Gary Paffett (left) won his second Drivers' Championship while 2017 DTM champion
René Rast (right) finished second in the championship.
The 2018 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the thirty-second season of premier German touring car championship and also nineteenth season under the moniker of
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since the series' resumption in 2000. 2018 would be the final season for the traditional 4.0-litre V8 naturally-aspirated engine package that debuted in the
inaugural reborn season; as the brand new engine package has been introduced for
the following season as part of the "Class One Project" prospect with Japanese
Super GT GT500 cars.[1] 2018 also marked the final season for
Mercedes-Benz in
DTM due to
Mercedes-Benz departing to
FIA Formula E from the 2019–20 season and thus ended its 19-year participation.[2]
Gary Paffett won his second title at the final round of the season with a third-place finish, beating previous champion
René Rast by four points despite a late charge to six consecutive wins by Rast, a new series record.[3]
Paffett became the second non-German driver to have won more than one
DTM driver title, and thus repeating Swedish driver
Mattias Ekström's feat in 2004 and 2007 seasons.
Mercedes-Benz won the manufacturer's championship for the first time since 2010.
Rule changes
Aerodynamic downforce aids, such as side winglets and side fences, has been enforced to all cars, in order to improve competition.[4] As a result, the minimum weight of all cars has been reduced from 2,480
lb (1,125
kg) to 2,458
lb (1,115
kg).[5]
The quantity of engine components a driver may use during the season has been increased from seven complete engines during the entire season, to a new system where each of the engine components are combined. Therefore, in 2018, each driver is permitted to use up to eight set engines.[5]
The additional wildcard entry is introduced for the first time ever, but ineligible for championship points even if they finish in top 10.
Calendar
The provisional ten event calendar was announced on 24 November 2017,[6] and later finalized on 18 December 2017.[7]
The races in
Great Britain and
Italy are scheduled to return to the DTM schedule for the first time since 2013 and 2010 respectively. On 6 December 2017 it was confirmed that the British round would be held at
Brands Hatch, on the circuit's GP layout as opposed to the Indy layout of previous DTM races.[8]Moscow Raceway was dropped from the 2018 schedule.[9] For the first time,
Misano will host the round in Italy, as a night-time event.[10] The
Lausitzring round will revert to full road course layout after last used in
2004.[11]
Teams and drivers
The following manufacturers, teams and drivers competed in the 2018 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. All teams competed with tyres supplied by
Hankook.
Key
Full-season entry
Additional/wildcard entry
* Eligible for all championship points
* Ineligible to score Drivers' championship points