The 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the twenty-ninth season of premier German touring car championship and also sixteenth season under the moniker of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since the series' resumption in 2000. The season started on 2 May at Hockenheim , and ended on 18 October at the same venue, with Mercedes Benz driver Pascal Wehrlein clinching the Drivers' Championship, Mercedes Benz's HWA AG winning the Teams' Championship and BMW taking the Manufacturer's Championship after a total of nine events.
Marco Wittmann entered the season as the defending Drivers' Champion, BMW Team RMG as the defending Teams' Champion and Audi as the defending Manufacturers' Champion.
Drivers were assigned permanent numbers for the duration of their DTM careers, with the championship adopting a system similar to the one used in Formula One and MotoGP . The number 1 was the champion's right, with drivers free to choose any number from 2 to 99 or 100; the champion's "regular" number was reserved while they were using the number 1.[ 1]
The 2015 season saw the DTM series go back to a two races per weekend format. It was the first time since 2002 that the DTM used the format but the usual number of laps were replaced by time limit.
The usual knockout qualifying format was replaced by 20-minute single-session qualifying format (similar to 60-minute 1996-2002 Formula One single-session qualifying format).
The weight of all DTM cars were increased to 1,120 kg.
The performance weights also has been introduced.
The softer optional tyres were removed to provide overtaking manoeuvre.
The following manufacturers, teams and drivers competed in the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Hankook .
Entering DTM
Leaving DTM
Mid-season changes
Starting from Norisring , ITR introduced a system of ballast based on the results obtained in the previous race. The basis weight is 1120 kg, and performance weight ranges from a minimum of 1105 kg to a maximum of 1140 kg[ 14]
Driver
Car
Norisring [ 15]
Zandvoort [ 16]
Red Bull Ring [ 17]
Moscow
Oschersleben
Nürburgring
Hockenheim
Marco Wittmann
BMW
1105 kg
1105 kg
1115 kg
1107,5 kg
1107,5 kg
1117,5 kg
1117,5 kg
Gary Paffett
Mercedes-Benz
1120 kg
1130 kg
1125 kg
1125 kg
1127,5 kg
1127,5 kg
1127,5 kg
Paul di Resta
Mercedes-Benz
1120 kg
1127,5 kg
1122,5 kg
1122,5 kg
1120 kg
1120 kg
1120 kg
Mattias Ekström
Audi
1137,5 kg
1130 kg
1127,5 kg
1137,5 kg
1137,5 kg
1127,5 kg
1127,5 kg
Robert Wickens
Mercedes-Benz
1120 kg
1130 kg
1125 kg
1125 kg
1122,5 kg
1122,5 kg
1122,5 kg
Bruno Spengler
BMW
1105 kg
1105 kg
1115 kg
1105 kg
1105 kg
1115 kg
1115 kg
Christian Vietoris
Mercedes-Benz
1120 kg
1130 kg
1125 kg
1125 kg
1122,5 kg
1122,5 kg
1122,5 kg
Timo Scheider
Audi
1135 kg
1125 kg
1120 kg
-
1125 kg
1115 kg
1115 kg
Daniel Juncadella
Mercedes-Benz
1120 kg
1130 kg
1125 kg
1125 kg
1125 kg
1125 kg
1130 kg
António Félix da Costa
BMW
1105 kg
1105 kg
1115 kg
1107,5 kg
1107,5 kg
1117,5 kg
1117,5 kg
Timo Glock
BMW
1105 kg
1105 kg
1115 kg
1105 kg
1105 kg
1115 kg
1115 kg
Miguel Molina
Audi
1135 kg
1125 kg
1120 kg
1125 kg
1122,5 kg
1115 kg
1115 kg
Augusto Farfus
BMW
1105 kg
1105 kg
1115 kg
1107,5 kg
1107,5 kg
1117,5 kg
1117,5 kg
Lucas Auer
Mercedes-Benz
1120 kg
1127,5 kg
1122,5 kg
1122,5 kg
1120 kg
1120 kg
1120 kg
Adrien Tambay
Audi
1130 kg
1120 kg
1117,5 kg
1125 kg
1122,5 kg
1112,5 kg
1112,5 kg
Tom Blomqvist
BMW
1105 kg
1105 kg
1112,5 kg
1105 kg
1105 kg
1115 kg
1115 kg
Maxime Martin
BMW
1107,5 kg
1107,5 kg
1115 kg
1105 kg
1105 kg
1112,5 kg
1112,5 kg
Edoardo Mortara
Audi
1140 kg
1130 kg
1125 kg
1135 kg
1137,5 kg
1127,5 kg
1127,5 kg
Nico Müller
Audi
1135 kg
1125 kg
1120 kg
1127,5 kg
1130 kg
1120 kg
1120 kg
Jamie Green
Audi
1137,5 kg
1130 kg
1125 kg
1130 kg
1132,5 kg
1125 kg
1125 kg
Martin Tomczyk
BMW
1105 kg
1105 kg
1110 kg
1105 kg
1105 kg
1112,5 kg
1112,5 kg
Maximilian Götz
Mercedes-Benz
1120 kg
1125 kg
1120 kg
1120 kg
1117,5 kg
1117,5 kg
1117,5 kg
Pascal Wehrlein
Mercedes-Benz
1120 kg
1130 kg
1127,5 kg
1127,5 kg
1130 kg
1130 kg
1130 kg
Antonio Giovinazzi
Audi
-
-
-
1137,5 kg
-
-
-
Mike Rockenfeller
Audi
1140 kg
1130 kg
1125 kg
1135 kg
1137,5 kg
1127,5 kg
1127,5 kg
Race calendar and results
edit
The nine event calendar was announced on 3 December 2014.[ 18]
The round at the Hungaroring – which had been included on the DTM calendar in 1988 and 2014 – was discontinued.
Championship standings
edit
Scoring system
Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers as follows:
Position
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Points
25
18
15
12
10
8
6
4
2
1
Drivers' championship
edit
Colour
Result
Gold
Winner
Silver
Second place
Bronze
Third place
Green
Points finish
Blue
Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple
Retired (Ret)
Red
Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black
Disqualified (DSQ)
White
Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank
Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)
Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
† — Driver retired, but was classified as they completed 75% of the winner's race distance.
Manufacturers' championship
edit
^ Reserve driver Esteban Ocon participated in FP1 in the second Hockenheim round due to Daniel Juncadella being ill with food poisoning.
^ "The DTM numbers 2015 have been assigned" . Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters . ITR e.V. 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-02-27. Retrieved 27 February 2015 .
^ a b c d "A strong squad for the 2015 DTM season" . BMW Motorsport . BMW . 6 February 2015. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015 .
^ a b c d e f g h Aller, Tamara (6 December 2014). "BMW retains seven drivers for 2015, drops Joey Hand" . TouringCarTimes . Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Retrieved 9 December 2014 .
^ a b "European F3 runner-up Tom Blomqvist to race BMW M4 in 2015 DTM" . Autosport . Haymarket Publications . 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015 .
^ "Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM" . Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters . ITR e.V. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015 .
^ a b c d van Leeuwen, Andrew (29 November 2014). "GP2 superteam ART joins DTM with Mercedes for 2015" . Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 3 December 2014 .
^ van Leeuwen, Andrew (17 October 2014). "Gary Paffett extends Mercedes DTM deal into 2015" . Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 9 December 2014 .
^ a b van Leeuwen, Andrew (29 January 2015). "European F3 frontrunner Lucas Auer gets 2015 Mercedes DTM seat" . Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 29 January 2015 .
^ a b c d e f g van Leeuwen, Andrew (30 January 2015). "Gary Paffett to lead ART's new DTM Mercedes campaign in 2015" . Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 30 January 2015 .
^ a b "Maximilian Gotz lands Mercedes DTM race seat for 2015" . Autosport . Haymarket Publications . 26 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015 .
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Audi and the 'DTM 2015' project" . Audi . Audi . 18 February 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-02-18. Retrieved 18 February 2015 .
^ a b "F3 leader Giovinazzi to replace Scheider at Moscow" . Motorsport. 28 August 2015. Archived from the original on 1 September 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015 .
^ "Ex-BMW DTM racer Joey Hand gets 2015 Ganassi United SportsCar seat" . Autosport . Haymarket Publications . 17 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014 .
^ Ziegler, Stefan (28 May 2015). "DTM 2015: Alles Wissenswerte zum Performance-Gewicht" [DTM 2015: everything worth knowing performance weight]. Motorsport-total.com (in German). Auto Bild . Retrieved 11 August 2015 .
^ Ziegler, Stefan (25 June 2015). "DTM 2015 Norisring: BMW mit großem Gewichtsvorteil" [DTM Norisring 2015: BMW with big weight advantage]. Motorsport-total.com (in German). Auto Bild . Retrieved 11 August 2015 .
^ Ziegler, Stefan (9 July 2015). "DTM 2015 in Zandvoort: Gewichtsvorteil erneut bei BMW" [DTM 2015 Zandvoort: weight advantage again at BMW]. Motorsport-total.com (in German). Auto Bild . Retrieved 11 August 2015 .
^ Ziegler, Stefan (29 July 2015). "DTM 2015 in Spielberg: BMW weiter mit Gewichtsvorteil" [DTM 2015 Spielberg: BMW continues with weight advantage]. Motorsport-total.com (in German). Auto Bild . Retrieved 11 August 2015 .
^ van Leeuwen, Andrew (3 December 2014). "DTM goes back to two-race format for 2015 season" . Autosport . Haymarket Publications . Retrieved 3 December 2014 .