Aston Martin Confirm 2019 DTM Entry

[Paul Jeffrey]

The long standing rumour that Aston Martin will enter DTM competition has been confirmed today - the British marque looks set to join the series from the 2019 season.

DTM boss Gehard Berger has spent the last few months attempting to secure a replacement brand for the outgoing Mercedes team next season, and it looks like much of that work has been completed following the announcement that Aston Martin will become the third manufacturer of the German based touring car series next year, teaming up with long term partner R-Motorsport and the crack HWA AG outfit to design, develop and run the new DTM specification Aston Martin Vantage from next season.

It is understood that HWA AG will develop the cars for competition, with R-Motorsport running the team for the first season, as early as potentially 2019. Although drivers have yet to be announced and outgoing Mercedes HWA driver and 2018 title contender Gary Paffett has already secured a deal to race in the all electric FIA Formula E championship from next season, ending his long term association with the German series, it will be interesting to see if any of the current crop of drivers can secure an extended stay in the DTM with the new brand, or if Aston Martin will bring in any of its extensive driving strength over from GT racing.

“We are delighted with joining together with Aston Martin a renowned top series with international orientation,” reveals Dr Florian Kamelger, founder and co-owner of AF Racing AG and R-Motorsport Team Principal. “Competing with premium manufacturers represents a major challenge for our brand. The new technical regulations and the extended international orientations of the series were important reasons for our decision.”
​

It is not yet known at the time of writing how many cars Aston Martin are expected to field next season, with further details of the exciting new entry expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Like what you see here at RaceDepartment? Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow us on social media!

 
Pleased to hear of another manufacturer coming to DTM? Do you think Aston Martin will be successful in the series? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!​

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Fresh blood in DTM, finally! Great news. Now hopefully some more big brands consider joining.

 

[AccAkut]

Meh, DTM needs to finally die and make room for something that is not a advertising photo generator. The whole thing lives of fans that do not understand how little the cars have in common with their road going Audis and BMWs. By dancing arournd the Super GT tech merger DTM made sure to never include the "evils of Japanese brands", god imagine a Lexus or Nissan winning against a domestic!!
So even of Aston really competes one day, it will be kept away from the podiums.

 

[RustyDriver00]

What Andy Palmer has accomplished with Aston Martin the last couple of years is outstanding! He's done an exceptional job getting the brand out there in Motorsport and with projects such a vulkan.

Hopefully we will see them in lmp1 in the next regs as well.

 

[protonv5]

Awesome. Looking forward to this. Long live DTM

 

[Steve Worrell]

Man that could be one of the best looking race cars ever made. Looking forward to seeing it.

 

[TylerDurden4321]

Yeeeeas.

Eff those MERCenaries, we got something hotter now!

 

[Sigmar Bomar]

Nicki Thiim said on his stream it was always his dream to drive in DTM (cause of his dad). Let's see how it plays out.

 

[Daniel Monteiro]

How convenient... seeing that the Vantage currently runs a Mercedes engine... which was really created by HWA

Not as fresh a surprise as some might think, but at least there will hopefully be a car with a different shape in the championship

 

[Alexandre]

Good news to DTM, but I'm wondering... Mercedes engine?

 

[Jonny Austin]

I enjoy nearly all racing but I just dont get the recent DTM.The great ingredients for Saloon/Touring car racing is close racing,lots of cars,lack of grip & plenty of power.The 80s DTM had all this but the current DTM seems to try hard to copy F1 when it should be copying Supercar V8s.The current cars run round on rails & the team/make tactics pushing people off & blocking people to win the Championship just dont belong in any tin top series.Does not happen in Supercar v8s or Nascar so why does it happen in DTM?
Not sure why Aston Martin is getting involved in DTM (or F1).Can only guess it is a Mercedes with a AM bodywork that will run up front immediately.

 

[wombat999]

What a total waste of time and money.

 

[Richard Dastardly]

It isn't a works entry, it's HWA and R-Motorsport's own effort as a private entry with no Aston-Martin money at all - to put another perspective on it, Red Bull F1 cars have more Aston-Martin involvement. This is not going to get me any more interested in DTM, the whole series needs a major rethink ( as if someone as big & long-lasting as Mercedes leaving didn't make that obvious ).

As for what the car is, DTM cars are all spec chassis with a bit of branding anyway. I would suspect it's a Mercedes engine though ( I'd suspect the branded front end to be suspiciously mercedes-sized too ).

V8 Supercars are also spec chassis now - they're the ones copying DTM, unfortunately. Proper touring-car spec DTM priced itself to death with the crazy cars from the mid 90s which were basically silhouette GT cars by that point - you can see the continuity into the 2000 spec but I think that was entirely the wrong way to go, if they'd rolled back to say, 1991 levels then manufacturers would still be falling all over each other to enter. There's an extremely healthy market for touring cars still, BTCC is currently massively oversubscribed & that runs it's own set of rules.

 

[Kjell81d]

I figured a manufacturer outside of Germany had to make their way in for it to survive. The Volkswagen Group owns just about every European car company so something had to give. I hope to see my favorite series continue for years.

 

[Isaac Chavira]

Fresh blood in DTM, finally! Great news. Now hopefully some more big brands consider joining.

Yes, like Alfa and Opel like the good 'ole days.

 

[ME9Swe]

2019 seems like a short time to develop a completely new DTM challenger...

 

[T04STY]

Meh, DTM needs to finally die and make room for something that is not a advertising photo generator. The whole thing lives of fans that do not understand how little the cars have in common with their road going Audis and BMWs. By dancing arournd the Super GT tech merger DTM made sure to never include the "evils of Japanese brands", god imagine a Lexus or Nissan winning against a domestic!!
So even of Aston really competes one day, it will be kept away from the podiums.

You really think people don't know the cars have nothing in common with the street versions? That's just stupid, all they have in common is the looks of the headlights. Still racing is good, they sound great and it's a great live experience.

 

[Jonny Austin]

2019 seems like a short time to develop a completely new DTM challenger...

Not if you just put a Aston Martin body on an existing Mercedes

 

[Steve Worrell]

Everyone hating on DTM, have to say I'm quite surprised.

I haven't watched much of it this year but one of the races I did watch was one of the best races I've ever seen in any Motorsport. It was hockenheim feature racerac the start of the season, if you haven't watched it go and watch it now.

I'll be disappointed if it was a one off and the rest of the season was pants .

 

[Kenny Paton]

Everyone hating on DTM, have to say I'm quite surprised.

I haven't watched much of it this year but one of the races I did watch was one of the best races I've ever seen in any Motorsport. It was hockenheim feature racerac the start of the season, if you haven't watched it go and watch it now.

I'll be disappointed if it was a one off and the rest of the season was pants .

I've enjoyed the season, and thought the night race was a good idea. Looking forward to the finale this weekend.