DTM targeting autumn date for postponed Norisring round
The DTM is planning to reschedule the postponed Norisring event in the autumn and has assured that there will be eight events on this year’s calendar.
The fabled Norisring street race was originally slated in early July, its traditional slot on the DTM schedule, but was postponed indefinitely in April due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
This is not the first time there has been uncertainty over the running of the event, with the 2020 event cancelled a month before its scheduled date due to a lack of permission from the city of Nuremberg.
This year's DTM calendar has already been shortened by the cancellation of the planned season opener at Igora Drive in Russia, but the series insists that it won't cut short the schedule further, with finding a new date for Norisring its priority.
"We continue to work with the organisers, the Motorsport Club of Nurnberg, which is an important partner for us," said Frederic Elsner, director event and operations at ITR.
"The event itself has such a long tradition in the DTM and is important for us, for the club, and also for the city of Nuremberg.
"We are working on it. We cannot announce any date or confirm any date. But the aim is to do it in autumn at some point.
"Overall, what I need to mention is that we will definitely do eight race weekends this year. The focus is still to get Norisring on the grid."
"But no announcement or confirmation of the date yet."
Vincent Abril, Haupt Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT3
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Holding a DTM event at Norisring in the middle of a pandemic is complicated as the city would only grant the permission if the races could take place in front of spectators.
It is understood that the city would like to hold the event in September, with the last weekend of the month looking promising.
The city has to coordinate with FC Nurnberg, which will be playing several Bundesliga matches at the adjacent Max Morlock Stadium, the dates for which are not yet decided. An overlap with the home games of the Nuremberg Ice Tigers ice hockey club however shouldn't pose a problem.
It won't be possible for the Norisring races to be held after the planned Hockenheim event on 2-3 October, as the former Formula 1 venue has a contract to host the season finale.
Should the DTM be forced to call off the Norisring street event for the second year in a row, the Lausitzring circuit owned by DTM's partner Dekra - is the most likely replacement.
The track located near Klettwitz in Germany also features a sprint configuration, which could be put to use a week before the main event on the full grand prix circuit on 16-18 July.
Lausitzring hosted a similar double header last year, with Zolder and Nurburgring also running back-to-back events due to a lack of availability of venues during the first phase of the coronavirus pandemic.
The slow-burner threatening to unseat Audi's DTM king
It's taken him a while to emerge as a consistent title challenger, but in the final year of DTM's Class One rule set, Nico Muller has smoothed the rough edges and has double champion stablemate Rene Rast working harder than ever to keep up in the title race
How a DTM failure became an unlikely Nurburgring conqueror
Opel's fortunes in the DTM had taken a turn for the worst by 2003 - hardly the pedigree that suggested it could take on the toughest 24-hour race of them all. But that's exactly what it did
The season that revitalised a sleeping giant
On the 20th anniversary of the resumption of hostilities in the DTM, Autosport revisits a classic season that brought a staple of German motorsport back to life with a bang and set in motion the careers of some notable names
Does 2000 hold the answers to DTM's current crisis?
It's 20 years since the DTM roared back into life at a packed Hockenheim with a back-to-basics approach as the antidote to its high-tech past. Now it's on its knees again, so is it time to recall the lessons learned in 2000?
The last-chance saloon of Germany's forgotten tin-top champions
The Opel Vectra GTS was the last in the line of the marque's DTM challengers, but failed to hit the lofty heights of its predecessors when financial constraints hit
Ranking the 10 best Audi DTM drivers
Audi last week announced it would be exiting the DTM at the end of 2020, bringing the curtain down on 20 years of continuous participation since the series' reboot in 2000. Autosport's expert panel ranks its 10 best drivers from the period
How the DTM landed itself in crisis
Audi's announcement that it will withdraw from the DTM was the latest bodyblow for a series that has lost three manufacturers in as many years. Some major soul-searching will now be required to assess how it can survive
The FE cynic who had to accept change in his series
DTM boss Gerhard Berger was an ardent detractor of Formula E and was reluctant for his series to embrace greener engine technologies. But this cynic's tune has had to change to ensure the DTM's existence in the future of motorsport
