The 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the twenty-ninth season of premier German touring car championship and also sixteenth season under the moniker of
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB- FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The s ...
since the series' resumption in 2000. The season started on 2 May at
Hockenheim
Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...
, and ended on 18 October at the same venue, with Mercedes Benz driver
Pascal Wehrlein
Pascal Wehrlein (born 18 October 1994) is a German-Mauritian racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team. He previously raced in Formula One for the Sauber and Manor teams. Holding dual nationality of Germany and Mauritius, he raced under the ...
clinching the Drivers' Championship, Mercedes Benz's
HWA AG
HWA Team, also known as HWA RACELAB, is the auto racing team of HWA AG, a German company based in Affalterbach, that also develops and builds vehicles and components for Mercedes-AMG race cars. It is named after founder Hans-Werner Aufrecht.
...
winning the Teams' Championship and
BMW taking the Manufacturer's Championship after a total of nine events.
Marco Wittmann
Marco Wittmann (born 24 November 1989) is a German professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver.
He currently resides in Markt Erlbach. Wittmann has competed in such series as Formula Three Euroseries
The Formula 3 Euro Series wa ...
entered the season as the defending Drivers' Champion,
BMW Team RMG as the defending Teams' Champion and
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
Th ...
as the defending Manufacturers' Champion.
Rule changes
Sporting
* Drivers were assigned permanent numbers for the duration of their DTM careers, with the championship adopting a system similar to the one used in
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
and
MotoGP. The number 1 was the champion's right, with drivers free to choose any number from 2 to 99 or 100; the champion's "regular" number was reserved while they were using the number 1.
* The 2015 season saw the DTM series go back to a two races per weekend format. It was the first time since
2002 that the DTM used the format but the usual number of laps were replaced by time limit.
*The usual knockout qualifying format was replaced by 20-minute single-session qualifying format (similar to 60-minute 1996-2002
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
single-session qualifying format).
Technical
*The weight of all DTM cars were increased to 1,120 kg.
*The performance weights also has been introduced.
*The softer optional tyres were removed to provide overtaking manoeuvre.
Teams and drivers
The following manufacturers, teams and drivers competed in the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. All teams competed with tyres supplied by
Hankook
Hankook Tire & Technology (; , also known simply as Hankook and stylised ), is a South Korean tire company. Based in Seoul, Hankook is the seventh largest tire company in the world.
History
Hankook Tire was established by Jae Hun Chung's grandf ...
.
Team changes
*
ART Grand Prix
ART Grand Prix is a French motor racing team that competes in formula single-seaters in Europe. In 2012, it competed in the GP2 Series and GP3 Series as Lotus GP to reflect sponsorship from British sports and racing car manufacturer Lotus. The ...
joined the series in 2015, and ran a Mercedes works team of two cars, for
Lucas Auer
Lucas Auer (born 11 September 1994) is an Austrian racing driver. He is the nephew of former Formula 1 driver Gerhard Berger. He currently drives for HTP Winward Motorsport in DTM. He was a member of the Red Bull Junior Team.
Early career
In ...
and
Gary Paffett
Gary Paffett (born 24 March 1981 in Bromley) is a British racing driver. Having become a household name in the DTM, following fifteen years in the series and two championship wins, Paffett moved onto Formula E for the 2018/19 championship, afte ...
.
Driver changes
; Entering DTM
*
Maximilian Götz
Maximilian Götz (born 4 February 1986) is a German racing driver. He has competed in such series as International Formula Master and the Formula 3 Euro Series. He won the 2003 Formula BMW ADAC season, taking six victories. He also won the 202 ...
, who won the
2014 Blancpain Sprint Series
The 2014 GT Sprint Series (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series) was the second season following on from the demise of the SRO Group's FIA GT1 World Championship (an auto racing series for grand tourer cars), the first ...
, joined
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
.
*
European Formula 3 front-runners
Lucas Auer
Lucas Auer (born 11 September 1994) is an Austrian racing driver. He is the nephew of former Formula 1 driver Gerhard Berger. He currently drives for HTP Winward Motorsport in DTM. He was a member of the Red Bull Junior Team.
Early career
In ...
and
Tom Blomqvist
Tom Leonard Blomqvist (born 30 November 1993) is a New Zealand-based, Britain-born Swedish professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver, currently racing in the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship with Meyer Shank Racing. Blomqvist ...
joined the series, driving for Mercedes-Benz and BMW respectively.
; Leaving DTM
*
Joey Hand
Joseph F. Hand (born February 10, 1979) is an American professional racing driver who competes in sports car racing as a Ford factory driver. A former champion of the Star Mazda Series, Hand is the co-winner of the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona drivi ...
, who drove for BMW between 2012 and 2014, left the series and joined the
United SportsCar Championship
The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...
.
*
Vitaly Petrov
Vitaly Aleksandrovich Petrov ( rus, Вита́лий Алекса́ндрович Петро́в, p=vʲɪˈtalʲɪj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ pʲɪˈtrof; born 8 September 1984) is a Russian racing driver who drove in Formula One for Renault F1 ...
, who drove for Mercedes-Benz in 2014, left the series.
; Mid-season changes
*
Timo Scheider
Timo Scheider (born 10 November 1978 in Lahnstein) is a German racing driver who competes in the FIA World Rallycross Championship for Münnich Motorsport. He won the DTM title in 2008 and 2009.
Career
Karting
Like most other drivers, Scheider ...
was excluded from participating in the
Moscow Raceway
Moscow Raceway is an FIA-approved motor racing venue, which is situated in the Volokolamsky District of Moscow Oblast, near the villages of Sheludkovo and Fedyukovo, from Moscow, Russia. It opened on 13 July 2012 for its first event as the fifth ...
round after pushing out both
Robert Wickens
Robert Tyler Wickens (born March 13, 1989) is a Canadian racing driver from Guelph, Ontario, driving in the Michelin Pilot Challenge for Bryan Herta Autosport. In 2009 he finished in second place in the FIA Formula Two Championship, and in 2010 ...
and
Pascal Wehrlein
Pascal Wehrlein (born 18 October 1994) is a German-Mauritian racing driver for the Porsche Formula E Team. He previously raced in Formula One for the Sauber and Manor teams. Holding dual nationality of Germany and Mauritius, he raced under the ...
in the second race of the
Red Bull Ring.
European Formula 3 front-runner
Antonio Giovinazzi
Antonio Maria Giovinazzi (; born 14 December 1993) is an Italian racing driver who currently serves as the reserve driver for Scuderia Ferrari, Haas and Alfa Romeo Racing. He was the 2015 FIA Formula 3 European Championship runner-up and rac ...
replaced him at the Russian venue for
Audi Sport Team Phoenix.
Performance weights
Starting from
Norisring
The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the ...
, ITR introduced a system of ballast based on the results obtained in the previous race. The basis weight is 1120 kg, and performance weight ranges from a minimum of 1105 kg to a maximum of 1140 kg
Race calendar and results
The nine event calendar was announced on 3 December 2014.
Calendar changes
* The round at the
Hungaroring
The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone w ...
– which had been included on the DTM calendar in
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
and
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
– was discontinued.
Championship standings
;Scoring system
Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers as follows:
Drivers' championship
*† — Driver retired, but was classified as they completed 75% of the winner's race distance.
Teams' championship
Manufacturers' championship
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters years
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters seasons
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB- FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The s ...