Plans of creating a new touring car series, based on the German DTM, are still on the agenda in North America.
Talks between ITR, the organization behind the DTM, and Grand-Am had stalled these past months. The merger between Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was keeping everyone busy.
Now with the unified series all set, the focus is shifting back to plans of an American DTM series, to fill the demand for sprint sport car races on the continent. The sights are set for 2015 or 2016, after the merger is done.
The new DTM could welcome manufacturers from both America and Europe, but also from Japan – where the Super GT championship recently adopted DTM rules for its GT500 class. Of course, if – and only if –, efforts to keep the operating costs down succeed.
"Yes to internationalization," said BMW's Jens Marquardt, "but not at any cost."
So far, only Audi has formally backed the plan.
"I can just say that the American market is very important for Audi," motorsport boss Wolfgang Ullrich said to SPEED TV.
"The DTM is a very high level touring car series that's been successful in Europe at present. We have the intention to cooperate with other motorsport authorities internationally to find a way to run these cars based on this new technical rulebook in other countries as well."
Talks between ITR, the organization behind the DTM, and Grand-Am had stalled these past months. The merger between Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was keeping everyone busy.
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| Robert Wickens, Mercedes DTM (Photo: René Fagnan) |
Now with the unified series all set, the focus is shifting back to plans of an American DTM series, to fill the demand for sprint sport car races on the continent. The sights are set for 2015 or 2016, after the merger is done.
The new DTM could welcome manufacturers from both America and Europe, but also from Japan – where the Super GT championship recently adopted DTM rules for its GT500 class. Of course, if – and only if –, efforts to keep the operating costs down succeed.
"Yes to internationalization," said BMW's Jens Marquardt, "but not at any cost."
So far, only Audi has formally backed the plan.
"I can just say that the American market is very important for Audi," motorsport boss Wolfgang Ullrich said to SPEED TV.
"The DTM is a very high level touring car series that's been successful in Europe at present. We have the intention to cooperate with other motorsport authorities internationally to find a way to run these cars based on this new technical rulebook in other countries as well."