2020 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Explained

The 2020 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the thirty-fourth season of premier German touring car championship and also twenty-first season under the moniker of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since the series' resumption in 2000 as well as second and final season of "Class 1" regulations era.

Audi entered as the defending Manufacturers' Champion, after winning their seventh title in 2019,^[1] Audi Sport Team Rosberg entered as the defending teams' champion and René Rast entered as the defending drivers' champion, after winning his second title in 2019.^[2]

After Aston Martin and R-Motorsport decided to withdraw from Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, the 2020 season marks the first season since 2011 that the series featured only two manufacturers.^[3]

2020 also marked the final season for Audi Sport in the DTM, shifting their focus to FIA Formula E and customer programmes.^[4] It also marked the final season for the "Class 1" regulations, as the DTM will switch to GT Pro regulations for 2021.^[5]

René Rast retains the DTM driver's title for the second year in a row (third overall).

Teams and drivers

The following manufacturers, teams and drivers competed in the 2020 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Hankook.

Manufacturer	Car	Engine	Team	No.		Rounds
Audi	Audi RS5 Turbo DTM 2020	Audi RC8 2.0 TFSI I-4t		4	Robin Frijns	All
				51	Nico Müller[6] [7]	All
				10	Harrison Newey[8]	All
				13	Fabio Scherer[9]	All
				62		All
				19	Benoît Tréluyer[10]	8
				28	Loïc Duval	1–7, 9
				99	Mike Rockenfeller	All
				33	René Rast	All
				53	Jamie Green[11]	All
BMW	BMW M4 Turbo DTM 2020	BMW P48 Turbo I-4t	Orlen Team ART	8	Robert Kubica[12]	All
			BMW Team RMG	11	Marco Wittmann[13]	All
				16	Timo Glock	All
			BMW Team RMR	22	Lucas Auer	All
				27	Jonathan Aberdein[14]	All
			BMW Team RBM	25	Philipp Eng	All
				31	nowrap	Sheldon van der Linde	All

Team changes

• BMW was due to introduce customer teams for the 2020 season, increasing their line-up size to seven cars.^{[15] [16] [17] [18]} This led to the return of ART Grand Prix, which last competed in 2016.^[12]
• Aston Martin terminated their contract with engine partner HWA after the 2019 season.^[19] Aston Martin ultimately withdrew from the series in January 2020.^[20]

Driver changes

• 2019 Audi Sport Team WRT drivers Jonathan Aberdein and Pietro Fittipaldi were dropped after one season with the team. They were replaced by another all-rookie lineup consisting of 2016 Indy Lights champion Ed Jones, who left the IndyCar Series after 3 seasons, and FIA Formula 3 Championship driver Fabio Scherer.^[9] Jones later pulled out of the championship due to complications in travel owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates, paving the way for Harrison Newey to make his début instead.^[8] Aberdein moved across to BMW replacing Bruno Spengler, who left the series after fifteen years to join BMW Team RLL in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.^{[21] [14] [22] [23]} Fittipaldi planned to return to the Super Formula Championship, but later joined Haas F1 Team as their test and reserve driver.^{[24] [25]} All factory Audi DTM drivers returned for the third season running.^{[26] [27]}
• Former Mercedes driver Lucas Auer returned to the series with BMW after a one-year hiatus; he replaced Joel Eriksson, who left the series after two seasons to drive in the ADAC GT Masters.^[28]
• Ferdinand von Habsburg moved to Audi Sport Team WRT after Aston Martin failed to return for 2020.^[29] His 2019 team-mates Daniel Juncadella, Paul di Resta and Jake Dennis were left without drives after the British marque's departure from the series.
• Former Formula One driver Robert Kubica made his DTM debut with Orlen Team ART.^[12]

Mid-season changes

• With Loïc Duval forced to miss the second Zolder round due to a clashing commitment at Petit Le Mans, Benoît Tréluyer deputised for him.^[10]

Calendar

A provisional ten-round calendar was announced on 19 September 2019: five rounds will be held in Germany, and four outside of Germany.^{[30] [31]} However, the calendar was altered twice in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; initially on 26 March before a further modified schedule was published on 3 June.^{[32] [33]}

Round	Circuit	Race 1	Race 2
1	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	1 August	2 August
2	Lausitzring (Sprint Circuit)	15 August	16 August
3	Lausitzring (Grand Prix Circuit)	22 August	23 August
4	TT Circuit Assen	5 September	6 September
5	Nürburgring (Grand Prix Circuit)	12 September	13 September
6	Nürburgring (Sprint Circuit)	19 September	20 September
7	Circuit Zolder	10 October	11 October
8		17 October	18 October
9	Hockenheimring	7 November	8 November
Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
	Circuit	Original Dates
	Igora Drive, Priozersk	30 May	31 May
	Anderstorp Raceway, Anderstorp	13 June	14 June
	Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza	27 June	28 June
	Norisring, Nuremberg	11 July	12 July
	Brands Hatch, Kent	22 August	23 August

Calendar changes

Original calendar

• The Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli was removed from the calendar, owing to declining attendance numbers. It will be replaced by the Autodromo Nazionale Monza which will make its series début.^[34] Also making its début on the calendar will be a Swedish round at Anderstorp Raceway.^[31]
• The Hockenheimring will feature just one round instead of the usual two rounds, with Circuit Zolder becoming the new season-opener.^[31]
• Russia will return to DTM for the first time since 2017,^[35] with the series inaugurating the Igora Drive circuit near Saint Petersburg.^[36]

First amendments

• The first half of the season was postponed, with the opening race scheduled for the Norisring on its original date in July. Two event slots were left in early August and October respectively for either the Russian or Swedish round, with original season opener Zolder moved to August. The rounds at Brands Hatch, TT Circuit Assen and the Nürburgring were left on their original dates, with events at the Lausitzring, Hockenheimring and Monza moved to October and November.^[32]

Second amendments

• The Norisring Trophy remained the opening round on a schedule restricted to Germany and Benelux. The first blank slot was filled with the series' first event at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps since 2005, and will be followed by two events on back-to-back weekends at the Lausitzring. Further double-header events will be held at the Nürburgring and Zolder, with the Lausitz and Nürburg events punctuated by a round at Assen. The Hockenheimring returned to the season finale slot having been shuffled out by Monza in the first amendment.^[33] The Nuremberg season-opener was eventually cancelled after the local council ruled against holding the event behind closed doors on economic and health grounds.^{[37] [38]}

Regulation changes

• After a successful 2019 season, the push-to-pass overtake system was doubled from 30to and the drag reduction system (DRS) usage became unrestricted.^{[39] [40]} To compensate, the engine's power output was reduced from 610to.^[41]
• On 1 July 2019 it was announced that Hankook would once again extend their DTM tyre partner contract until at least 2023, beating out bids by Continental, Dunlop, Michelin, Pirelli and Yokohama to provide tyres for the series.^[42]
• A High Yaw Lift-Off (HYLO) system was introduced in front of the two rear wing pillars, to avoid cars becoming airborne in the event of a high-speed collision.^[43]
• The fuel-mass flow restrictor rate for all Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters engines was slightly reduced from 95to to compensate more fuel-efficiency and maximum performance with fuel-mass flow restrictor for extra push-to-pass mode slightly increased from 5to.^[44]

Results and standings

Season summary

Round		Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Winning manufacturer
1	R1	Spa-Francorchamps	Robin Frijns	Nico Müller	Nico Müller		Audi
	R2		René Rast	René Rast	Nico Müller		Audi
2	R1	EuroSpeedway Lausitz Short	Robin Frijns	Nico Müller	Nico Müller		Audi
	R2		Robin Frijns	Robin Frijns	René Rast		Audi
3	R1	EuroSpeedway Lausitz Long	Nico Müller	Nico Müller	René Rast		Audi
	R2		Robin Frijns	Jamie Green	Lucas Auer	BMW Team RMR	BMW
4	R1	TT Circuit Assen	Loïc Duval	Fabio Scherer	Robin Frijns		Audi
	R2		René Rast	Sheldon van der Linde	Sheldon van der Linde	BMW Team RBM	BMW
5	R1	Nürburgring Grand Prix	Nico Müller	Nico Müller	Nico Müller		Audi
	R2		Nico Müller	Robin Frijns	Robin Frijns		Audi
6	R1	Nürburgring Sprint	René Rast	Nico Müller	Robin Frijns		Audi
	R2		Robin Frijns	René Rast	Nico Müller		Audi
7	R1	Circuit Zolder I	René Rast	René Rast	René Rast		Audi
	R2		Timo Glock	Marco Wittmann	René Rast		Audi
8	R1	Circuit Zolder II	René Rast	René Rast	René Rast		Audi
	R2		Ferdinand Habsburg	René Rast	René Rast		Audi
9	R1	Hockenheimring	René Rast	René Rast	Nico Müller		Audi
	R2		René Rast	René Rast	René Rast		Audi

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers as follows:

Race Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Points	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1

Additionally, the top three placed drivers in qualifying also received points:

Qualifying Position	1st	2nd	3rd
Points	3	2	1

Drivers' championship

Driver SPA LAU1 LAU2 ASN NÜR1 NÜR2 ZOL1 ZOL2 HOC Points 1 René Rast 53 31 7 13 12 63 5 51 22 23 21 3 11 13 11 12 21 11 353 2 Nico Müller 12 13 12 22 21 52 33 3 11 51 53 13 3 9 6 2 12 2 330 3 Robin Frijns 91 22 31 41 33 31 12 23 53 12 12 21 23 Ret 23 Ret3 7 5 279 4 Mike Rockenfeller 4 5 11 5 6 11 4 11 4 3 9 7 8 2 Ret 6 6 42 139 5 Timo Glock 8 13 5 6 4 2 9 6 7 14 10 8 42 41 9 4 14† 8 120 6 Sheldon van der Linde 15 6 2 15 9 10 7 1 8 6 8 4 6 102 13 7 10 9 108 7 Loïc Duval 3 7 Ret3 8 7 8 21 42 9 4 Ret 9 10 13 4 6 108 8 Jamie Green 2 4 8 Ret 10 4 NC 12 13 7 14† 15† Ret 15 8 5 3 33 98 9 Marco Wittmann 11 10 4 3 5 9 14 8 3 9 3 5 15† 8 10 8 Ret 11 95 10 DNS 15 6 10 11 14 8 7 11 15 7 62 7 7 32 101 11 14 68 11 Jonathan Aberdein 10 9 15 9 14 7 6 13 10 8 6 10 11 11 4 Ret 53 7 62 12 Lucas Auer 7 8 12 14 12 1 11 10 12 11 12 13 12 3 11 Ret 12 16 51 13 Philipp Eng 6 11 9 7 8 12 13 9 6 10 4 12 9 14 12 Ret 9 10 48 14 Harrison Newey 13 Ret 10 12 15 13 12 15 14 13 11 11 5 6 7 9 Ret 13 27 15 Robert Kubica 14 14 13 13 16 16 10 14 16 12 13 Ret 14 12 Ret 3 8 15 20 16 Fabio Scherer 12 12 14 11 13 15 15 Ret 15 16† Ret 14 13 5 5 Ret 13† 12 20 17 Benoît Tréluyer 14 Ret 0 Driver SPA LAU1 LAU2 ASS NÜR1 NÜR2 ZOL1 ZOL2 HOC Points

Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap 1 – 3 Points for Pole 2 – 2 Points for P2 3 – 1 Point for P3

• † — Driver retired, but was classified as they completed 75% of the winner's race distance.

Teams' championship

	Team	Car	SPA		LAU1		LAU2		ASS		NÜR1		NÜR2		ZOL1		ZOL2		HOC		Points
1		4	91	22	31	41	33	31	12	23	53	12	12	21	23	Ret	23	Ret3	7	5	609
		51	12	13	12	22	21	52	33	3	11	51	53	13	3	9	6	2	12	2
2		33	53	31	7	13	12	63	5	51	22	23	21	3	11	13	11	12	21	11	451
		53	2	4	8	Ret	10	4	NC	12	13	7	14†	15†	Ret	15	8	5	3	33
3		19															14	Ret			247
		28	3	7	Ret3	8	7	8	21	42	9	4	Ret	9	10	13			4	6
		99	4	5	11	5	6	11	4	11	4	3	9	7	8	2	Ret	6	6	42
4	BMW Team RMG	11	11	10	4	3	5	9	14	8	3	9	3	5	15†	8	10	8	Ret	11	215
		16	8	13	5	6	4	2	9	6	7	14	10	8	42	41	9	4	14†	8
5	BMW Team RBM	25	6	11	9	7	8	12	13	9	6	10	4	12	9	14	12	Ret	9	10	156
		31	15	6	2	15	9	10	7	1	8	6	8	4	6	102	13	7	10	9
6	BMW Team RMR	22	7	8	12	14	12	1	11	10	12	11	12	13	12	3	11	Ret	12	16	113
		27	10	9	15	9	14	7	6	13	10	8	6	10	11	11	4	Ret	53	7
7		10	13	Ret	10	12	15	13	12	15	14	13	11	11	5	6	7	9	Ret	13	103
		13	12	12	14	11	13	15	15	Ret	15	16†	Ret	14	13	5	5	Ret	13†	12
		62	DNS	15	6	10	11	14	8	7	11	15	7	62	7	7	32	101	11	14
8	Orlen Team ART	8	14	14	13	13	16	16	10	14	16	12	13	Ret	14	12	Ret	3	8	15	20
	Team	Car	SPA		LAU1		LAU2		ASS		NÜR1		NÜR2		ZOL1		ZOL2		HOC		Points

Manufacturers' championship

	Manufacturer	SPA		LAU1		LAU2		ASS		NÜR1		NÜR2		ZOL1		ZOL2		HOC		Points
1	Audi	76	76	60	71	72	51	76	61	71	76	65	72	72	62	74	67	75	76	1253
2	BMW	19	15	42	31	28	51	17	39	33	15	39	27	24	37	15	37	16	13	500
	Manufacturer	SPA		LAU1		LAU2		ASS		NÜR1		NÜR2		ZOL1		ZOL2		HOC		Points

Notes and References

1. News: Rast wins at Lausitzring, as Audi takes title in DTM's 500th race. Tom. Errington. 25 August 2019. 26 August 2019. Autosport. Motorsport Network.
2. News: "What a year!" René Rast DTM Champion ahead of time. Virginia. Brusch. Audi MediaCenter. Audi AG. 14 September 2019. 21 September 2019.
3. News: R-Motorsport Aston Martin squad withdraws from DTM after one season. Autosport. 24 January 2020.
4. Web site: Audi announces decision to quit DTM after 2020. Klein. Jamie. motorsport.com. motorsport.com. 27 April 2020. 27 April 2020.
5. News: Audi and BMW hesitant to invest in development for new GT Pro class. Tamara. Aller. TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Group AB. 12 October 2020. 16 October 2020.
6. News: Nico Müller retains Audi drive for 2020. 18 September 2019. 18 September 2019. touringcartimes.com. Touring Car Times.
7. Web site: Nico Müller stays with Audi Sport Abt Sportsline DTM team for 2020. https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/B2jKsEzIJu6 . 2021-12-24 . limited. instagram.com. 18 September 2019. 18 September 2019.
8. News: Harrison Newey replaces Ed Jones in WRT Audi in 2020 DTM. Rachit. Thukral. 15 July 2020. 15 July 2020. Autosport. Motorsport Network.
9. Web site: WRT Audi adds IndyCar racer to all-new DTM line-up. Errington. Tom. Motorsport Network. Motorsport.com. 11 December 2019. 11 December 2019.
10. Web site: Treluyer set to replace Duval in second Zolder DTM race. 2020-10-11. www.motorsport.com. 8 October 2020 . en.
11. News: Jamie Green confirmed to continue for Audi in the DTM. Aller. Tamara. 5 October 2019. 5 October 2019. touringcartimes.com. Touring Car Times.
12. Web site: Robert Kubica confirmed for DTM debut with BMW and ART Grand Prix. touringcartimes.com. 13 February 2020.
13. Web site: BMW CLOSES ON 2020 DTM LINE-UP. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. 18 December 2019.
14. Web site: Aberdein leaves Audi, completes BMW's DTM line-up. Motorsport.com. 6 February 2020.
15. Web site: BMW 'highly unlikely' to have privateer cars in the DTM pre-2020. Klein. Jamie. Autosport. 22 March 2019. 22 March 2019.
16. Web site: Motopark in talks to enter DTM with privateer BMWs. Simmons. Marcus. Motorsport.com. 18 July 2019. 18 July 2019.
17. Web site: BMW confirm six works cars for 2020 with possibility for customer teams. Aller. Tamara. Touring Car Times. TouringCarTimes.com. 10 October 2019. 10 October 2019.
18. Web site: DTM-Kundenteam startklar: "Warten nur noch auf BMW". Haidinger. Sven. Motorsport-Total. motorsport-total.com. de. 16 October 2019. 16 October 2019.
19. Web site: R-Motorsport confirms split with DTM partner HWA. Errington. Tom. Motorsport Network. Motorsport.com. 24 October 2019. 24 October 2019.
20. Web site: R-Motorsport Aston Martin pulls out of DTM. Haidinger. Sven. Thukral. Rachit. Motorsport Network. Motorsport.com. 24 January 2020. 24 January 2020.
21. News: Bruno Spengler switches from the DTM to the North American IMSA series in 2020.. bmw-motorsport.com. BMW Motorsport GmbH. 17 December 2019. 17 December 2019.
22. Web site: Aberdein leaves Audi, completes BMW's DTM line-up. Thukral. Rachit. Motorsport Network. Motorsport.com. 6 February 2020. 6 February 2020.
23. Web site: Jonathan Aberdein starts for BMW M Motorsport in the 2020 DTM.. BMW Motorsport. press.bmwgroup.com. 6 February 2020. 6 February 2020.
24. News: Pietro Fittipaldi returns to Super Formula with Motopark. Formula Scout. 11 December 2019.
25. Web site: Fittipaldi and Deletraz to share Haas test and reserve roles for 2020. Formula One. 26 March 2020.
26. News: Audi plant keine Änderung bei DTM-Werksfahrern: Was wird aus Aberdein?. de. Haidinger. Sven. Motorsport Total GmbH. motorsport-total.com. 15 December 2019. 15 December 2019.
27. Web site: Audi confirms unchanged DTM line-up for 2020. Thukral. Rachit. Motorsport Network. Motorsport.com. 31 January 2020. 31 January 2020.
28. News: Auer secures 2020 BMW drive for DTM return. Errington. Tom. Motorsport Network. Motorsport.com. 18 December 2019. 18 December 2019.
29. News: Audi adds ninth DTM car for Habsburg. Motorsport.com. 11 March 2020.
30. News: Expanded schedule for 2020 DTM season. Touring Car Times. Touring Car Times. 19 September 2019. 19 September 2019.
31. Web site: Sweden joins expanded 2020 DTM schedule. Errington. Tom. Motorsport.com . 19 September 2019. 19 September 2019.
32. News: Aller . Tamara . DTM announce postponed first half of 2020 calendar following coronavirus pandemic . 26 March 2020 . touringcartimes.com . TouringCarTimes . 26 March 2020.
33. News: DTM to return to Spa in 2020 as revised calendar is revealed. Motorsport.com. 3 June 2020.
34. Web site: Monza joins DTM calendar for 2020. Errington. Tom. Motorsport.com . 5 September 2019. 5 September 2019.
35. Web site: New Russia round completes 2020 DTM calendar. Errington. Tom. Motorsport.com . 3 October 2019. 3 October 2019.
36. News: В 2020 году Россия вновь примет этап DTM . 27 September 2019 . championat.com . . 27 September 2019 . 27 September 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190927084329/https://www.championat.com/auto/news-3859707-v-2020-godu-rossija-vnov-primet-etap-dtm.html . dead .
37. News: DTM Norisring opener set to be cancelled after city verdict. Motorsport.com. 5 June 2020.
38. News: Spa to open DTM season after Norisring cancellation. Motorsport.com. 5 June 2020.
39. Web site: DTM-Hersteller einig: Push-to-pass 2020 doppelt so stark, mehr Freiheit bei DRS. de. Haidinger. Sven. motorsport-total.com. Motorsport Total GmbH. 26 December 2019. 26 December 2019.
40. Web site: DTM set to double push-to-pass power boost. Haidinger. Sven. motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. 27 December 2019. 27 December 2019.
41. Web site: Audi RS5 Turbo 2020 Technical Data. Audi Sport GmbH. 16 March 2020. 16 March 2020.
42. Web site: Tyre supply deal with Hankook extended until 2023. Touring Car Times. 1 July 2019. 1 July 2019.
43. Web site: What's the deal with the new rear wings in DTM?. Thukral. Rachit. Haidinger. Sven. motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. 7 July 2020. 7 July 2020.
44. Web site: 2.0 TFSI engine: Compact, powerful, highly efficient. audi-mediacenter.com. Audi MediaCenter. 16 March 2020. 16 March 2020.