What’s new in the 2019 DTM?
There are a lot of innovations for 2019. Surely the biggest difference is the four-cylinder turbo, which clearly has a higher power output. At the same time, our new car has more efficient aerodynamics. That’ll make us a lot faster on the straights. All in all, it’s the biggest change that I’ve seen in DTM. Being involved in it is very exciting. I’ve been driving with eight cylinders now for twelve years and am looking forward to something new. Plus, more power is always more fun.
Is the beginning of the new era in the 2019 DTM noticeable?
Everyone in the team is highly motivated. The new car is like our new baby. Everyone is happy, even though we still have a lot of work to do. It’s about reliability, drivability and performance. The new engine behaves differently than the old eight cylinder, whose characteristics we knew inside out. We only have a few tests in DTM and we need to make optimum use of them.
How does the turbo perform compared with the previous naturally aspirated V8 engine?
The aspirated engine delivered its power in a much more linear way and with its air restrictors reached its limit at about 500 horsepower. The turbo has less cubic capacity, four cylinders less and totally different characteristics. We have about 100 horsepower more output. Obviously, you can feel that. The engine has greater thrust. Feeling its acceleration even in fourth, fifth and sixth gear is awesome. You do have tremendous power as soon as the turbo kicks in. The tires are the same, but now 100 additional horses are driving the rear wheels, which makes them spin faster. The load is higher, especially for the rear tires.
How much faster are the new DTM cars?
Depending on the track, the lap times will be two or three seconds faster than before. You approach the turns quicker and the braking phases become a little longer. We pass the straights faster because we’re driving at higher speeds – maybe at more than 300 km/h for the first time! That would be fantastic and should definitely be possible with DRS and some slipstreaming.