Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt K
Well, quite a nice day of excitement although it was all more or less expected. Really nice to see Porsche's increased involvement as well as Lamborhini having now two strong teams as opposed to just Grasser. Especially as, let's face it, last year Grasser was all about Bortolotti, the rest pretty much non-existent. Although it's pretty mysterious why SSR had the 'supported by Lamborghini' under their logo whereas Grasser didn't.
Also good to see Ferrari will be retained, I'm pretty curious about Emil Frey Racing's performance.
Audi's camp is shrinking, that's sad but well expected unfortunately.
Now it will be exciting to see all the drivers confirmed. I'll have a guess about that based on the rumours:
BMW
Schubert - S. van der Linde|R. Rast/D.Vanthoor
Project 1 - M. Wittmann| TBA - no clues there, although would be great to see a young and talented driver here, like Ben Green for instance. Would also love to see Leon Kohler being given a chance.
AUDI
ABT - K. van der Linde|R. Feller
Engstler - L. Engstler (second car unlikely)
MERCEDES
HRT - L. Stolz|A. Maini
Winward - L. Auer|D. Schumacher (third car unlikely)
Landgraf - M. Engel|J. Owega
PORSCHE
Bernhard - L. Heinrich|A. Guven
Manthey - T. Preining|D. Olsen
Toksport - M. Dienst|?? no idea there to be honest
LAMBORGHINI
Grasser - C. Schmid|R. Ineichen? Although would expect someone much stronger if they want to remain in the sharp end of the field
SSR - F. Perera|C. Engelhart
FERRARI
Frey - T. Vermeulen|A. Costa
What's interesting is that it seems Maximilian Gotz will not be back. Can't help but feel his controversial title win in 2021 hampered his reputation. First Haupt didn't want to retain him for 2022 despite winning the title and now he's removed from the DTM altogether. Would be a bit sad if that was the case - you can say whatever you want about a way he grabbed the title but it was Mercedes who orchestrated all of that, not Gotz himself. Yes, he had a nightmarish season last year but personally I'd rather see him in the DTM than Maini or Schumacher.
|
Looks like you were spot on with the Mercedes AMG picks!!
So it looks like with SSR taking 3 cars, we hit 26, thats IF Manthey, Bernhard, and Grasser all enter two cars each, and Toksport enter 1, which I have a hunch will be the case but no solid reasoning.
Have put the guys you suggested on a list with question marks next to them to show unconfirmed drivers.
I kind of expect Engstler will run two cars, and ABT too, but I doubt they will have van der Linde as he is no longer an Audi driver, and did say he had other manufacturers lined up.. I think all the factories have announced their rosters though for the year except for Lamborghini? Cant remember.. Mclaren and Aston Martin havent, but they never do
DTM 2023 - 26 Cars
ABT Sportsline - Audi R8 LMS GT3 - TBC
ABT Sportsline - Audi R8 LMS GT3 - ?Ricardo Feller?
Emil Frey Racing - Ferrari 296 GT3 - ?Albert Costa?
Emil Frey Racing - Ferrari 296 GT3 - ?Thierry Vermeulen?
Grasser Racing Team - Lamborghini Huracan GT3 - ?Clemens Schmid?
Grasser Racing Team - Lamborghini Huracan GT3 - ?Rolf Ineichen?Christian Engelhart?
Haupt Racing Team - Mercedes AMG GT3 - Luca Stolz
Haupt Racing Team - Mercedes AMG GT3 - Arjun Maini
KUS Team 75 Bernhard - Porsche 911 GT3 R - ?Laurens Heinrich?
KUS Team 75 Bernhard - Porsche 911 GT3 R - ?Ayhancan Guven?
Manthey EMA Racing - Porsche 911 GT3 R - ?Dennis Olsen?
Manthey EMA Racing - Porsche 911 GT3 R - ?Thomas Preining?
Project 1 - BMW M4 GT3 - Marco Wittmann
Project 1 - BMW M4 GT3 - TBC
SSR Performance - Lamborghini Huracan GT3 - Alessio Deledda
SSR Performance - Lamborghini Huracan GT3 - Franck Perera
SSR Performance - Lamborghini Huracan GT3 - Mirko Bortolotti
Team Engstler - Audi R8 LMS GT3 - ?Luca Engstler?
Team Engstler - Audi R8 LMS GT3 - TBC
Team Landgraf - Mercedes AMG GT3 - Jusuf Owega
Team Landgraf - Mercedes AMG GT3 - Maro Engel
Team Schubert - BMW M4 GT3 - Sheldon van der Linde
Team Schubert - BMW M4 GT3 - Rene Rast
Toksport WRT - Porsche 911 GT3 R - ?M Dienst?
Winward Racing - Mercedes AMG GT3 - Lucas Auer
Winward Racing - Mercedes AMG GT3 - David Schumacher