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New Points & Penalty System, Sustainable Fuels Introduced

German championship unveils new initiatives ahead of 2023 season opener…

Photo: Hoch Zwei

DTM will introduce a new points system, updated penalty rules and sustainable fuel for the 2023 season, which kicks off this weekend at Oschersleben.

The single-driver GT3 series begins at the Saxony circuit, marking its first event since ADAC completed its takeover during the off-season.

Under a newly introduced scoring system, a greater number of cars reaching the finish line during a race will be eligible to score points.

The race winner will receive 25 points, like last year, with the runner-up scoring 20 points and third and fourth place rewarded with 16 and 13 points respectively.

From fifth place, which scores 11 points, each finishing car receives one point fewer than the car in front.

This continues through to 15th place getting a single point for reaching the checkered flag.

The change means five extra cars can score points compared to last year, which only saw the top ten finishers get on the scoreboard.

Along with an updated scoring system, the series has also introduced the ‘penalty lap’ to punish smaller infringements during races.

A penalty zone will be set up at every circuit, with drivers required through the zone at 50 km/h (31 mph) resulting in a lost of roughly five seconds through what the series described as a “more lenient” penalty.

Additionally, the races have also been lengthened by five minutes, extending them to one hour plus one lap.

The 28-car field will run on sustainable fuel for the first time in the series’ history, with fuel supplier Shell providing a fuel which consists of roughly 50 percent regenerative components.

Project 1 Confirms Holzem in Second BMW

Team Project 1 confirmed that GT4 racer Sandro Holzem will pilot its second BMW M4 GT3, thus filling the final vacant spot on the grid.

Marco Wittmann was confirmed to be part of the Lohne-based squad’s driver lineup when the program was announced in February, but the driver for its second car was yet to be revealed.

“We are planning to start with the young talent Sandro Holzem during the 2023 DTM season,” team manager Marcel Jürgens-Wichmann said.

“He will be prepared for his DTM debut by our experts. Intensive testing and possible guest starts in the ADAC GT Masters are on the agenda here.”

Holzem, 18, made his GT racing debut during last year’s ADAC GT4 Germany, where he drove an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 for Doerr Motorsport.

Davey Euwema is Sportscar365's European Editor. Based in The Netherlands, Euwema covers the FIA World Endurance Championship, European Le Mans Series and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, among other series.

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