DTM Race #1 Results

The first round of the DTM series was like every first round of a new series – A fantastic learning experience.

Before the race began there was a pre-race meeting to go over some outstanding issues with the rules.  Although all cars started with 17” rear wheels it was decided to open wheel size to any 15”, 16” or 17” size.  The club also voted to allow a club member two run two cars with only one car being allowed to collect points.  The point’s car would have to be nominated at the start of the race.  The last issue to discuss was allowing a club member to run a car that they had not prepared themselves.  The club voted to allow it for this race as long as the club member would prepare their own car for the next race.

There were seven racers and eight cars running.  The cars were a mix of the three different makes that are available in the series with Audi having four cars present, Mercedes having three and BMW having one car in the mix.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The prerace warm up had the BMW leading the timing sheets with time in the low 3.9’s compared to the others that were running in the 4.0 range.  The interesting thing here is the BMW what was running the best time was the loaner car.  I have to wonder if the BMW has some sort of advantage for this series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The races were similar to most of the first races in any series – drivers getting used to new cars and new driving styles.  There were some great races between drivers and cars and even, believe it or not, some contact between cars.  Happy to say there was no contact between the drivers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The BMW driven by Steve was the class of the field with Shawn’s Mercedes and Marty’s Audi battling it out for second place.  The brake pot on Marty’s controller started smoking during the last heat and his car had some unwanted and unplanned acceleration as a result.  He had to use a different one to finish the race.  The fourth place Audi of David ran a good race with some fast times but was a handful to drive.  I am sure he will be working hard to get the handling fixed by the next race.  The fifth place Audi driven by Lance had a solid race but also experienced some handling issues.  Sixth place was Mark in another Audi.  Mark’s car had some gear issues that forced it to pit for an extended repair.  He would have had a much better result without his mechanical.  Lance’s second car was in seventh place and although fast on the straights, it was too slow in the corners to be a contender.  John’s Mercedes was the last car to finish due to some terrible mechanical issues.  John spent too much time in the pits to have a great result.  I am just hopeful the work was under warranty as I hear fixing a Mercedes can be expensive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to the next round.  There is a rumor that two more teams may join in the competition – one from Ary and the other from Russell.  It will be great to have them running the series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good luck to all the racers getting their cars prepared for the next round of the series on the 23^rd of the month.