The 2011 season of the DTM will start Friday with the first free practice session held on the Hockenheimring in Germany. Canadian driver Bruno Spengler says that the arrival of a new tire supplier could well cause some changes.
Although the technical development of the race cars is frozen since the end of 2009, the arrival of a new tire supplier will likely cause some concerns. Dunlop has been replaced by Korean tire manufacturer Hankook as the official tire supplier of the DTM.
Canadian and works Mercedes driver Bruno Spengler says the change will be significant.
“It is kind of stranger to arrive at the first race without having participated in a group test to compare to each other. This is the first time this happens since I am racing in the DTM series,” said Spengler to Auto123.com.
The handling and the performance of the cars will be influence by the switch of tires. We’ll know a bit more about the true performance of everyone after the first free practice session of Friday. As of today, it is extremely difficult to predict who’s quick and who’s not,” Spengler added.
Despite the fact that he lost last year’s title at the ultimate round of the season held in Shanghai, China, Spengler says that the new season is a new challenge.
“The 2010 season is now behind me. It is totally forgotten. After the long break and all the test kilometres that we’ve driven this winter, I’m very pleased that the DTM season is getting underway again. Racing in Hockenheim is always very special. The fans are great ! » said Spengler.
Last year, Spengler finished second in Hockenheim. This is new to him as the opening race of the season was by tradition very difficult for the Canadian.
« Last year, I started the year with five podium finishes in a row. It would be great if I could build on these statistics, because you have to go rather a long way back to 2006 for my last victory at Hockenheim. It’s high time I won there again,” Spengler ended.
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| Photo: dtm.com |
Although the technical development of the race cars is frozen since the end of 2009, the arrival of a new tire supplier will likely cause some concerns. Dunlop has been replaced by Korean tire manufacturer Hankook as the official tire supplier of the DTM.
Canadian and works Mercedes driver Bruno Spengler says the change will be significant.
“It is kind of stranger to arrive at the first race without having participated in a group test to compare to each other. This is the first time this happens since I am racing in the DTM series,” said Spengler to Auto123.com.
The handling and the performance of the cars will be influence by the switch of tires. We’ll know a bit more about the true performance of everyone after the first free practice session of Friday. As of today, it is extremely difficult to predict who’s quick and who’s not,” Spengler added.
Despite the fact that he lost last year’s title at the ultimate round of the season held in Shanghai, China, Spengler says that the new season is a new challenge.
“The 2010 season is now behind me. It is totally forgotten. After the long break and all the test kilometres that we’ve driven this winter, I’m very pleased that the DTM season is getting underway again. Racing in Hockenheim is always very special. The fans are great ! » said Spengler.
Last year, Spengler finished second in Hockenheim. This is new to him as the opening race of the season was by tradition very difficult for the Canadian.
« Last year, I started the year with five podium finishes in a row. It would be great if I could build on these statistics, because you have to go rather a long way back to 2006 for my last victory at Hockenheim. It’s high time I won there again,” Spengler ended.
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| Photo: dtm.com |
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| Photo: dtm.com |