DTM 2023 calendar to return to its roots

Next season’s schedule set to be finalised this month and plans to consolidate existing fanbase.
  • “Very difficult” to see DTM returning to UK in near future, says Martin Tomczyk
  • Series expected to focus on races close to traditional fanbase

German Touring Car Masters (DTM) is set to finalise its 2023 calendar this month and plans to consolidate its existing fanbase with a schedule that is “more back to the roots”.

Martin Tomczyk, the 2011 DTM champion who has taken greater control over next season’s calendar following an internal restructure within organising body ITR, confirmed the plans to Motorsport.com.

Tomczyk said it was “very difficult” to expect an imminent return to the UK, having been absent from the schedule since 2019.

Instead, the series is set to focus on races close to its traditional fanbase.

“It’s always nice when you race in front of a lot of spectators, that’s basically our base – fans – and they are from Germany or the close region of Germany,” Tomczyk told Motorsport.com.

“So I think the way we will go, it’s more back to the roots from the DTM.

“It does not mean that we don’t go somewhere else, but in the way what we are thinking doing the calendar is more in that direction.”

DTM currently hosts a race on the streets of Nuremberg, but Tomczyk said the infrastructure required for these meetings means the series is more likely to focus on permanent venues.

A lacklustre turnout at this year’s Imola race could see the circuit drop off the calendar, while the Salzburgring in Austria is in contention to host a race for the first time since 1988.

It was previously reported that DTM was considering a return to the Nürburgring Nordschleife track and, while Tomczyk has said “it’s not completely off the table”, this move is looking increasingly unlikely due to issues with TV coverage and sightlines for fans at the circuit.

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