This season has been so strong across the board in terms of entertainment and technical innovation that we've hardly touched upon
DTM
. In isolation the cars are incredibly rapid and exciting to watch, pitching and bucking over bumps. However, the reality is 20-odd cars on the track together doesn't always yield thrilling racing.
But as the silent whisper of e-motorsport takes hold this year, the DTM is still a series played out to the chorus of throttle bodies gulping air, exhausts trumpeting their song and the percussion of bodywork kissing Tarmac. Sparks literally fly.
DTM has all the ingredients but has lacked spice
The actual wheel-to-wheel racing in recent times hasn't exactly reached the halcyon days of E30 M3 Sport Evo versus 190E 2.5-16 Evo II - partly because the freezing hand of the series' governing body has gripped development. The cars are a cross between a bespoke spec racer and what a front-engined LMP2 machine might look like.
DTM uses a standard carbon monocoque and steel roll cage with a six-speed spec gearbox. Engine choice is left up to the manufacturer - as long as it's a 90-degree 4.0-litre V8. Along with these 500hp units, tweaking of the suspension and aero (including DRS) are the only areas for development.
Naughty step
This year's DTM title wasn't close. Marco Wittmann walked it by 50 points in his BMW M4 DTM, wrapping things up over a month ago at the Lausitzring. Nothing unusual there. However, as far as I'm aware, DTM scored a world first this year following an incident - and resulting penalty - at the final race of the season at Hockenheim last weekend.
Well, unless you include Spengler's community service
After six laps of the race 2012 champion Bruno Spengler was scrapping with Spanish driver Daniel Juncadella over 13th and 14th. Juncadella made a move on the Canadian going into the hairpin but overcooked his entry speed. Bruno was obviously peeved at the late dive-bombing move - whether he saw him or not, Spengler turned in on Juncadella causing contact. This put Juncadella onto the Tarmac run-off, but Spengler wasn't finished there.
On the exit of turn eight - aptly named Mercedes - Bruno brake tested Juncadella. On full gas the Spaniard's Merc rear-ended the Canadian's BMW, crunching something on the C-Class that caused him to spin and retire on the next lap.
Clearly driving standards slipped, but the resultant penalty for the incident was less conventional than a DTM door mirror. The race stewards reviewed the spat and found that "the driver of car no. 9 [Spengler] caused a collision with car no. 19 [Juncadella]." Pretty obvious, but the penalty they applied, putting Spengler on the naughty step as a result, wasn't.
Wittman celebrates his title victory in style
Zoom in on the picture of the race organisers' decision and you'll see the official sentence slapped on Spengler is "An obligation to accomplish three hours of work of public interest in the sense of Art. 12.3.1.c ISC. The exact content and date of the work concerned will be communicated to the driver by DMSB."
Yep - genuinely - Spengler has to do community service as his punishment.
We've talked about penalties before on Motorsport on Monday - the role rule makers have in handing out sentences befitting of the crime and why consistency helps racing. At least then everyone knows what and what isn't legal.
And, in fact, I think community service could be a good deterrent to red mist-driven moves like Spengler's. A fine might smart in the short term, but with sponsors and teams most likely to foot the bill, the threat of community service might put someone off committing a professional foul like this. Then again, knowing some racing drivers and their propensity to vent frustration vicariously through their car, maybe not.
Super GT and DTM will be partners in crime
At least this way it might mean fans get to spend some time with an otherwise inaccessible motorsport star in a totally non-PR'd atmosphere. I'd like to think a young driver might just ask Spengler - decked out in his council-supplied community service outfit - why he did it while Bruno is helping out at his local kart track, putting him in a squirmingly uncomfortable position. But maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.
West meets east
There have been exciting moments in the DTM this season, with some moves that make you suck a sharp blast of air through your teeth - you know that type of overtake that's made all the more impressive given how close the cars are in performance?
The DTM is set for a shake-up in the near future; one that will hopefully lead towards more interest and a battle royale between the German manufacturers and the might of Japan in the form of Honda, Lexus and Nissan.
Super GT + DTM = some very cool cars
This time last year an agreement was signed between DTM and the Super GT championship, working towards a common set of regulations - coming in from 2016 at the latest - where the DTM and the GT500 class in Super GT switch to 2.0-litre turbo engines.
The change has already happened in Japan. Watch this from a wet Sugo to see why downsizing in motorsport doesn't have to be dull.
The GT500s very much look like what you'd expect a Japanese DTM car to: big arches, big wings, massive aero work and exhausts that sprout out the doors. Somehow though, they're even cooler than DTM, in that way that JDM stuff always makes you curious compared to Euro metal. The grass is always greener on the other side. No, it genuinely is - they even race Priuses in Super GT...
Super GT photos: LAT Photo; additional photo: Johannes Gauglica, via Facebook