The 2018 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the thirty-second season of premier German touring car championship and also nineteenth 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 ser ...

since the series' resumption in 2000. 2018 would be the final season for the traditional 4.0-litre V8 naturally-aspirated engine package that debuted in the inaugural reborn season; as the brand new engine package has been introduced for the following season as part of the "Class One Project" prospect with Japanese

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...

GT500 cars. 2018 also marked the final season for

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 ...

in DTM due to

departing to

FIA Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is ...

from the 2019–20 season and thus ended its 19 year participation.

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 ...

won his second title at the final round of the season with a third place finish, beating previous champion

René Rast René Rast (born 26 October 1986 in Minden) is a German professional racing driver and the 2017, 2019 and 2020 DTM champion. He previously drove for Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler in Formula E from 2019 to 2021 before Audi left the sport at the end o ...

by four points despite a late charge to six consecutive wins by Rast, a new series record. Paffett became the second non-German driver to have won more than one DTM driver title, and thus repeating Swedish driver

Mattias Ekström Mattias Ekström (born 14 July 1978 in Falun, Sweden) is a racing driver from Sweden. He competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Audi from 2001 until his retirement in 2018, and has been competing in the FIA World Rallycross Championship ...

's feat in 2004 and 2007 seasons.

won the manufacturer's championship for the first time since 2010.

Rule changes

*Aerodynamic downforce aids, such as side winglets and side fences, has been enforced to all cars, in order to improve competition. As a result, the minimum weight of all cars has been reduced from to . *The quantity of engine components a driver may use during the season has been increased from seven complete engines during the entire season, to a new system where each of the engine components are combined. Therefore, in 2018, each driver is permitted to use up to eight set engines. *The additional wildcard entry is introduced for the first time ever, but ineligible for championship points even if they finish in top 10.

Calendar

The provisional ten event calendar was announced on 24 November 2017, and later finalized on 18 December 2017.

Calendar changes

* The races in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

are scheduled to return to the DTM schedule for the first time since 2013 and 2010 respectively. On 6 December 2017 it was confirmed that the British round would be held at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

, on the circuit's GP layout as opposed to the Indy layout of previous DTM races.

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 ...

was dropped from the 2018 schedule. For the first time, Misano will host the round in Italy, as a night-time event. The

Lausitzring The Lausitzring (formally known as the Dekra Lausitzring for ownership reasons) is a race track located near Klettwitz (a civil parish of Schipkau, Oberspreewald-Lausitz district) in the state of Brandenburg in northeast Germany, near the bord ...

round will revert to full road course layout after last used in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Teams and drivers

The following manufacturers, teams and drivers competed in the 2018 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 ...

Driver changes

left the series after eighteen years, but remains with

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 ...

via its

FIA World Rallycross Championship The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull and KW25). From the inaugural season in 2014 ...

programme.

2017 Blancpain GT Series The 2017 Blancpain GT Series was the fourth season of the Blancpain GT Series. The season started on 2 April in Misano and ended on 1 October in Barcelona. The season featured ten rounds, five Endurance Cup rounds and five Sprint Cup rounds. Ca ...

driver

Robin Frijns Robin Frijns (born 7 August 1991) is a Dutch motor racing driver. He is the 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion, and the first driver to have won the series in his debut season since Robert Kubica in 2005. Frijns is currently competing in Fo ...

will make his DTM début with Audi Sport. In addition, the two-time champion made a one-off appearance in the 2018 season opener in

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 ...

with an additional Audi RS 5 to mark his retirement from the series. *

Philipp Eng Philipp Eng (born 28 February 1990 in Salzburg) is an Austrian professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. Career Karting Eng started karting in 2003, by competing in KF2, Intercontinental A Junior karts, competing in the Andrea ...

and Joel Eriksson – both members of BMW's junior team – joined

BMW Team RBM Racing Bart Mampaey (formerly Juma Racing) is a racing team based in Mechelen, Belgium that runs the BMW Team RBM operation in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Previously the team had been racing in the European Touring Car Championship and Wo ...

, to partner

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Bruno Spengler. After five years with

BMW Motorsport BMW M Motorsport (formerly BMW Motorsport) is the division of BMW responsible for motorsport-related activities, including works-run competition programmes in touring car racing, sports car racing, motorcycle racing and Formula E. The current orga ...

Maxime Martin Maxime Martin (born 20 March 1986) is a Belgian professional racing driver and son of four-time Spa 24 Hours winner Jean-Michel Martin. He currently is an Aston Martin Racing driver for which he competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship ...

left the marque, and its DTM programme after four years to join

Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...

in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

for the 2018–19 season.

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 ...

will also leave the series after three years, but remains with

via its Formula E and GT programmes. * After spending two years 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, ...

with Manor and

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...

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 ...

returned to the DTM with

Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG, is the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz AG. AMG independently hires engineers and contracts with manufacturers to customize Mercedes-Benz AMG vehicles. The company has its headquarters in Aff ...

HWA Team 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. ...

. After a one-year sabbatical,

Daniel Juncadella Daniel Juncadella Pérez-Sala (born 7 May 1991) is a Spanish racing driver who currently competes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. He is son of Xavier Juncadella and nephew of José María Juncadella, Alex Soler-Roig and Luis Pérez-Sala, als ...

also returned to the DTM with HWA.

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 he ...

left the series after six years to join

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports The IndyCar Series operation of McLaren Racing competes under the banner of Arrow McLaren SP. This entry is based in Indianapolis and was founded by former driver Sam Schmidt as Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Fellow ex-driver Davey Hamilton joined as ...

in the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

for the 2018 season.

Maro Engel Maro René Engel (born 27 August 1985) is a German professional racing driver based in Monaco. He is a long-time Mercedes-AMG factory driver, FIA GT World Cup Champion, Nürburgring 24 hour winner, DTM race winner, Suzuka 10h winner, Macau GT ...

left the series after one season to focus solely on

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is ...

. *Former Williams Formula One driver, two-time

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

champion and four-time

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

gold medallist

Alex Zanardi Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (; born 23 October 1966) is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and aga ...

made his DTM début with

Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli The Misano World Circuit (officially known as Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli or Misano Circuit Sic 58, and before 2006 called Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica) is a race track located next to the town of Misano Adriatico (Province of R ...

as a guest driver. *Five-time

World Rally Champion The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

Sébastien Ogier Sébastien Ogier (born 17 December 1983) is a French rally driver, competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC), who is teamed with the co-driver Julien Ingrassia. He has won the World Rally Drivers' Champions ...

made his DTM début with

as a guest driver at the

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later sh ...

Results

Championship standings

;Scoring system Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers as follows: Additionally, the top three placed drivers in qualifying also received points:

Drivers' championship

*† — Driver retired, but was classified as he completed 75% of the winner's race distance.

Rule changes

Calendar

Calendar changes

Teams and drivers

Driver changes

Results

Championship standings

Drivers' championship

Teams' championship

Manufacturers' championship

References

External links