Pirelli completes the 2023 season in the DTM with great satisfaction despite making its debut with the German series.
The transition from ITR to ADAC as promoter of the championship implied some changes to the regulations and, very intelligently, the organizers of the German federation opted to adopt tires specifically designed for all the GT3s in the world.
It is no secret, in fact, that the Milanese tire company has long found its dimension with great solidity in Gran Turismo and single-brand competitions by providing everyone with the same product, namely the DHF slick for dry conditions and the Cinturato WHA for when rains.
A strategy that provides solidity not only to the Bicocca company, but also to the manufacturers involved, drivers and teams, who can rely on a product with useful references in all the competitions in which they take part, an aspect of which in other minor championships, instead , was not taken into account, forcing the protagonists to race with the same cars equipped with different tires every Sunday, thus spending more.
The last act of the DTM took place in Hockenheim, which for 2023 had maintained more or less the same sporting regulations as in the past. Among the many battles seen on the track that led to the title being fought for at the last round of the year, perhaps the only flaw concerned the forced use of cold tires even in Qualifying.
If the pre-heating of the tires had already had a positive outcome in the past in the DTM races with related strategies, it is also true that a tire at room temperature requires more time on the track for it to function properly.
Which in just 20′ often sees the competitors making a couple of attempts, with the aggravating circumstance that an error on the lap or a canceled time (due to track limits for example) risks putting the overall performance at risk, despite benefiting from a tire which, according to the comments of the protagonists, proved to be competitive, reliable and with excellent performance.
An aspect that can possibly be discussed from a future perspective when ADAC and Pirelli sit down at the table to plan a future which, pending official confirmation, will be able to continue in the seasons to come given the full satisfaction of all those involved.
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Franck Perera, SSR Performance Lamborghini Huracán EVO GT3
“The Pirelli tires work well. In particular, Qualifying is particularly satisfying with these tyres. We haven’t had any damage to the tires all season. My compliments”, declared the new Champion, Thomas Preining, representative of the Porsche – Manthey EMA Team.
Mirko Bortolotti of Lamborghini-SSR Performance follows him: “The Pirelli tires were an excellent product for this championship; they allowed us to have spectacular races throughout the season, without ever having any problems.”
Christian Engelhart, seen on both Porsche and Lamborghini this year, adds: “Pirelli is an excellent tyre. You have a peak and then a fairly constant phase throughout the race. You can push hard and it’s good for racing ”.
![Thomas Preining, Manthey EMA](https://cdn-5.motorsport.com/images/mgl/6O1aJRN2/s1000/pole-sitter-thomas-preining-ma-1.jpg)
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Thomas Preining, Manthey EMA
The numbers for the 2023 season
Pirelli then summarized the numbers of the first year of DTM under ADAC, where in eight events we had a great fight in all 16 races held, in which a total of 29 entries took part over the course of the season among the 12 teams representing the 6 manufacturers (Porsche, Lamborghini, BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari and Audi).
12 of them managed to win at least one, with the Preining-Bortolotti duo sharing three each, followed by Marvin Dienst, Franck Perera, Ricardo Feller, Maro Engel, Sheldon Van Der Linde, Maximilian Paul, Jack Aitken, Luca Stolz, René Rast and Kelvin Van Der Linde.
The brawls led to 5 races (Race 2 at Oschersleben, Nurburgring and Laustitzring, plus the two at Hockenheim) with gaps of a few tenths in the challenge for success, with a maximum of 6″ seen in the first at Zandvoort, confirming the great balance also found in terms of Balance of Performance (which refers to that used by SRO Motorsports Group) and strategies.
![Mattia Drudi, Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3](https://cdn-3.motorsport.com/images/mgl/27vwWyE0/s1000/mattia-drudi-attempto-racing-a-1.jpg)
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Mattia Drudi, Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3
“We are deeply satisfied with our contribution to the success of the recently concluded DTM season, which this year was one of the most competitive championships in the world: it is not usual, in fact, to award the title to the last race with three contenders still in the running” , comments the head of Pirelli, Matteo Braga.
“It is a pleasure to work in such a professional environment and with drivers of such a level. And obviously, we are satisfied with the performance of our tyres. In particular, our P Zero DHF which has proven to have the right characteristics to support the very high level competitiveness of the DTM, while ensuring the implementation of the fundamental principle of sporting fairness”.
“We are not surprised by this result, although the DHF was not specifically designed for the DTM format. In fact, it is the product that we developed for GT3 and that we use on all continents, for different championships and with different racing formats, constantly evolved to adapt to the continuous innovations of GT cars, which represent an exceptional platform not only for racing tyres, but also for road tyres, to which we transfer the technological solutions tested on the track”.
#Pirelli #DHF #Cinturato #WHA #promoted #DTM