While Villeneuve and Montoya are adapting well to their new home in NASCAR, their German-speaking former colleagues might be headed to their own sedan-based racing series at home.
Reports indicate that, against the advice of his older brother, Ralf Schumacher climbed into the cabin of a Mercedes C-Class DTM race car for a trial test at the Estoril track on Tuesday.
Austrian driver Christian Klien, who was passed over for the last seat at Force India in favor of Giancarlo Fisichella, is believed to have also participated in the test. The Mercedes-AMG team in the popular German touring car series recently suffered the loss of Mika Hakkinen, and is tipped to be eager to replace him with another big F1 name.
[Source: Autosport]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nardi @ Jan 16th 2008 7:52PM
DTM cars are just so outrageous, and get this ........ they turn right too.
Andrew @ Jan 16th 2008 11:10PM
Too bad they don't believe in things like good ol' country manners, fried chicken, and liberty.
That was a bad joke.
Seriously though, that car is badass.
Luis @ Jan 16th 2008 7:53PM
This is by far one of the best racing series in the world. A familiar face might spike fan curiosity thus creating a larger awareness. Good for Ralf. Too bad about Mika; he was one of the best in DTM and F1. If you've never seen it, give it a look...
Brendan @ Jan 16th 2008 8:33PM
Yeah, DTM is alright, no different than most touring car series in the states...I love the aero kits they add though.
The Penguin @ Jan 16th 2008 9:19PM
You really don't have a clue to what DTM really is.
Brendan @ Jan 16th 2008 11:39PM
Yeah, that was kind of a stupid comment. Forgot they were purpose-built. Wouldn't have that problem if [insert routine SpeedChannel is crap tirade here]...it's rough seeing a good F1 driver kicked to the curb but almost by default it HAS to be better than defecting to nascar.
Tom Winch @ Jan 17th 2008 2:25AM
Not even close! DTM cars are incredibly fast purpose built race cars. The other place DTM shines is in the pits and with pit strategy. A good DTM pitstop with refueling and a 4 tire change is under 5 seconds. They can't even match that in F1. Anyone who thinks DTM is just another touring car series knows absolutely nothing about DTM or Touring cars for that matter.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jan 17th 2008 3:16AM
DTM is a very impressive racing series technically, and has good drivers.
But I don't even consider it a touring car series. They're basically just sports cars (meaning the race kind) with badges from street cars applied.
I have some qualms about it, like I don't really think any series should allow you to use 8 people to change the tires on a car. I mean, why mandate two pit stops if the cars are only stopped for 5 seconds? It's 20 seconds down the pit lane, 5 seconds stopped and 10 seconds out of the pit lane. A slow pit stop is 37 seconds taken up, a fast one 35. It reduces the value of training your pit team and raises the cost of running a team at the same time.
Seoultrain @ Jan 17th 2008 1:17PM
ls2, your comment gave me an idea. Why not have 1 jack guy/fuel filler, and 2 guys changing tires? i think that'd be a lot of fun to watch. We'd be able to see some true masters at work.
Adam @ Jan 16th 2008 11:49PM
Nothing wrong here. F1 wasn't really the place for Ralph, regardless of any brotherly comparisons. No shame in joining DTM instead. The guy deserves some
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nagmashot @ Jan 17th 2008 1:49AM
Ralf was a good driver in the F1, far away from his brother but better than average, but his time is over...
He has won six F1 GP´s and earned 329 points there are not many driver in the world that have such a F1 record.
He has won as a rookie without a problem the Formel Nippon and in the same year he was second in the JGTC again as a rookie.
DTM is for most F1 drivers the only alternative after F1... over 20 F1 driver went to DTM after their F1 career, 3 of them were F1 worldchampions. I guess that say a lot about the driver quality there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okHiBxHAeGM&feature=related
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jan 17th 2008 3:18AM
I suspect Ralf isn't really good enough for DTM. I'm not saying he can't run there, it's not like Vanina Ickx burns up the track out there either. But I think DTM will just show that Ralf never was particularly good, he'll have trouble hold a first-line ride in DTM just like he did in F1.
markitos @ Jan 17th 2008 7:05AM
I saw these guys yesterday in the track, the car looks and sounds outrageous, from far away it sounds like a detuned F1.
Ian @ Jan 17th 2008 9:05AM
The situation Michael sees is that once Ralf settles for a DTM ride, in 2008, all hope of an F1 ride is gone forever. But the reality is that Ralf won't get vback into F1 if he sits out a season. IMHO fd he wants a slight chance at F1 in 2009 he would have to garner a Champcar ride for 2008 and WIN the Champioship handily. This would more than anything else show he had his spirit and competitiveness back.
But Ralf is likely to go for the money contract Mercedes are offering him in DTYM.
tjodleiv @ Jan 17th 2008 9:17AM
Old DTM was great. This new DTM have to much tech. Let's not mention a german series that do not race nurburgring nordschleife shouldnt exist anyway.
DRFS Rich @ Jan 17th 2008 10:17AM
I just watched coverage of DTM '07 @ the Nurburgring last weekend (Yeah, we're starved for coverage in the US).
I've gotten into DTM and V8 Supercar this year, and following them makes me dislike NASCAR even more.
- R