SkiddMark » michael schumacher

Cole Position: An insider’s view on the 2011 Race of Champions (ROAD Magazine Special)

Steve Davies — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:30:58 +0000

This is precisely the kind of article I enjoy reading, a fly on the wall insight into a special event that most of us can only view from afar.

Created in 1988 by former rally driver Michèle Mouton, the only female WRC event winner, and Fredrik Johnsson, the Race of Champions has become the most eagerly-anticipated after party of the motorsport season. This year’s event, run on the 3rd and 4th December, returned to Dusseldorf’s ESPRIT Arena, the venue where relative newcomer Felipe Albuquerque took the overall ‘Champion of Champions’ cup in 2010.

Taking part this year were seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher, the reigning 2011 F1 title-holder Sebastian Vettel and a selection of the biggest names on two and four wheels including, Moto-X rider and rallycross driver Travis Pastrana, 2011 DTM champion Martin Tomczyk, Britain’s Jenson Button and Andy Priaulx, F1 drivers Vitaly Petrov, Timo Glock and Romain Grosjean and of course last year’s RoC Champion of Champions, the Portugese DTM driver Felipe Albuquerque.

Neil Cole interviews the irrepressible Travis Pastrana.

For the first time in ages, multiple WRC champion Sebastien Loeb was absent from the field, but in his place were three rising stars of rallying; Sébastien Ogier (Loeb’s Citroen WRC team mate in 2011), Jan Kopecký (2011 IRC runner-up for Skoda) and Juho Hänninen (Super 2000 WRC champion in 2011).

Naturally, the bookies’ favourite was Sebastian Vettel, the man who could do no wrong in F1 during 2011, clinching his second successive drivers title, but the field was more than adequately blessed with champions, including three F1 world champions, together with champions of DTM, X-Games, WTCC and Le Mans.

If you haven’t already seen the highlights, then I’ll not spoil the surprise by telling you who wins, but you can get up to speed by watching the official review video fronted by well-known TV presenter, Neil Cole.

In fact, that’s the real reason for this post, to draw your attention to Neil’s first column in ROAD magazine, appropriately named “Cole Position”.

Neil has been a familiar face on our TV screens during recent years, presenting the official WRC coverage on DAVE and live interviews at Race of Champion events. This time he provides an exclusive insight for ROAD readers into what it really feels like to muck around off-camera with the finest drivers in the world.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you.

Neil has an on-camera chat with Michael Schumacher.

Race Of Champions 2011

I am standing in an underground car-park, shoulder to shoulder with Jenson Button, Andy Priaulx and Travis Pastrana – three men at the very top of their individual trees.

We are watching the live TV output of a race… a race taking place about 40 feet and several thousand tonnes of concrete, grass, metal and tarmac above our heads.

The camera cuts to an onboard shot of Tom Kristensen’s face – clearly visible in HD & an open-face helmet – wide-eyed, gurning and snarling as he fights a KTM X-Bow around a tight 1.2km parallel circuit. All four of us burst out laughing at the Le Mans’ legend’s extreme facial expressions.

“TK – you’re an ANIMAL!” says JB. (Initials are the usual abbreviation, just ask DC) and everybody laughs again.

This is the spirit of Race Of Champions. It has the feel of a millionaire’s stag weekend: yes, all the drivers are there to WIN, and to represent their sponsors and charities, but ultimately it is the closest we get to the Good Old Days of Motorsport where gentlemen drivers would walk out of the pub, stub out a cigarette, jump in the cockpit, spit on their hands and RACE.

Read the remainder of Neil’s article in ROAD 22: “Motorsport Monsters”.

Keep up to speed with Neil on Twitter – @neilcole and Facebook.

The Accidental Hero – An interview with Ken Block

Steve Davies — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:53:41 +0000

This week we’ve been celebrating the Top 20 Global Social Video Ads of 2011 with Unruly Media, and while Volkswagen’s The Force has been the phenomenon of the year, there is another which vies for the crown and which has not benefitted from the full-on promotional boost of the NFL Super Bowl.

DC Shoes’ Gymkhana 4 – The Hollywood Megamercial, reached 2nd place in this year’s chart, but unlike Volkswagen’s Super Bowl ad released in February, Gymkhana 4 has only been out for just 3 months. We were interested in speaking with the Hoonigan himself, finding out what motivates him to be so successful and what he’s got in store for us in 2012.

Over the course of an enjoyable hour with Ken Block, I got to know the businessman, motorsport fan and driver, during which time I learned how little of the enormous success of Gymkhana had gone to his head. We also explored whether his two seasons in WRC had made him a better driver, his attitude to driving stunts on the public road and his reflections on competing against Kimi Raikkonen in rallying.

We covered a lot of ground, so bear with me as I try to relay the conversation, which was squeezed into his busy schedule whilst testing his H.F.H.V. Ford Fiesta at the Dirtfish Rally School, east of Seattle.

Let’s start with the commercial side of his life, namely his behind-the-scenes role as Chief Brand Officer of DC Shoes.

DC Shoes and the Gymkhana videos

If you don’t already know, 44-year old Block co-founded DC Shoes together with Damon Way back in 1993, before selling to surf clothing giant Quiksilver Inc. for $87 million in 2003. Back in 2003/2004 DC Shoes was generating nearly $100 million in revenue which has since grown to around $500 million (in 2010), so if you’d pictured Block as a fun loving daredevil without any work ethic, think again.

DC Shoes was one of the first skateboard shoe companies to make extensive use of professional endorsements, and in Block’s role as Chief Brand Officer he joined Travis Pastrana in 2006 to compete for Subaru Rally Team USA. After competing successfully in the 2006 Rally America National Championship (finishing 2nd overall), Block embraced the world of X Games – finishing 3rd in the very first event.

The original Gymkhana video appeared in September 2008, but like all the best viral marketing success stories, Block really didn’t plan to create his own Internet meme. Earlier in the year with plans to enter himself in a local Gymkhana event in Southern California, Block invited California-based Crawford Performance to build him a 530hp Subaru Impreza STi, but when the competition was cancelled Block decided to put his car to use and filmed the 4:25 minute video ‘Ken Block Gymkhana Practice’. He’d basically built a car, but had nothing else to do with it.

“I didn’t think it was going to be as successful as it has been, but it’s been a nice bonus.” admits Block. “When the first video came out DC wasn’t so involved with YouTube, so it went up on my personal website and in 3 months it had 11 million views. I eventually took it down because it cost so much money to host, so then we put it up on YouTube”.

Since then the original Gymkhana video has clocked up 11.2 million views on YouTube, so that’s over 22 million views at his first attempt.

Ken Block takes to the streets of Los Angeles to test out Ford’s new SYNC system in his H.F.H.V. Ford Fiesta race car.

I then asked Ken what effect has Gymkhana, as a series from 1 to 4, had on the DC Shoes brand and on the personality of the brand in the way that they are able to convey what it is about DC Shoes that people should engage with?

KB: The success of Gymkhana has been quite unexpected, because from the beginning DC Shoes has always been a skateboard brand and skateboarding is more of a lifestyle experience, whereas motorsport is kind of the flipside of that and is all about racing in competitions. So basically I took all my experience from skateboarding and snowboarding and just applied that to doing something different and unique with motorsport. So as far as DC is concerned, we’ve been very happy with the global exposure and it’s definitely helped increase sales and increased the awareness of DC Shoes to people outside of our core markets.”

When the first video came out DC wasn’t so involved with YouTube, so it went up on my personal website and in 3 months it had 11 million views. I eventually took it down because it cost so much money to host, so then we put it up on YouTube

“Whilst DC has always spent its marketing dollars selling product to the core skateboarders, snowboarders and surfers, we needed a way to reach people who shop in the larger mall chains such as Pacific Sunwear here in the States, so that’s where this Gymkhana series has really been successful for us – getting the name and product in front of the kids that go shop at those more mainstream outlets.”

“For us it’s been a huge success in that way, doing exactly what viral marketing is supposed to do – you put something out there that’s great eye-candy that people enjoy watching and that in turn ends up being a way to promote and sell those products.”

SD: But obviously it’s more than just eye-candy, isn’t it Ken? Because people wouldn’t carry on being engaged with the Gymkhana series if they didn’t identify with the videos, either because they aspire to be like you, or they recognise something in you that they see in themselves.

KB: “Yeah, absolutely, that’s the great thing about cars, almost everybody can relate to a car, unlike a skateboard – if a guy does a kick-flip down 25 stairs, does the consumer really know that it’s harder than 10 stairs? Whereas most people have been in cars and can relate to it and figure that what I do is not so easy. But the reason I say eye-candy is I could go do that stuff and if it’s badly produced, badly put together or doesn’t give you the full experience then people wouldn’t enjoy it and would be less likely to share it with their friends.”

if a guy does a kick-flip down 25 stairs, does the consumer really know that it’s harder than 10 stairs? Whereas most people have been in cars and can relate to it and figure that what I do is not so easy.

SD: I am sure you are aware that Gymkhana 2 wasn’t initially as successful as your first video when it came out, mainly because the marketing message was more prominent. Are you conscious of that feedback and have you then adjusted your approach to better meet the expectations of the audience?

KB: “Ah (he laughs), that’s a good question. That’s why we called it an ‘Infomercial’ – we were just poking fun at branded videos. Like I said earlier, it’s all marketing and if you just did the same thing over and over, people would get very bored and not come back to watch again, so I just think that certain ideas are more popular than others and I actually think Gymkhana 2 is an exceptionally well produced and fun video and has some very dangerous driving in it.”

“In Gymkhana 3 we took what we knew from the first two videos and just made it the best we could make it, and as we go along with the series we take our lessons from what we’ve tried and just keep improving. But sometimes you can make mistakes.”

SD: This week we’ve been celebrating the Viral Video Chart’s Top 20 branded videos of all time in which Gymkhana 4 is the 5th most viral with 2.1 million shares, whilst Gymkhana 3 is 2nd with 2.7 million shared (incidentally top is Volkswagen’s ‘The Force’ with 4.7 million shares).

Visit Unruly Media’s Viral Video Chart for more information and to read the article, “Darth Vader can’t Gymkhana”.

Whilst Volkswagen’s ad has been viewed 46 million times and shared socially an incredible 4.71 million times, Gymkhana 4 has so far received 12.9 million views in the 3 months since it was launched. That’s a share/view rate of 16.3% compared to 10.2% for the pocket-sized Vader meme, and compares against 6.3% for Gymkhana 3. All in all, Gymkhana is on target to have clocked up 150 million views since its inception in 2008. That makes it the most successful series of branded videos of all time.

Naturally I asked Block, why he believed the series has been so successful, and what he can do to top this again with Gymkhana 5?

KB: “Yeah, it’s really kind of funny, I started off doing this (Gymkhana) because I absolutely love doing it and I’m just very lucky that so many people enjoy what I do with the car and not only that, the creativity side of how these come together, so I’m really a lucky bastard and really appreciate where I sit in this world and I know eventually people will get bored of it – there’s only so many things I can do with the car. But in the meantime I’m going to enjoy it, appreciate it and keep doing it as long as I can, but also knowing that at some point this is most likely going to come to an end.

A lot of people don’t understand the perspective of that. I look at it because I’m a marketing person and have won awards for the marketing things I’ve done, so I realise how crazy these numbers are. If you look at the major categories that I’m in – footwear, action sports and automotive – then you’re talking about big companies we’re competing against like Nike, Ferrari and companies like Burton Snowboards all the way to energy drink companies such as Red Bull, and we’ve destroyed everybody in these categories as far as viral marketing. That’s something for me that I’m incredibly proud of.

The first time was a bit of a fluke, it was not really intended to be that successful – it was just for fun – but since then it’s been a very calculated and deliberate marketing exercise.”

Some words of advice for other marketeers

SD: Without giving away any trade secrets, what would be your advice to other marketers seeking to connect with their audiences and emulate your success with their own campaigns?

KB: “That’s a difficult question, all I can do is relate to what I’ve done over the years.

I’m very lucky to be in the position of having had this company (DC Shoes) for a long time, I was a skateboarder when I was a kid, then a snowboarder when I was older and I raced motorcycles when I was in my teens, so I lived those lifestyles and to be running a company providing products to these groups all came from my passion as a kid and my love of what I did.

I’m not a marketing educated person, so I came from the perspective of expressing what came from the heart. It sounds kind of cheesy, but it was easy to market to myself.”

You watch the videos. Then you buy the shoes. Capiche?

SD: I think what a lot of brands haven’t got their heads around yet is that social media marketing is all about truth, and integrity and engaging with an audience on real values – not because it’s a more honourable medium, but there’s no hiding place, so the brands that succeed are the ones who allow their customers to come inside and engage with them on an equal level.

And it plays to those brands who are able to speak from a personal, rather than corporate, level and that’s very much what Gymkhana enables DC Shoes to do.

KB: “That’s right, with the amount of content online, it’s so much easier for people to see what is fake and not aligned with what else is going on in their marketplace – so it’s actually getting more difficult to have stand-out marketing that’s also authentic. That’s where the authenticity and touchpoints of really being involved with the market really are becoming really important.”

SD: And there’s also you as a personality. A lot of brands don’t have a person that people can connect to, nor do they express much in the way of a personality for the brand as a whole. Consumers need to connect with a brand at this personal level in order for social marketing to work.

KB: “Yeah absolutely, I totally agree.”

Combining his love of design and creativity with driving

SD: You started out designing silk-screen T-shirts, do you still enjoy creative design and how much of your input goes into the Gymkhana videos?

KB: “I have a very varied background, from product development to marketing to photography to ad layouts, the fun thing about these videos is that it combines my love of driving and racing a car with all these experiences and skills I have for doing business. So, I go from developing and designing the livery, taking that livery and applying it to apparel and footwear, to helping design the apparel and footwear then there’s the whole marketing and concept side of the videos to physically going driving and making the videos. So it’s pretty wild – I guess I really am a lucky bastard – I get to combine all these things that I truly love to do all in one 7-minute video.”

Before he allows me to move on, Ken then asks me a question about the appetite of audiences for feature-length videos.

KB: “I said something there at the end, I mentioned the 7-minute video, have you guys been surprised at all about the popularity given how long these videos are?

SD: Not really. Several years ago we were one of the first content provoiders to produce videos longer than 10-minutes and found that if the content was rich and engaging enough, then people would sit through 10 or even 20 minutes of automotive content with very little drop off – in fact 80% or more would watch these videos from beginning to end.

On our branded content platform, SkiddPlayer, we regularly see the longer-form version of adverts (2 mins or more) outperforming the 15 or 30 second spots and as more people view these videos from portable devices such as iPads, the time people are prepared to spend will most likely increase. Online viewers are now so used to watching Top Gear and other TV programs online (on Hulu or BBC iPlayer), that they’re often looking for something with a story which provides good entertainment. You simply cannot achieve that within 30 seconds or even 1 minute.

Whilst the average time spent online is still half of that spent watching TV, it is growing and will soon be 3 hours per day for adults. So it’s getting easier to find room for 7-minutes of self-indulgent automotive hoonery.

The Gymkhana World Tour

SD: This year’s 3-stop Gymkhana World Tour was hugely successful – tell us more about your plans to make the tour “bigger and better” in 2012.

KB: “The idea behind the world tour is that we get appearance requests from around the world and I enjoy doing these, because it’s one thing to watch the video but to experience the engine noise, and seeing me sliding around really close to obstacles is something very cool.

It’s also nice being able to go out and do it in front of people. Monster and Ford have a huge presence in Australia and Europe, so we started with that and obviously it was great to do something here in the States too, but next year it looks like it might jump up to 5 stops included places like China and the Middle-East, so I’m really looking forward to it.

Partnering with other brands

SD: Since choosing to drive with Ford (Focus & Fiesta) your promotional connection with the car you drive has become more prominent (i.e. 43 Fiestas campaign) – how do you balance the interests of each brand? (Monster Energy, Ford, DC Shoes, Mobil 1 etc)

KB: “I am very particular about the brands that I work with, we have a great set of sponsors now, so a lot of it is just a coordinated effort between myself, my agent and those brands. It’s not an easy thing, but each brand has their unique competence and we all share the same desire to produce the best quality product. Like I said, I’m a lucky bastard getting to work with all these great brands.”

SD: I then mention the DiRT3 launch at Battersea, London earlier this year which I joined.

KB: “DiRT3 launch is like a perfect example – I’ve got a good relationship with the Codemasters guys, they listen and take feedback very well, they want my ideas and to be able to put together an event like we did at Battersea is amazing. Not only did they do a great job at incorporating Gymkhana into the game, but I really enjoy working with sponsors who integrate the marketing and the message and the performance side of the driving all into one thing.”

The meaning of #43

SD: Ken, there’s one thing I’ve always wanted to ask you, what’s the significance of your trademark No.43 race number?

KB: “It doesn’t really mean anything, it actually was my favourite number as a kid, so I was using it on my dirt bike and then when I started racing cars.

On top of that, coincidentally, I would love to claim this is the thought behind it, although it really isn’t – but the letters ‘D’ and ‘C’ are the 4th and 3rd letters of the alphabet. That’s just a wonderful coincidence, but I can’t really claim any such intelligence behind choosing it.”

Yo Australia! Please hoon responsibly.

SD: When at the Melbourne leg of the Gymkhana World Tour you spent time appealing to your fans to hoon ‘responsibly’ – are you concerned about fans trying to copy your stunts on the road?

KB: “Well, there’s a couple of things there in your question. Number one is the fact that the word ‘Hoon’ has a different connotation in Australia, that anywhere else in the world. That’s where the word comes from and people are hearing it constantly, and the police use it – there’s even ‘Hoon Laws’. Whereas here in America and in Europe it has taken on as a term of endearment, so when I went to Australia I had to be very careful to make sure the correct meaning was understood.

And also from my perspective, I also want to promote safety. Driving aggressively and the things that I do, are all done in the safest place possible – I don’t encourage anybody doing something outside of the controlled situation. You won’t find a video anywhere, or photos of me actually doing something on the street that might put anyone else in danger or myself.”

SD: Are you involved in any road safety programs yourself?

KB: “No I’m not, it’s not that I wouldn’t want to be – in fact I would like to be, but we just haven’t been approached or haven’t seen anything that necessarily appeals to me.

In fact the first thing I say to people who ask me how to get into racing is, go to rally school, learn how to operate the vehicle before you go out an operate it on a stage road.”

The World Rally Championship (WRC)

SD: How have you found your first 2 seasons in WRC?

KB: “I’ve had two ‘short’ seasons, I haven’t actually raced an entire season – I did 6 or 7 events in the first year and 9 this year, so technically I’ve only just done slightly more than 1 full season.”

SD: How did you feel being the sole American in a mainly European-dominated championship?

KB: “I knew that what I was doing was quite a daunting task, it’s like jumping from high-school sports right into professional sports without a huge amount of experience.

So, I was very upfront with my sponsors, my fans and anyone else who would listen and I knew that I was going to struggle, but the only way to get to that level is to go out there and do it. By racing and winning events in a national championship isn’t going to get me to that level, so it was a really big step for me to go do that, but I knew that I had to do it to find out if I was good enough.

I’ve come a long way, this year I had a couple of top-5 stage finishes and my best ever was a top-4 stage finish in Rally France and that’s something I’m really proud of. I often like to say, that as Americans we aren’t known for rallying and there’s only been 3 other American’s before me that have won WRC points – so actually more Americans have been on the Moon than have won WRC points!”

SD: Has it helped you become a better driver?

KB: “Oh yeah, definitely – I’m a much, much better driver than I was before entering the WRC 2 years ago.

A lot of people just don’t have a sense for how hard rally is – it’s incredibly hard. There’s an incredibly high level on closed track racing and the feel of a guy like Sebastian Vettel has for the car, tyres and the speed of the track is just insane, but when you go into rallying and understand how the notes work and how they make you faster, that’s a whole game unto itself.

Outside of how well a guy can drive a car, or set-up the car. I’ve had to learn a lot of new things and adapt what I’ve learned over the years, but it’s been an amazing challenge and I’ve proved that I can actually do it, but I’d really like to be closer to the top guys but that all comes with experience.”

SD: What do you think is the main difference between you and the more experienced competitors such as Hirvonen, Loeb and Solberg?

KB: “Yeah, the notes are a really big deal – coming from America we don’t have 2-pass recce where you write your own notes, starting from scratch against guys who’ve doing it for many years has been a huge learning experience.

On top of that coming in as a ‘customer driver’, you know renting a car from M-Sport, you just don’t have the time and the resources of the factory guys who are constantly testing and developing the car. But I don’t like to make excuses, I like to do the best job that I can.

But at the end of the day I’m racing against guys like Sebastien Loeb, Mikko Hirvonen and Petter Solberg – hell, Matthew Wilson has been racing a WRC car longer than I’ve actually been racing a rally car. So it’s tough, but I’m very lucky to be able to go out and race in an amazing championship and along the way I’m going to try and enjoy it as much as I possibly can.”

SD: Rallying is much closer to the Gymkhana style of driving, but do you have an interest in circuit racing as well?

KB: “I’ve done some testing on circuits and I enjoy it, but I love the stage rallying where you are out on these amazing roads out in the countryside – where every corner is different. That’s what I get a little bored with in circuit racing.

Eventually I’d like to return to Gymkhana competition and race against Travis Pastrana, Tanner Foust and even some of the rally guys like Petter Solberg. That would eventually be the outlet when the Gymkhana videos are over. We’re just looking for people who are good competition organisers to help put this together.”

SD: Ok, we’re on the home straight – last few thoughts now. Colin McRae would have loved Gymkhana wouldn’t he?

KB: “Absolutely, Colin loved the side of motorsports where you got to go out and have fun in your vehicle, and even right before he passed away he called me when I was down in New Zealand filming with my car and some snowboarders (as part of Gymkhana 1) and when I told him about it, he was so stoked to hear about it.

Unfortunately he never got to see it because he passed away before it came out. But it was that sort of thing that he and I shared a real bond for. Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to share Gymkhana with him and all the great things that happened afterwards.”

SD: You’ve raced against Kimi Raikkonen in WRC and he’s now heading back to F1 in 2012. How do you rate him?

KB: “I really like him. I was already a fan before he came to rally and I got to know him, he’s just an exceptionally talented driver, just well beyond what I could aspire to. He has more talent in his little pinky (finger) than I do in my whole body, I enjoy interacting and watching people like Kimi because it’s quite amazing to witness that much skill.

I mean just the fact of how well he did in WRC, without years of racing in national championships, just shows the depth of his talent. And I think a lot of people take that for granted, you know saying he didn’t do that well in the WRC, but actually he did. Yes, he had more crashes than he probably should have but that’s just because he didn’t spend 10 years of his life driving on gravel like these other guys, so really I’m blown away by how well he actually did when he was out there.”

SD: Would you expect Kimi to be a better driver than when he was last in F1?

KB: “Well I can’t see how it would hurt, you know driving on loose surfaces like we do gives you a whole other sense of how to feel what the car is doing, so I am sure it will have benefitted his overall skills but how that will translate into Forumula 1, I have no idea.”

SD: Would you like to drive Formula 1 yourself?

KB: “I would like to. As anybody that has competed in a car and been a car fan, F1 is the epitome of cars and car technology and to get into one of those cars and take a quick spin for a lap would just be amazing.

Pirelli with their involvement in F1 tried to get me in a car to do a fun experience, but their agreement was with Toyota (whose old chassis Pirelli use to develop tyres for F1), but I physically do not fit in the Toyota car because I’m too tall.”

SD: Finally, last weekend was the annual Race of Champions event in Dusseldorf. We would love to see you take part, have you been asked?

KB: “No, I’ve never been asked. It looks like a very interesting event, it also looks very difficult jumping from car to car on cold tyres.

Talking to Travis (Pastrana) over the years, because he’s done it a bunch of times, I hear nightmares of certain cars working better than other cars, because someone bends a control arm or something – it seems like a bit of a nightmare for a driver, but hey if you’re able to pull it off and do well like Ogier did this year, then there’s a great pay-off. I’d love to experience it someday.

I’ve met Michael (Schumacher) and obviously raced against Sebastien (Loeb) but it’s always very interesting to meet those guys and interact with them. You know, I come from the standpoint of a fan so it’s very cool for me to meet those guys, because genuinely inside I’m still just a fan.”

SD: Ken, thanks very much for your time. We are very impressed with what you have achieved in your business and in your sport, so keep doing what you do so well and we’ll keep watching.

Images: Kindly provided by DC Shoes and Ken Block Racing.

Bruno Spengler switches from AMG Mercedes to drive for BMW in the 2012 DTM series

Steve Davies — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:51:51 +0000

Mercedes DTM lead driver, Bruno Spengler, has left the Stuttgart team and signed with BMW Motorsport, joining Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus. Bruno is the 3rd driver to be confirmed for the BMW factory teams, which will field 6 cars in the 2012 DTM series.

BMW will be represented in the DTM by three factory teams, BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW Team RBM and BMW Team RMG. Each team will enter two of BMW’s M3 DTM cars, shown for the first time in its BMW M Performance livery at last weekend’s season finale in Hockenheim.

Spengler made his debut in the DTM in 2005, and has made a solid impression on the series. The 28-year-old has been on the top step of the podium nine times in 74 starts. In addition, the French-Canadian has claimed 11 pole positions and set 12 fastest laps to date. Twice – in 2006 and 2007 – Spengler narrowly missed out on the DTM title, ending up second in the drivers’ classification on each occasion. In 2011 he finished third overall for Mercedes-Benz.

“In recent weeks we have not only been developing the BMW M3 DTM, but have also been working on the driver line-up for our return to the DTM,” says BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt.

“Outside our current line-up, Bruno Spengler was one of our top choices. Despite his youth he has a lot of DTM experience, which will greatly assist us during our development phase and on race weekends. For this reason, we did not hesitate when the opportunity to sign Bruno up arose. We have yet to decide which of our three teams he will drive for. That will be announced at a later stage.”

Spengler initially made his name in Formula Renault and Formula 3 before making his debut in the DTM in 2005. He scored his first points with a sixth place at the Lausitzring (DE) and went on to claim his first win at the Norisring (DE) a year later. He followed up that victory with his first pole position at the Nürburgring (DE). He has since developed into one of the top drivers in this series.

The 2012 DTM contenders come out to play at Hockenheim (w/video)

Steve Davies — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 19:58:44 +0000

Next season’s DTM series promises to be a classic, as BMW join Mercedes and Audi on track for the first time since 1995. For the DTM season finale at Hockenheim today, the contenders met for the first time in a friendly demonstration for the fans.

BMW works driver Dirk Werner completed two laps of the Hockenheim track in the “BMW M Performance Accessories M3 DTM”, with eight-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen joining him in the new 2012 Audi A5 DTM.

Audi’s Hans-Jürgen Abt spoke about his enthusiasm for the 2012 season, “I’m already looking forward to a new era in the DTM. Continuing with the new cars for Audi and meeting with BMW as another competitor is a huge challenge. For the team as well it’s a huge task. It has to sort itself anew with the new technology.

2012 Audi A5 DTM driven by Tom Kristensen

I know that I’ve got a tremendous squad. I look forward to us taking on the competition. That has always been our strength, particularly at the beginning of such a new era. We’ll let ourselves be surprised.”

BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt said: “This event was something very special for us. Since the early morning there have been clusters of people around our car, and it was simply breathtaking to be able to present our car in front of such a crowd.

The reactions to our car were all positive. Today gave us all a lot of extra motivation to present ourselves in top form in half a year’s time at the same venue.”

Fitted with a powerful new V8 engine generating approximately 480 bhp, the M3 DTM accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in a little over three seconds and has a theoretical top speed of nearly 190 mph.

BMW works driver Dirk Werner commented: “It was a great experience to be able to do today’s demonstration laps. Obviously I drove the BMW M3 DTM at the recent tests – but a stage like this really is something special. You could feel the spine tingling atmosphere even in the car.”

2012 BMW M3 DTM which was driven by Dirk Werner at Hockenheim today

The new “BMW M Performance Accessories” livery of the BMW M3 DTM had been presented to a few members of the public at the BMW Autohaus Krauth in Heidelberg (DE) on Friday.

Around three months earlier, on July 15th, the BMW M3 DTM concept car was officially presented at the BMW Welt in Munich (DE). From 2012 on, BMW will compete in the DTM with three strong teams, the BMW Team Schnitzer, the BMW Team RBM and the BMW Team RMG. The BMW works drivers Andy Priaulx (GB) and Augusto Farfus (BR) have already been confirmed as drivers for the 2012 season.

Mercedes: A history of DTM in pictures (w/Images)

Steve Davies — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:14:54 +0000

Although the 2011 DTM driver’s championship has already been clinched by Audi’s Martin Tomczyk, the team title is still up for grabs with Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline leading by just 5 points (77 pts) over THOMAS SABO / Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG (72 pts). There’s also the consolation prize of ‘Vice-Champion’ to be decided, which will go to either Mercedes’ Bruno Spengler (51 pts) or Audi’s Mattias Ekström (49 pts).

The DTM finale takes place this coming weekend (October 23rd) at the Hockenheimring and with the regulations changing for 2012, Mercedes has chosen to remind us of their rich and illustrious history in the series, by sharing some images below.

Since 2000, when the DTM series was revived, Mercedes-Benz have won 18 out of the 25 races staged at Hockenheim, which is a win rate of over 70 percent. But Audi’s A4 DTM is none too shabby either – 43 pole positions, 31 fastest race laps, 34 victories and five champion’s titles since its debut in April 2004 at Hockenheim.

Spengler said, “The Hockenheimring is one of my favourite tracks, and the season opener in May went really well for us – it was the second win in my career at the circuit. I especially like the combination of fast corners and slow sections such as the hairpin. This course is technically very demanding and you need good brakes and impressive top speed. It’s a lot of fun racing here. As this is the last race for the DTM AMG Mercedes C-Class, we’re aiming to send our fans home happy with a victory and to win the team championship.”

Audi Sport driver Mattias Ekström spoke of his thoughts before the weekend, “It’s always nice to travel to Hockenheim. It will conclude the season. This time I’m arriving there completely relaxed and will try to deliver a solid performance. I want to clinch another good result before we can look forward to the winter break and the tests with the new A5 DTM.”

So, the gloves are off for what should be a stunning season finale, which will be made even more special by the first display of all 2012 championship contenders on track at the same time – the Audi A5 DTM, the BMW M3 DTM and the DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé will all take to the racetrack for some demonstration laps, providing fans with their first taste of what to expect in 2012.

Without further ado, I’ll let you absorb the latest images from Mercedes-Benz showcasing the history of the C-Class DTM.

Paul di Resta, 2010 DTM Champion.

Klaus Ludwig, Champion, 1994 DTM Champion.

MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One car next to a THOMAS SABO AMG Mercedes C-Class at the DTM Festival in Munich, 2011.

Bernd Schneider, 2006 DTM Champion.

Bernd Schneider, 1995 DTM Champion.

2004 DTM pre-season test in Barcelona.

Gary Paffett, 2005 DTM Champion at Hockenheim.

Bernd Schneider 1995 & 2000 DTM Champion with the AMG Mercedes CLK and C-Class.

BMW M3 DTM makes successful first outing at Lausitzring

Steve Davies — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:58:38 +0000

It was all-go at the Frankfurt motor show yesterday as Mercedes-Benz launched their new Mercedes C-Coupé DTM and Audi their A5 DTM. Meanwhile new-entrants BMW were on track at the Lausitzring putting their own 2012 DTM challenger to the test.

The team completed two productive days of testing with three newly developed BMW M3 DTM cars. BMW works drivers Andy Priaulx (GB), Augusto Farfus (BR), Jörg Müller (DE) and Dirk Müller (DE) were all in action on Monday and Tuesday at the first joint test for all manufacturers represented in the 2012 DTM season, gaining more valuable experience with the car and making another step towards the DTM comeback of BMW next year.

“We can look back positively on the test at the Lausitzring,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt. ”Our four drivers got a lot of kilometres under their belts at the Lausitzring and collected a lot of data. It was interesting to test together with our rivals for the first time, although it is still too early to make any real comparisons between the manufacturers.

Congratulations to Audi and Mercedes-Benz. They will also be lining up with really beautiful and impressive cars. I think the fans can look forward to a great season with the BMW M3 DTM, the Audi A5 DTM and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupé.”

BMW Motorsport headed to the Lausitzring with its three teams – BMW Team Schnitzer, BMW Team RBM and BMW Team RMG – to continue the development work with the BMW M3 DTM. The drivers assessed different set-up variations and completed extensive tyre tests. In addition, the Lausitzring provided a perfect opportunity to test the efficiency of many new components out on the track.

Dirk Müller and Jörg Müller, who both took to the track in the BMW M3 DTM for the first time, were impressed by the new car. “Monday’s test was great fun,” said Dirk Müller. “It reminded me of my time in single-seater racing. The BMW M3 DTM also generates a lot of downforce. I felt comfortable with the car from the word go.”

Jörg Müller added: “As a driver, you obviously have to get used to a car like this. The BMW M3 DTM is very responsive and is unbelievably good turning into corners. You can feel the immense downforce in the fast corners. We spent a lot of time on the track on Tuesday and learned a lot.”

The next test with the BMW M3 DTM is scheduled for 21st/22nd September 2011 at the Hungaroring near Budapest (HU). Dirk Müller and Dirk Werner (DE) will continue the BMW Motorsport testing programme alongside Priaulx and Farfus.

Frankfurt 2011: Audi presents the new A5 DTM

Steve Davies — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:27:09 +0000

On the eve of the Frankfurt Motor Show, Audi has unveiled its much-anticipated 2012 DTM challenger – the A5 DTM. Bearing the internal project name “R17″ at Audi Sport, the new A5 DTM conforms to the new technical regulations that will come into effect for the 2012 DTM season, which have been designed to achieve three key aims: improve the safety of the vehicle, reduce costs by up to 40 percent and showcase a spectacular exterior design.

The Audi A5 DTM appears lower and sturdier than its predecessor. Underneath the body, which is completely made of carbon, a new type of chassis features a hybrid construction. The combination of a carbon fibre monocoque and steel cage sets new standards in terms of safety for a touring car and is one of more than 50 components which are now identical across all DTM vehicles.

“Due to these shared components it was possible to achieve the cost reduction target of up to 40 percent without compromising on the safety and attractiveness of the DTM vehicles,” explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, who has been in charge of the new Audi A5 DTM development.

The A5 DTM is 5.01 meters long, 1.95 meters wide and 1.15 meters in height. The wheelbase of all DTM vehicles is identical at 2.75 meters. Like its predecessor, the A5 DTM is powered by a V8 engine with an output of around 453 bhp. The six-speed transmission, now pneumatically operated using paddle shifters in the steering wheel, is a new development on the A5 DTM. Shifting events are more precise compared with conventional manual gearshifts and enable the lifetime mileage of the unit to be quadrupled to 24,000 km.

A safety fuel tank with a capacity of 120 litres is integrated with the carbon fibre cell of the A5 DTM, and would allow the current distance of a DTM race to be covered without a refuelling stop. For longer races a quick refuelling system is in development.

The engine sub-frame at the front and the transmission at the rear are now standardised for all DTM cars and limit the freedom of the engineers with respect to the suspension, which has to be mounted to these shared components. In addition, steel as the material for the A-arms and the tube dimensions are defined by the series organisers. For the hub carrier, the regulations specify the material and the production process to be used and prescribe a milled aluminium part with a minimum weight. Furthermore, the regulations also define the wheel hubs and the rims used for all entrants.

Aerodynamics have also been restricted in the new regulations. Air flow through the body, as in the case of the current A4 DTM, and complex additional wings at the rear are no longer allowed. This creates a stronger visual resemblance between the race car and the road car, whilst at the same time the new DTM vehicles are less sensitive to body contact, so ‘rubbin’ is racing’ is likely to return to DTM in 2012.

“In the past, Audi has had very innovative solutions particularly in the area of aerodynamics in the DTM,” says Dr. Martin Mühlmeier, Head of Engineering at Audi Sport. “Since these areas have been subjected to severe restrictions good detailed solutions will now be crucial to achieving advantages over the competition.”

Gallery

Mercedes and BMW gear up for the 2012 DTM series next week (w/VIDEO)

Steve Davies — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:53:37 +0000

Even though we’re still in the midst of the title battle for Germany’s 2011 DTM series, preparations for the 2012 season kick-off in earnest from next week. First off Mercedes, who today have given us a sneak preview of their 2012 DTM C-Coupé, courtesy of driver Gary Paffett.

Then next week, all three manufacturers will descend on Germany’s Lausitzring for the first test programme – as each gets a feel for their brand new cars, Mercedes with its C-Coupé, Audi with its RS5 and newbies BMW with their M3.

2012 DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé

With the Frankfurt Motor Show also beginning next week, MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg will unveil the new DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé at midday on Tuesday 13 September.

Norbert Haug said at a press conference today, “This new-generation vehicle, based on our Mercedes-Benz C- Coupé, will mark the introduction of an even more spectacular racing car from the start of 2012. I am certain that the spectators will get their money’s worth from the three-way fight between Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the DTM next year.”

Take a look at Gary Paffett in the video below, as he explains the key differences between the 2012 DTM AMG Mercedes C-Coupé and the current DTM AMG Mercedes C-Class.

At the press conference this morning Gary said, “I was at the film and photo shoot for the new AMG Mercedes C-Coupé recently and was seriously impressed by my ‘company car’ for next season. I can’t wait to begin testing very soon.”

BMW M3 DTM

Meanwhile in Munich, BMW Motorsport were preparing their drivers for the big test next week. On Monday and Tuesday BMW Motorsport will, for the first time, take to the track with the two other manufacturers represented in the DTM in 2012. As well as Andy Priaulx (GB) and Augusto Farfus (BR), BMW works drivers Jörg Müller (DE) and Dirk Müller (DE) will also be given their first chance to test the BMW M3 DTM.

“At the Lausitzring we will be intensifying our test programme with what are now three BMW M3 DTM cars. We hope we can make good progress again, just as we did at the previous tests,” says BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt.

“We are obviously also looking forward to meeting our direct rivals. However, it is too early to class it as a first test of strength. The preparation time with the new cars has been too short for that. It will, however, be interesting to watch all the cars on the track and see how the times develop. We are also looking forward to getting feedback from Jörg and Dirk, who will be gaining their first experience with our DTM car.”

The new technical regulations for 2012 mean that all three manufacturers will be competing in the DTM with completely newly developed cars. As Paffet explains in the video, certain components will be standardised across all competitors including the rear wing. It is hoped this will ensure close racing throughout the season and also take one less variable off the table for newcomer BMW.

Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg take to the Nordschleife in the Mercedes W 196 (w/VIDEO)

Steve Davies — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 08:29:46 +0000

It’s the German Grand Prix this weekend and amongst all the promotional activities surrounding the event, one in particular stands out – especially if you’re a proud German motorsport fan.

The legendary Nordschleife played host to 2 of Germany’s finest drivers, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, who took to the Northern Loop track in two very iconic Mercedes grand prix cars. First, Michael chauffeured his team-mate in a Mercedes SLS AMG around the complete North Loop, then they both covered a section of the route in separate W 196 Formula One racing cars. Michael took the wheel of a W 196 ‘Stromlinie’ (streamlined model) while Nico drove a W 196 with open wheels.

“At the wheel of the W 196, I was driving a piece of motor racing history,” said Michael, who also spoke in glowing terms of the engineering that had gone into this particular Silver Arrow. “What better way could there be to motivate ourselves for our second home race in a fortnight than to go for a drive in a proven winner?”

Michael believes that the achievements of the drivers who had to contend with circuits such as the North Loop cannot be overestimated: “Hats off to these guys for what they accomplished with the resources they had available at the time.”

Nico also described his journey in the open-wheel W 196 as a fantastic experience: “From a modern perspective, the upright sitting position feels very strange, but the drive itself was great. It must have been tremendous fun driving these cars back in the Fifties. Compared with our modern safety standards, though, it was much more dangerous when racing on tracks like the Nordschleife.”

The W 196 was the first Formula One Silver Arrow. Statistics for the car in the 1954 and 1955 seasons: 17 podiums, 9 wins, 9 fastest laps, 8 pole positions and two world titles, both for Juan Manuel Fangio.

In addition to the streamlined version, there was also a single-seater with open wheels from the 1954 Nürburgring race onwards. The car was powered by an eight-cylinder inline engine generating 257 horsepower (1954) and 280 horsepower (1955). It reached a top speed of between 280 and 290 kilometres per hour (175 – 180mph).

Heroes indeed. In the meanwhile enjoy the pictures..

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Last minute change of venue for the 2011 Race of Champions

Steve Davies — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:32:58 +0000

Ridiculous as it might sound, the 2011 Race of Champions which was due to be held at Frankfurt’s Commerzbank-Arena on December 3-4, has been forced to find another venue due to a clash with the home team’s football schedule..

Germany’s football Bundesliga announced its latest schedule of matches today (June 21st) and since football team Eintracht Frankfurt, which plays its home games at the Commerzbank-Arena, was relegated to the Bundesliga second division in May, their season now starts two weeks earlier.

The final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup is also taking place at the stadium on July 17 so the team must start the season with an away game. Furthermore, riots at the final game of last season mean that special care has been taken with their fixtures. The result is that Eintracht Frankfurt will host home football games both on the scheduled race weekend (December 3-4) and its backup (December 10-11).

Race organiser Fredrik Johnsson said: “This news came through very late and it was a total surprise for us. So our first priority is to find the best possible alternative venue and to apologise to all the race fans who have made plans to join us in Frankfurt. They will have a choice of a special offer to compensate them or to be reimbursed in full if they cannot join us at the new venue. We hope to announce the replacement shortly and we can assure everyone that the Race Of Champions will still be held in Germany in December. We’ve checked with the drivers and both Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher have confirmed that they will be with us regardless.”

The Race Of Champions is an annual end-of-season competition that brings together the world’s greatest drivers from all motor sport’s disciplines – including Formula 1, world rally, touring cars, Le Mans and NASCAR – and sets them free to battle head-to-head in identical machinery.

To get further information about tickets and refunds for Frankfurt ticket-holders, visit the RoC website www.raceofchampions.com, where details of the new venue will also be announced.