European Race Series of the Year Award’ for DTM

DTM Press Release

Big honour for DTM: at the Professional Motorsport World Expo in Cologne, DTM was honoured as ’European Race Series of the Year 2012’. A jury consisting of international motor-racing experts and journalists, such as Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito and former World Rally Championship ace Armin Schwarz, voted for DTM, thus making for the icing on the cake at the end of the first season in the new era of the most popular international touring-car series. Thanks to the comeback of BMW - who won not only the drivers’ championship courtesy of Bruno Spengler but also prevailed against Audi and Mercedes-Benz in the manufacturer and team rankings - and the new technical regulations, the motor-racing enthusiast were provided a truly extraordinary season.

"We are really proud of having been awarded the Best European Race Series Award in the first year of a new DTM era", said Walter Mertes, board member of DTM rights holder and promoter ITR e.V., who received the award on Tuesday evening during a gala in Cologne. "Thanks to the comeback of BMW and our new technical regulations that have made for extreme competitiveness between the three manufacturers - Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz - we witnessed a season that virtually can’t be bested when it comes to close racing, excitement and fascination and that was big fun for both all those involved and the DTM enthusiasts."

"Even a Hollywood director wouldn’t have been able to make for a better showdown than the season finale at Hockenheim that ended with the triumph of Bruno Spengler and BMW," added Walter Mertes. "In addition, the massive popularity with the crowds and the esteem by the expert jury represent a major boost for the coming season." In the end, DTM prevailed against the Blancpain Endurance Series, the Protyre Formula Renault BARC and the Superstars International Series that also had been nominated for the award.

"DTM has been standing for great motor racing in an absolutely professional environment for many years, now," said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito to explain the decision of the jury. "Over the years, it has established as standard and benchmark for many other race series. We are delighted that we will continue to race in this environment in the coming years, with our Scirocco R-Cup." Armin Schwarz also was full of praise: "DTM has established as an international race series featuring the highest-profile international drivers and very fast high-end racing cars - and it has remained an extremely important series for German car manufacturers for many years. Altogether, I don’t know of any other nationally managed series on such a level," said the rally driver.

Wolfgang Sievernich, editor of ’motorsport-guide’ and also a member of the jury, said: "DTM is the only European race series that combines professional motor sport and long-term marketing in its most targeted form. With BMW back on board, the battle between the three brands succeeded in winning back lost spectator appeal. In addition, the new cars set new standards in terms of safety and prototype technology that go far beyond FIA demands. For these reasons I believe that DTM currently is the most complete European race series."

In addition to DTM, the Mercedes-Benz works team HWA also received an award for its achievements in DTM. The team was awarded the ’Motor-Sport Team of the Year Award’, thus securing a second trophy for DTM. "It may have missed out on the 2012 DTM titles by the narrowest of margins, but the consistently high standards set by HWA have been recognized by the awards jury, both in terms of its operational performance as a race team and its technical expertise in race-car design, construction and support. HWA remains the benchmark team in DTM," the jury explained.

Photo credit: ITR/DTM