DTM – Stars and Stories from the Hockenheimring

• Tennis icon Angelique Kerber sets the DTM field in motion
• Bronze medal-winning sprinter Lisa Mayer presents the winner’s trophy at the finale
• Dekra celebrates 35 years in the DTM with drivers and legends in Hockenheim

Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber sends the DTM field onto the track
It was an exciting weekend for Angelique Kerber: the most successful female tennis player since Steffi Graf was a guest at the DTM finale at the Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, where she enjoyed the atmosphere in the paddock. “I have always been interested in motorsport, but this is my first time at a DTM event – and the finale at that. You can feel the excitement and adrenalin everywhere. It is similar to what we have with tennis, and I miss that a bit. However, I got my own personal adrenalin kick when Walter Röhrl took me for a lap of the Hockenheimring in the new Porsche 911 GT3. That was impressive,” said Kerber, who ended her career with three Grand Slam titles to her name. She then gave the DTM drivers the command to get moving with the “Drivers start your engines” sign, before presenting the successful team with the winner’s trophy after the penultimate race of the season.

BWT Race Lap Award supports drinking water projects in Africa
Since last year, the DTM and series partner BWT have donated a fixed amount to b.waterMission for every race lap completed. The money is used to support well building and drinking water projects in Africa. After Sunday’s final race of the season at the Hockenheimring, it was time to do the maths: the DTM drivers completed a total of 12,716 laps across the 16 races that made up the 2024 season. The amount donated was then rounded up to € 70,000. Anna Grubeck, Head of Sponsoring at BWT, presented new DTM champion Mirko Bortolotti with a symbolic cheque for this good cause during the presentation ceremony.

Bronze medallists Lisa Mayer and Nelvie Raman Tiafack get a taste of motor racing
Lisa Mayer presented the trophy to the winning team after the final DTM race on Sunday. At the Olympic Games in Paris, it was the 28-year-old herself who stepped onto the podium to receive the bronze medal for third place with the 100 metre relay team. “I had never been to the DTM before. In fact, that is the first time I have ever been at a racetrack and seen the cars live at first hand. It is super exciting! Plus, I got to go for a spin in the new Porsche 911 GT3. As we hurtled towards the first corner, I thought: it’s over. As a sprinter, I love speed. However, that is a totally different speed to a 100-metre sprint,” said Mayer, summing up her weekend. Boxer Nelvie Raman Tiafack, who also won bronze in the Super Heavyweight class, also visited the Hockenheimring.

35 years in the DTM – Dekra celebrates milestone with DTM drivers and motorsport legends
All the drivers attended the 35th anniversary of Dekra in the DTM on Friday evening. Dressed in their racing overalls, they took to the stage at the gala event in the Dekra hospitality, where they faced questions from Claus Lufen who commentated on the DTM for many years. Former sports presenter Christa Gierke-Wedel, the first female head of ZDF in the Sport editorial office, also joined the celebration. The many guests also included five-time DTM champion Bernd Schneider, the former head of motorsport at Mercedes-Benz in Formula 1 and the DTM, Norbert Haug, and DTM greats like Harald Grohs, Olaf Manthey, Martin Tomczyk and Kris Nissen. Dekra has been a premium partner of the DTM since 1989. With its specialists, it oversees the safety standards of the race cars. Not only are the harness, fire extinguisher and seat checked thoroughly, but also the drivers’ fireproof underwear and helmets.

World premiere: Porsche reveals the new 911 GT3 at the DTM finale
The new 911 GT3 was presented on the Friday evening of the DTM event at the Hockenheimring. Brand ambassadors Walter Röhrl and Jörg Bergmeister were on site and took the new generation of 911 out onto the iconic track for its first few laps. Multiple tennis Grand Slam winner Kerber was rally icon Röhrl’s famous passenger.

Audi drivers face children’s questions
Before the final weekend at the Hockenheimring, Kelvin van der Linde and his team-mate Ricardo Feller from Abt Sportsline had some serious business to attend to. The two Audi drivers faced questions at a children’s press conference in the Audi Forum in Neckarsulm. And the young reporters were extremely well prepared. “How does it feel when your brother has already been champion but you don’t have a title yet?” was one of the questions posed to Kelvin van der Linde. Feller was impressed by the thoughtful questions: “The children were well informed and asked some questions that quite surprised me. They are straight to the point and do not disguise their questions the way journalists do. It was a great experience and it would be great if the children could attend a media session at the circuit now and again.”

Record-breaking referee visits the DTM
On the football pitch, Dr. Felix Brych sets the tone with his whistle. In Hockenheim, the lawyer enjoyed the ultimate engine sound as a guest of Abt Sportsline and Schaeffler. After his outing at the Bundesliga match between Leverkusen and Frankfurt on Saturday, Brych travelled to Hockenheim to follow the DTM title showdown. The record-breaking German referee also presented the trophies in the ADAC GT Masters. “In the 90s, I used to watch every DTM race. However, this weekend is my first time at the racetrack,” said Brych, who acknowledged a parallel between the DTM stars and his job as a referee: “You have to make decisions under pressure, often intuitively. There are definitely similarities.”

Luca Engstler on the microphone at the Rhein-Neckar Löwen
Luca Engstler brought the Rhein-Neckar Löwen handball team good luck on Thursday. The Lamborghini driver was interviewed in the SAP Arena ahead of their home match against Erlangen, which the Löwen (Lions) went on to win 38:33. Luca Engstler: “That was my first time at a Bundesliga handball match, and it was very special to experience the atmosphere before the game. The guys were on extremely good form, even when warming up.” The team in the top division of German handball, led by world champion Oliver Roggisch, returned the favour with a visit to the Hockenheimring on Sunday. Roggisch sent the field into the final race of the season, while experienced handball international Uwe Gensheimer got to know the Hockenheimring in the Innovation Taxi of DTM partner Schaeffler.

New DTM logo arrives from the skies
On Saturday lunchtime, spectators at the Hockenheimring did not only have their eyes on the grid, but were also looking to the skies, where they witnessed a premiere. The Red Bull Skydive Team glided in shortly before the start of the race and revealed a banner adorned with the new DTM logo, which could also be seen in large letters in the paddock. The facelift brings the logo in line with the powerful, dynamic and modern image of the DTM brand.

Drivers given heroes’ welcome before final DTM race of the season
The final race of the season began at 12:50 on Sunday with the drivers making a spectacular arrival for the first time. The drivers took to the track one after another through a gateway, in reverse order to the Drivers’ Championship standings, before running across a yellow carpet to the grid in front of the main stand. The spectators cheered them on, providing an extra dose of motivation ahead of the final race of the season.

From the asymmetrical bars to the Race Taxi
Elisabeth Seitz was a guest of Abt Sportsline and Schaeffler at the Hockenheimring on Sunday. With 25 titles to her name, the gymnast is the record holder in Germany. She was European champion on the asymmetrical bars in 2022, having won bronze at the world championships on the same apparatus four years earlier. At the Hockenheimring, the 30-year-old swapped the asymmetrical bars for the Schaeffler Race Taxi and was overwhelmed. “That was my first time in a car like that. It was almost a bit too fast for me. As far as I am concerned, we could happily have done a few more laps. Coming from Altlußheim, I always used to hear the DTM in Hockenheim from my balcony.”

Track cycling ace Lea Sophie Friedrich in Hockenheim
As a track cyclist, she is more than familiar with speed. However, even Lea Sophie Friedrich was impressed by the speed of the GT3 cars on her visit to the Hockenheimring. “That is my first time at the DTM. The atmosphere is really great, with so many spectators. On my Taxi Ride, particularly in the corners, the forces on your neck were similar to those in the velodrome, only much stronger,” said 24-year-old Friedrich, who has amassed multiple world and European titles over the course of her career, as well as Olympic medals.

Final Track Safari of the season
On Friday afternoon, the Hockenheimring was the scene of the final Track Safari of the year. Two fully occupied coaches took to the 4.574-kilometre track, allowing fans to experience the iconic circuit from a totally new perspective. While they were out there, the powerful GT3 cars raced past the coaches, as the drivers also had their fun. McLaren driver Clemens Schmid: “It is pretty exhilarating when you come round a corner and are suddenly faced with a seemingly stationary obstacle in the form of a coach. We obviously try to stay on the racing line and obviously immediately cut back onto the ideal line once we have overtaken the coaches. It can get a bit close sometimes, but that is what the fans want to see. The Track Safari is great. Hopefully it will continue next year.”