DTM AND GRAND-AM UNITE FOR US-BASED CHAMPIONSHIP

Courtesy ITR e.V. Media

Hockenheim. During the ninth DTM race of the season at Hockenheim, DTM rights holder and promoter ITR e.V. announced its planned co-operation with the North American sanctioning body GRAND-AM Road Racing beginning in 2013.

Together with the organisers of the DTM, representatives of GRAND-AM, the road-racing component of NASCAR, have been working on the project for several months. The result of the cooperative partnership is the announcement of a new championship in the United States using cars to the new DTM regulations, to come into force in 2012.

The new US-based series for DTM cars, to run from 2013, will include races in a sprint format on event weekends that include the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car series and, in some cases, the NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series.

“Only days after BMW officially announced its commitment to the DTM from 2012, this is more good news concerning the future of the DTM”, says Hans Werner Aufrecht, chairman of the ITR e.V. “Internationalisation has been our goal, in order to ensure that cars to DTM regulations can be used in more countries all over the world. We have had very constructive talks with the GRAND-AM organisation and we are very excited with this new partnership.”

GRAND-AM president Tom Bledsoe said: “We are proud to forge these new relationships with the many manufacturers choosing to embrace the DTM vision, and we look forward to welcoming these exciting cars to the USA. With these announcements, we can begin planning with our media partners, race tracks and teams. The addition of a DTM-style sprint race will increase the attraction for our fans and help grow all GRAND-AM series.”