German car giant BMW has today announced that it plans to join the DTM from 2012 providing certain assurances can be made from the series promoter, ITR and the German motorsport governing body, the DMSB. It is believed that the primary concern held by the Munich based company is that they should be able to participate in the DTM with a car which is eligible to compete in other top level international series'.
BMW is confident that these conditions will be met, and as such has begun work on the technical side of the project, with the flagship M3 being mooted as the car upon which the new challenger will be based.
BMW Motorsport Director and former BMW F1 team boss Mario Theissen passed comment on the project today, in a media release, “The planned return to the DTM is an exciting challenge for our team. Over the coming months we will be making all the necessary technical preparations that should allow us to be competitive right from the start should we join the series in 2012. Thanks to its great tradition in production car racing, the BMW M3 is predestined to be used as the basic car.”
The team's last involvement in domestic touring car racing in their homeland came in the now defunct, Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, predecessor to the current series, where the brand scored three drivers titles between 1984 and 1989. When their involvement begins again in two years time they will hope and expect to be on the pace quickly, especially due to the fact that by then their DTM car will have had so long in the making, even if that strategy did not quite work out for them in their final campaign of F1 last season. Touring cars on the other hand, are their bread and butter, and they will not be in the mood to lose any face to teams who will be new rivals in DTM terms, but familiar foes in the real business that is selling high end road cars; they don't do this for fun you know.
