DTM USA Discussions Progressing
The first meeting was held July 2013 at the Norisring DTM round and included the same representatives. In this meeting, the committee members from the three nations involved began to work – inter alia – on planning first joint events.
In 2012, representatives of the DTM and SUPER GT signed a cooperation arrangement for the adoption of technical regulations which was followed in March 2013 by the addition of IMSA.
Since then, the joint steering committee and technical working group has been pursuing the goal to establish common technical regulations to make it possible to use the same cars for contesting touring car races on the highest level in Europe, Japan and North America.
The committee is considering holding a first joint event of DTM and SUPER GT in 2015 in Japan or China. Furthermore, the committee also discussed a standalone American event in 2016 as a precursor to a potential launch of a new touring car series in 2017 based on the same technical regulations.
In addition, the representatives of the three series plan to establish a new joint name for the technical regulations used by the three regions. This name will take into consideration the three different markets and cultures. Following DTM, the SUPER GT also will adopt these regulations to a large extent, this year.
The next steering committee meeting will be held in sequential rotation in Japan on August 29, 2014. Super GT will host the meeting in conjunction with its race at Suzuka.
“We continue to have good dialogue between the parties and consider this a future opportunity for the North American motorsports landscape, though we’re still very much in the educational process," said Ed Bennett, Chief Executive Officer of IMSA and host of the meeting in Daytona Beach. More at Sportscar365