This 12 months, DTM is not going to use the gravel strip that Formula 1 experimented with on the ultimate two corners of the Red Bull Ring in a bid to deal with a long-standing issue with track limitations.
Since the Spielberg circuit became a fixture on the motorsport calendar following its revamp by energy drink giant Red Bull, there have been persistent complaints about drivers going off the track and exceeding its limits.
To treatment the issue, organisers installed gravel beds on the ultimate two 90-degree right-hand corners ahead of Formula One's annual visit to Austria in June.
The move has been widely praised by Grand Prix drivers, especially after the 2023 races were overshadowed by the deletion of tons of of qualifying laps as a result of track restriction violations.
However, this weekend’s DTM race is not going to feature gravel surfaces at Turns 9 and 10, because the series will depend on its familiar asphalt.
“The temporary gravel berms installed this year were removed after the Formula 1 race and will not be present during the DTM weekend,” a Red Bull Ring spokesman told Motorsport.com. Motorsport-Total.com.
The ADAC wanted to make use of the identical track restrictions solution as in Formula 1, however the gravel surface behind the kerbs had to get replaced before the Austrian MotoGP Grand Prix, which took place from 16 to 18 August.
Detail of the gravel trap track
Photo: Jon Noble
This was at all times planned, as two-wheeler racing championships prefer asphalt sections of the course for the security of the competitors.
However, the gravel surface used at Spielberg was specifically designed to be rebuilt at short notice and the track has had greater than a month to finish the work ahead of this weekend’s DTM race on September 28-29.
In response to the situation, a spokesman for DTM promoter ADAC said: Motorsport-Total.com“We wanted to do it like in Formula 1, but the Red Bull Ring told us it couldn’t be done due to lack of time and availability.”
While it’s unclear whether there have been other accessibility reasons that prevented the reinstallation of gravel substrates, cost may have influenced the choice.
Motorsport.com understands that replacing the tarmac with a gravel track costs around €50,000. While that might not be significant for world championships like F1 and MotoGP, it’s a major expense for regional series just like the DTM.
With the gravel trap now not an option, DTM will depend on the same solution to last 12 months's to regulate the track's limits. This will involve placing three cones within the run-off area on the ultimate two corners to point out drivers how far they’ll go.
In the past, there have been heated discussions about the restrictions of the Red Bull Ring track, and the penalties imposed because of this have made it difficult to find out the starting order.
The method utilized by ADAC last 12 months proved effective in qualifying, but some drivers questioned why rivals were only penalised when it appeared that they had consistently gained a bonus by leaving the track in the course of the race.
