAMPIONS

(current DTM format started in 2000)

YEAR 2004: Mattias Ekström, Audi
YEAR 2003: Bernd Schneider, AMG Mercedes CLK
YEAR 2002: Laurent Aiello, Abt-Audi TT-R
YEAR 2001: Bernd Schneider, AMG Mercedes CLK
YEAR 2000: Bernd Schneider, AMG Mercedes CLK

DMT CARS

Audi A4 DTM
AMG-Mercedes C Klasse
Opel Vectra GTS V8
ENGINE:
4L V8, 340kw, 460 BHP
GEARBOX:
6 speed
BRAKES:
carbon fibre
Tech Rules:

Parity - Every car must have same wheelbase, height, wing package

No traction control allowed

Only 3 engines per season

2004 FINAL DTM STANDING

1 Mattias Ekström , Audi, 74 points
2 Gary Paffett , AMG-Mercedes, 57 points
3 Christijan Albers , AMG-Mercedes, 50 points

FINAL MANUFACTURER STANDING
1 Audi , 168 points
2 Mercedes-Benz , 164
3 Opel, 58