“The pure speed of the DTM cars is breath-taking”

Travelling to Brands Hatch on Sunday for the DTM I was all prepared to compare and contrast the series to the British Touring Car Championship, which is a category I have reported on for 16 seasons now. I very soon realised that it isn’t really comparing like with like.

Yes, they are both tin-top categories and DTM is (nominally) a national series, but that is about where the comparison ends.

The DTM cars are purpose-built race machines and that is their sole intent. The BTCC cars are truer to – although still a long way from – their production roots. The ancestry of the machines in the two different disciplines mean that any attempt to measure the two against each other would be pointless.

The race at Brands Hatch was a nailbiter, and the ebb and flow of the battle between the Audis of Nico Muller and eventual winner Rene Rast (see report, page 18) was great to watch.

The most breath-taking thing about the DTM cars was their pure speed. Having got used to the pace of the BTCC cars, it takes some recalibration of the eyes to realise that the DTM machines will actually make it around the corners.

The second race on Sunday, the one I watched, was tense rather than all action: maybe that is the fault of the circuit configuration for cars with that much grunt and aero. There were overtaking moves, but they could be counted on one hand.

But all of that is forgotten when you simply watch the cars. The speed and the energy that they provide can gloss over any follow-my-leader processions that are happening.

So then there was the experience of the raceday, and the DTM does deliver in that department. Sure, the roster of races is not as jam-packed as the BTCC support bill, but it seems a little bit better for it. Hats off, as usual, to the Mini Miglia and Mini Se7en categories, which never fail to entertain. And to David Coulthard, who brought the sounds of F1 to Brands Hatch with two entertaining demo runs in a Red Bull Rb7-renault.

The meeting has time to breathe given the space on the timetable and the anticipation when the races actually do happen is much higher than at a normal event.

The amount of money spent by the three firms involved – Aston Martin, BMW and Audi – is simply mindblowing. There are activities for fans all over the place and a lot of engagement, although it is very hard to see how the figures stack up financially for this trip to Brands Hatch. I am not going to knock it, though, so long as the show keeps coming to town.