Audi Sport have unveiled their 2017 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters title challenger the Audi RS 5 DTM in Geneva, signalling a new chapter in the companies history.
“This is a special day for me and everyone involved in the DTM project,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass. “For the first time, we developed a new DTM car in parallel with the production model. This underlines once again how closely motorsport and production work together at Audi.”
“The track record of the previous-generation model sets benchmarks for the future. Having clinched ten victories in each of the last two seasons, it was the most successful DTM car in both years. Obviously, we’d like to repeat this with the new RS 5 DTM,” Gass added.
The 2017 regulations mean that less impact is made by aerodynamics and the emphasis is put back on the driver performance.
“It appears even more progressive and is even more extreme in terms of aerodynamics,” said Project Leader Stefan Gugger. “In many areas of aerodynamics, we explored further detailed options.”
“In addition, we’ve improved the components in terms of accuracy of fit once again. As far as gap dimensions are concerned, Audi has always stood out from the competition. Still, we’ve made another step that enhances aerodynamic performance.”
One of the major changes to the aerodynamics this year means improvements to the Drag Reduction System (DRS), which brings it more in line to the system used in Formula 1 which is intended to produce more overtaking manoeuvres.
Aside from the aero changes the Audi RS 5 DTM will benefit from a softer tyre compound from Hankook along with developments in the four litre V8 engine now producing more than 500 HP.
“You can feel this additional power in the cockpit,” says Jamie Green who in winter, together with Mattias Ekström, performed the major part of the testing work.
While the base of the engine remains unchanged, engineers have worked on the air intake and cooling systems over the off-season to produce the power boost.
“The new DTM regulations reflect a major effort aimed at achieving further cost reductions while enhancing the sport and making the cars more attractive,” says Gass.
“These are exciting times for the DTM. We have more power, softer tires and less downforce. Combined with the best drivers, we expect to see even more thrilling racing. I can only invite everyone to come to Hockenheim at the beginning of May to personally witness the first race of our new baby.”