“This is a special day for me and everyone involved in the DTM project,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dieter Gass. “For the first time, we developed a new DTM car in parallel with the production model. This underlines once again how closely motorsport and production work together at Audi.”

The track record of the previous-generation model sets benchmarks for the future. Having clinched ten victories in each of the last two seasons, it was the most successful DTM car in both years. “Obviously, we’d like to repeat this with the new RS 5 DTM,” Gass adds.



That the new Audi RS 5 DTM is faster than its predecessor in spite of these modifications is primarily attributable to two additional changes.

In the 2017 season, tyre partner Hankook will be supplying softer tyres. While allowing faster lap times to be achieved on the one hand they are deliberately designed to significantly degrade after a few laps on the other.

At the same time, the four-liter V8 engine of the Audi RS 5 DTM now delivers more than 500 HP. “You can feel this additional power in the cockpit,” says Jamie Green who in winter, together with Mattias Ekström, performed the major part of the testing work for the 2017 season.

The base of the engine used in the Audi RS 5 DTM has remained unchanged. To achieve the desired power boost, the engineers modified the air intake system and the cooling system. In addition, they made some detailed adjustments to ensure the same reliability as before. After all, a DTM engine has to survive a full season.



Another change resulting from the regulations concerns the suspension, which is now identical on all DTM cars as well. While this avoids costly further developments, the variety of set-up options has remained unchanged.

"We have more power, softer tyres and less downforce. Combined with the best drivers, we expect to see even more thrilling racing. I can only invite everyone to come to Hockenheim at the beginning of May to personally witness the first race of our new baby,” said Gass.