2006 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

Changes for 2006

• Opel exited the series, leaving Audi and Mercedes as remaining manufacturers. Audi and Mercedes respectively increased their number of entries from eight to ten cars each to fill up the four empty spots left by Opel.
• Older 2004 models became cheaper, allowing privateer teams to buy them.
• The rounds in Belgium at Spa-Francorchamps and Turkey at Istanbul Park were dropped in favour of Le Mans in France and Barcelona in Spain.
• The round in Czech Republic at Brno were removed from the schedule.

Teams and drivers

The following manufacturers, teams and drivers competed in the 2006 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Dunlop.

Team changes

Opel left the series after the 2005 season due to budget cuts at General Motors in Europe. Team Holzer would also leave after being part of Opel's squad since 2000.

Team Joest left the series so they could concentrate on the development of the Audi R10 diesel sports car. They were replaced by Team Phoenix, who had run Opel's the previous season, and Team Rosberg who returned to the series after a one year absence. Both teams would run one year old cars.

F1 team boss Colin Kolles would enter the championship with two two year old Audi A4s run under the Futurecom TME banner.

Mercedes teams Mücke Motorsport and Persson Motorsport expanded to three cars each  with each running two one year old cars and one two year old cars each.

Driver changes

Reigning champion Gary Paffett left the DTM to focus on his F1 test driver role at McLaren Mercedes with hopes of a race seat in 2007.

Bruno Spengler and Jamie Green were promoted from Persson Motorsport to HWA Team while Jean Alesi was demoted from HWA Team to Persson Motorsport.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen switched from Opel to Audi to replace Allan McNish who left the series to focus on Endurance racing.

Laurent Aïello and Manuel Reuter retired from motorsport after Opel left the series.

Marcel Fässler left the DTM to join Swiss Spirit in the Le Mans Series.

Rinaldo Capello left the DTM to focus on Endurance racing.

Alexandros Margaritis moved from Mücke Motorsport to Persson Motorsport.

GP2 driver Mathias Lauda joined the DTM with Persson Motorsport.

Daniel la Rosa and Susie Stoddart joined the DTM with Mücke Motorsport after spending the previous year in Formula Renault 3.5 Series and British Formula 3 respectively.

Vanina Ickx and Olivier Tielemans joined the DTM with Futurecom TME after spending the previous year in BELCAR and 3000 Pro Series respectively.

Mid season changes

Olivier Tielemans was replaced by Jeroen Bleekemolen after the second round of the season.

Jeroen Bleekemolen was replaced by Nicolas Kiesa after sponsorship troubles after the fifth round.

Nicolas Kiesa was replaced by Thed Björk for the final two races after Kiesa was injured in a motocross accident.

Race calendar and winners

Championship standings

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top 8 classified finishers.

Drivers' championship

Bold – Pole

Italics – Fastest Lap |}

• † — Driver retired, but was classified as they completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

Teams' championship

References

References

1. "Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Summary". Motorsport Stats.
2. "DTM (German Touringcar Masters) – 2006: Entrylist". Speedsport Magazine.
3. "Opel to be withdrawn after 2005".
4. "Audi confirm 2006 teams line-up".
5. "Mercedes confirm 2006 driver line-up".
6. "Audi confirms Frentzen switch".
7. "Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Results 2006". Motorsport Stats.
8. "DTM (German Touringcar Masters) – 2006: Point standings". Speedsport Magazine.
9. "Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Standings 2006". Motorsport Stats.
10. "2006 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Drivers' Standings". TouringCars.net.