BMW is planning to return to the DTM German touring car championship from 2012.
BMW hasn't raced in the series for 20 years, but it has announced it is beginning work on a DTM car with a view to entering the championship in two years' time, provided "certain basic requirements" proposed by its board are met by DTM organiser ITR.
BMW last raced in the DTM in 1992, and its return follows its withdrawal from F1 at the end of last year.
BMW has been involved in the shaping of the next-generation DTM technical regulations since August last year, when it formed a Technical Working Group with current entrants Audi and Mercedes to come up with the specification of the cars.
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Re: BMW plans DTM return
It seems as though the M3 will be the official car, and under current regulations it must have 4 doors, be RWD, 4.0L and limited to 470 bhp. A detuned version of the 480 bhp engine that's recently been installed in the Z4 GT3 RS will do very nicely indeed..
http://www.dtm.com/newsausgabe.php?id=9298
Re: BMW plans DTM return
Quite frankly, Rover 3600c, most tv watching public couldn't give a monkey's about what's under the skin. The 'commonality' isn't important, what matters is that they can think it shares a link with the car they drive day to day. ¨Put a plastic lookalikearoadcar bodyshell on F1 cars and watch the man-in-the-street interest levels increase, imagine 800bhp slickshod closed wheel racing between 4 door saloon cars that you or I could buy, driven by Alonso, Hamilton et al. That would sell tickets, tv rights, merchandising like you wouldn't believe
Re: BMW plans DTM return
Actually Peter at the moment the DTM has just two cars; the C-Class and the Audi A4. The series is great, they are proper carbon fibre racing cars which happen to look like family cars. The 3 series would be a fine addition.