DTM and Super GT Showdown at Fuji: The dream becomes a reality 18.11.2019: • Breakthrough DTM and SUPER GT ‘Dream Race’ gets 22-car grid • Star power: Audi and BMW’s big names behind the wheel

•    Breakthrough DTM and SUPER GT ‘Dream Race’ gets 22-car grid


•    Star power: Audi and BMW’s big names behind the wheel


•    New rules for all: rolling starts, control tyres, no DRS and P2P to mix up grids




The DTM breaks motorsport boundaries (literally and metaphorically) this weekend by holding its first-ever joint-race with Japan’s SUPER GT championship.



After years of strategic and technical preparatory work, the landmark race weekend will be held at the legendary Fuji Speedway, with two 55-minute-plus-one-lap races; one each on Saturday and Sunday.



After a toe-in-the-water exercise at the Hockenheimring last month (in which three Japanese GT500 cars raced in the DTM finale to gather data for the Fuji ‘Dream Race’), a combined field of 22 cars – seven DTM machines from Audi and BMW, and 15 from Japanese manufacturers Lexus, Honda and Nissan – will take part.



It promises to be a thrilling weekend – one full of uncertainty and intrigue. At Fuji, all cars will run without DRS and P2P, will use Hankook’s control rubber (including the SUPER GT runners, who enjoy a tyre-war in Japan), and each race will begin with a rolling start. The unique layout of Fuji – it has long-radius corners and a mighty 1.475km straight – will also make it harder for the DTM outfits to find a satisfactory balance between straight-line speed and mechanical grip.





Big names all set for Japan



While the DTM drivers will race across both days, the vast majority of the two-driver Japanese squads will field a different driver on each day (the sole exception being Honda’s Naoki Yamamoto, who, in the absence of Jenson Button, will drive on Saturday and Sunday).



The Japanese headliners joining the seven-man DTM squad of Loïc Duval, Kamui Kobayashi, René Rast, Mike Rockenfeller, Benoît Tréluyer, Marco Wittmann and Alex Zanardi, include newly crowned SUPER GT champions, Kazuya Oshima, Kenta Yamashita, former champions Ronnie Quintarelli, Naoki Yamamoto, Tsugio Matsuda, Ryō Hirakawa and Nick Cassidy, who also won this year’s Japanese SUPER Formula single-seater championship.




The clock counts down…



» The circuit – Fuji Speedway




Track length: 4.563 km. Top speed: 295 kph. Gear shifts per lap: 42.





» Wow fact – Dream Race, Fuji Speedway




   
22



In the Dream Race, a total of 22 cars, each with more than 600 hp, will take the start. The largest contingent comes from Lexus, which will field six LC500s in the race, followed by Honda with five NSX GTs. Like Audi, Nissan participates with four cars each, while BMW has brought three M4 DTMs to Japan.





» Regulations at a glance



Starting procedure



In contrast to the DTM, both runs of the Dream Race will use a rolling start. This is how races are typically started in SUPER GT, using a two-by-two formation. Pole position at Fuji Speedway is on the right-hand side of the grid.





» And then, there is …





    ... the livestream. The Dream Race marks the beginning of a public beta phase of DTM’s new OTT platform. Users can register on DTM.com and enjoy DTM content free of charge until the end of the year. In addition to the usual TV picture, four on-board channels can be selected for live broadcasts from Fuji – both in full screen and in individually customizable multiscreens.



The races start on Saturday and Sunday at 2:26 pm local time (6:26 am CET). In German-speaking countries, the TV station SAT.1, TV partner of the DTM, will broadcast both races live. The broadcasts begin at 6:25 am CET on both days. In addition, the Dream Race will be broadcast live on TV in Japan, Russia, North America, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Netherlands, among others. Motorsport.TV also streams the races live.



ITR GmbH photos DTM