It appears that two of the world’s most exciting Grand Touring (GT) race series on this planet, Germany’s Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) and Japan’s Super GT will join forces to have a joint race in Asia in 2015. The Asian race in either in Japan or China would pitch the latest breed of turbocharged Super GT machinery to battle against normally-aspirated V8s of the DTMs, which would likely involve some kind of performance balancing. DTM cars were powered by a V8 engine producing 460 HP which is 40 HP less than the GT500 cars of Super GT – however, that set to change as the German-based series is looking to introduce small-capacity direct-injection turbo engines similar to those that will be used in Super GT, by 2017 at least.
Hans Werner Aufrecht, boss of DTM organizer the ITR, said: “Witnessing the intensive cooperation of series organizers, associations and car manufacturers from three different continents and cultures on a joint project feels just great. With the planned first joint on-track appearances, the first results of this constructive collaboration also will become palpable for the fans.”
This year’s Super GT saw major regulation changes for the premier GT500 category where the chassis regulations matched the specs from a DTM machine. However, there is no announcement for a Super GT race in Sepang, Malaysia for this year and one could wonder if the DTM & Super GT joint race will be held in Sepang.
[Source: Autosports]
