History
Origin
The DTM began on 11 March 1984 at Zolder in Belgium, where 24 cars contested the opening round of the Deutsche Produktionswagen-Meisterschaft — renamed Deutsche Tourenwagen-Meisterschaft two years later.1 Harald Grohs won the wet first race in a BMW 635 CSi, but the inaugural title went to Volker Strycek, also in a 635 CSi, who finished in the top eight at all 15 rounds without winning any of them — 7.5 points clear of Olaf Manthey's Rover Vitesse.12 The formula's appeal was variety on a production basis: by season's end the grid had grown to 40 cars across 16 models, and race wins were spread between Alfa Romeo, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Rover, and Volvo machinery.1
Turning points
The ITC collapse
Works escalation through the Mercedes 190E–BMW M3–Audi V8 battles of the late 1980s led to the Class 1 regulations of 1993 — carbon-fibre monocoques, four-wheel drive, Formula One-grade electronics, and V6 engines that exceeded 500 horsepower in the Alfa Romeo 155, Mercedes C-Class, and Opel Calibra.3 The series expanded into the FIA-backed International Touring Car Championship — parallel rounds in 1995, a fully international calendar in 1996 with flyaways to Interlagos and Suzuka for markets where some of the cars were not even sold.4 Costs soared while German television audiences followed Michael Schumacher into Formula One; in September 1996 Alfa Romeo and then Opel announced their withdrawals, and the championship — won that year by Opel's Manuel Reuter with three victories to Alessandro Nannini's seven — died with them.45
The 2000 revival
After three seasons without a national flagship, the series returned in 2000 as the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters — "Masters" because the DMSB would not grant championship status to a series planning foreign rounds — built explicitly against the ITC's mistakes: rear-wheel drive, tubular-frame silhouette chassis, standardised components, and strict engine limits.6 Mercedes and Opel entered works teams, Audi was represented unofficially by Abt's TT-R, and Bernd Schneider took the first title ahead of Reuter — the last champion of the old era runner-up in the first season of the new.6 The V8 silhouette formula sustained two decades of Mercedes–Audi–BMW competition, lastly under the turbocharged Class One rules of 2019–2020.7
The GT3 pivot
The second collapse arrived in stages: Mercedes left after 2018 for Formula E, Aston Martin's 2019 entry lasted a single season, and in April 2020 Audi announced its withdrawal — leaving BMW alone and Class One unviable.7 Promoter ITR saved the brand by adopting FIA GT3 customer-racing regulations from 2021, and in November 2022 the ADAC, Germany's automobile club, acquired the DTM outright — folding it into its own GT platform and securing the grid that the works-team model had twice failed to hold.7
Today's shape
The 2025 title went to Ayhancan Güven — the first Turkish champion in the series' history — who entered the Hockenheim finale fifth in a seven-driver title fight, 17 points adrift, and won it by repassing Marco Wittmann into the Sachs corner on the final lap; Manthey took a second consecutive teams' title and Porsche's seven wins led all manufacturers across the 16-race season.8 Güven is not defending the crown, having moved to Manthey's WEC LMGT3 programme.9 The 2026 season — the sixth under GT3 rules — runs eight rounds from the Red Bull Ring on 25 April to Hockenheim on 11 October, with a 21-car grid from eight brands: Mercedes-AMG, BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren, Ford, Lamborghini, and Aston Martin, with Audi absent and Lamborghini's new Temerario GT3 debuting with Grasser and Abt.910 After two rounds, Mercedes-AMG's Maro Engel leads the drivers' standings and Winward Racing the teams'.9
Footnotes
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Motorsport-Total, "DTM feiert 40-jährigen Geburtstag: Wie 1984 in Zolder alles begann," accessed 11 June 2026, https://www.motorsport-total.com/dtm/news/dtm-feiert-40-jaehrigen-geburtstag-wie-1984-in-zolder-alles-begann-24031102. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Motorsport.com (Germany), "Von Strycek bis Bortolotti: Alle Meister der DTM seit der Premiere im Jahr 1984," accessed 11 June 2026, https://de.motorsport.com/dtm/news/von-strycek-bis-bortolotti-alle-meister-der-dtm-seit-der-premiere-im-jahr-1984-25042001/3425638/. ↩
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Wikipedia, "Class 1 Touring Cars," accessed 11 June 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_1_Touring_Cars. ↩
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Wikipedia, "1996 International Touring Car Championship," accessed 11 June 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_International_Touring_Car_Championship. ↩ ↩2
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Motor Sport Magazine, "Touring Carnage," November 1996, accessed 11 June 2026, https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1996/34/touring-carnage/. ↩
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Wikipedia, "2000 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters," accessed 11 June 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Deutsche_Tourenwagen_Masters. ↩ ↩2
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Wikipedia, "Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters," accessed 11 June 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Tourenwagen_Masters. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Porsche Newsroom, "Porsche driver Ayhancan Güven decides DTM title thriller with victory," accessed 11 June 2026, https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2025/motorsports/porsche-dtm-races-15-16-hockenheim-40724.html; Motorsport.com, "DTM Hockenheim: Ayhancan Guven wins title with thrilling finale victory," accessed 11 June 2026, https://www.motorsport.com/dtm/news/dtm-hockenheim-guven-takes-title-with-victory-in-thrilling-finale/10765385/. ↩
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Wikipedia, "2026 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters," accessed 11 June 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Deutsche_Tourenwagen_Masters; Porsche Newsroom, "Start of the DTM season: two Porsche customer teams with three 911 GT3 R cars on the grid," accessed 11 June 2026, https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2026/motorsports/porsche-dtm-season-preview-2026-42207.html. ↩ ↩2 ↩3
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Motorsport.com, "DTM 2026: Full 21-car entry list," accessed 11 June 2026, https://www.motorsport.com/dtm/news/dtm-2026-21-car-starting-grid-set-whos-in-and-whos-out/10810228/. ↩