2003 DTM Season

2003 DTM Season
File:Bernd Schneider.png Bernd Schneider claimed his third DTM crown.
Season Information
No. Rounds	10 (10 Races)
First Round	2003 Hockenheim Opening Race
Last Round	2003 Hockenheim Finale Race
Makers	Abt-Audi; AMG-Mercedes; Opel
Tyre(s)	Dunlop
Drivers' Championship
Champion	Second	Third
Bernd Schneider	Christijan Albers	Marcel Fässler
68 Pt(s)	64 Pt(s)	57 Pt(s)
Teams' Championship
Champion	Second	Third
Vodafone/Express Service AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	PlayStation 2 Red Bull Abt-Audi
132 Pt(s)	99 Pt(s)	47 Pt(s)
Brands' Championship
Champion	Second	Third
AMG-Mercedes	Abt-Audi	Opel
237 Pt(s)	93 Pt(s)	60 Pt(s)
Season Guide
2002	2004

The 2003 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, otherwise known as the 2003 DTM Season, was the fourth season of the DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since the series was reformed in 2000, and seventeenth year of German touring car racing. The season would see teammates Bernd Schneider and Christijan Albers duel for the title, which was only decided at the Season Finale.

Laurent Aïello had started the season as the defending Champion, and would remain with Abt-Audi as their lead driver. In terms of the Teams' Championship it was HWA Team who would start the season as the reigning, and undefeated, Champions, while the DMSB and ITR e.V. would add a Manufacturers Championship to the bill for 2003.

The season would feature ten rounds, bookended as ever by trips to the Hockenheimring to open and close the campaign. The series would also head to Italy and the Adria International Raceway for the first time, with further trips abroad to Donington Park in the UK, the A1-Ring in Austria and Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands to compliment four other German races.

There had been another of changes to the sporting rules ahead of the season, with the race weekends reduced to a single race of 60 minutes, with qualifying also remodelled. Furthermore, the points allocation had been changed to follow the new FIA standard, with the top eight finishers set to receive points.

Schneider would open the season with a dominant victory in Hockenheim, before Albers won the following two races at Adria and the Nürburgring. Schneider won the following race at the Lausitzring, before Albers reclaimed the Championship lead with victory at the Norisring.

After that the Championship lead would bounce between the two, although Schneider was more consistent as he claimed fourth straight podium finishes, while Albers claimed three with a fourth win in Zandvoort. The Dutchman hence trailed Schneider by a point at the season finale, although a non-score combined with sixth for the German left Schneider as the Champion for the third time.

Elsewhere the Teams' Championship was dominated by HWA, who claimed first and second with their two teams, with the Schneider/Albers combination emerging as the Champions. Likewise, Mercedes had dominated the Manufacturers' Championship throughout 2003, claiming a huge tally of 237 points compared to second placed Abt-Audi's total of 93.

Across the season there were three winners other than Schneider and Albers, with Jean Alesi, Aïello, and Marcel Fässler sharing four wins between themselves. The series would also host its first night session at the seventh race at the Nürburgring, while also serving as the maiden campaign for future double Champion Gary Paffett.

Calendar

There were several changes to the calendar for the 2003 season, with the round at Circuit Zolder replaced by a trip to Adria. The race at the Sachsenring was also replaced by a second race around the Sprint Circuit at the Nürburgring, while the race at Donington Park was moved to later in the season, with moves to avoid clashes with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Formula One.

The season would open at the Hockenheimring on 27 April, the traditional curtain raiser since the series' reformation. Adria, Italy would then makes its debut two weeks later, before the first battle of the Nürburgring was scheduled for the 25 May. The annual trip to the Lausitzring would follow on 8 June, before the season's only street race at the Norisring was scheduled for the 22 June.

A pseudo-summer break would follow after that, with the Championship restarting at Donington Park in the UK on 27 July. Three weeks later the field would head to the Nürburgring for the second time, before a short hop over to Austria at the A1-Ring on 7 September. Another trans-European trip would then carry the mob to the Circuit Park Zandvoort on 21 September, before the season came to its conclusion on 5 October at the Hockenheimring.

Schedule

The full calendar for the 2003 DTM Championship is shown below:

2003 DTM Championship Calendar
Round	Event	Circuit	Date	Report
I	DTM Hockenheim Opening 2003	Hockenheimring	27 April 2003	Report
II	DTM Adria 2003	Adria International Raceway	11 May 2003	Report
III	DTM Nürburg 2003	Nürburgring	25 May 2003	Report
IV	DTM Lausitz 2003	Lausitzring	8 June 2003	Report
V	DTM Nuremberg 2003	Norisring	22 June 2003	Report
VI	DTM Donington Park 2003	Donington Park	27 July 2003	Report
VII	DTM Nürburg 2003	Nürburgring	17 August 2003	Report
VIII	DTM Speilberg 2003	A1-Ring	7 September 2003	Report
IX	DTM Zandvoort 2003	Circuit Park Zandvoort	21 September 2003	Report
X	DTM Hockenheim Finale 2003	Hockenheimring	5 October 2003	Report

Entrants

Season Entry

The full entry list for the 2003 DTM Championship is outlined below:

2003 DTM Championship Entry List
Entrant	No.	Name	Abbr.	Rnds.	Livery
Hasseröder Abt-Audi Abt-Audi TT-R 2003	1	Laurent Aïello	AIE	All
	2	Christian Abt	ABT	All
Vodafone/Express Service AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2003	3	Bernd Schneider	BSC	All
	4	Christijan Albers	ALB	All
PlayStation 2 Red Bull Abt-Audi Abt-Audi TT-R 2003	5	Mattias Ekström	EKS	All
	6	Karl Wendlinger	WEN	All
OPC Team Holzer Opel Astra V8 Coupé 2003	7	Manuel Reuter	REU	All
	8	Alain Menu	MEN	All
AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2003	9	Marcel Fässler	FAE	All
	10	Jean Alesi	ALE	All
Original-Teile AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2002	11	Thomas Jäger	JAE	All
	12	Bernd Mayländer	MAY	All
S Line Audi Junior Team Abt-Audi TT-R 2002	14	Martin Tomczyk	TOM	All
	15	Peter Terting	TER	All
OPC Euroteam Opel Astra V8 Coupé 2002	16	Joachim Winkelhock	WIN	All
	17	Jeroen Bleekemolen	BLE	All
OPC Team Phoenix Opel Astra V8 Coupé 2003	18	Timo Scheider	TSC	All
	19	Peter Dumbreck	DUM	All
ARTA AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2002	20	Katsutomo Kaneishi	KAN	All
Service 24h AMG-Mercedes AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2002	24	Patrick Huisman	HUI	1-2
		Gary Paffett	PAF	3-10
	42	Stefan Mücke	MUC	All

Season Report

Round I: DTM Hockenheim Opening 2003

The 2003 season would open on 26 April at the Series' home of the Hockenheimring, using the full, revised, Grand Prix circuit. The race weekend would also see the debut of the DTM's new support series, the Formula 3 Euro Series.

Qualifying

For the full qualifying report, head to the 2003 Hockenheim Opening Race article.

Race

For the full race report, head to the 2003 Hockenheim Opening Race article.

Round II: DTM Adria 2003

The Adria International Raceway hosted its, and Italy's, first DTM race on 11 May 2003, using the National Circuit.

Qualifying

For the full qualifying report, head to the 2003 Adria Race article.

Race

For the full race report, head to the 2003 Adria Race article.

Round III: DTM Nürburg 2003

The Nürburgring would host its first DTM race of the season on 25 May, with the Series using the National Layout instead of the Grand Prix circuit.

Qualifying

For the full qualifying report, head to the 2003 Nürburgring I Race article.

Race

For the full race report, head to the 2003 Nürburgring I Race article.

Round IV: DTM Lausitz 2003

Round four of the 2003 Championship was held at the Lausitzring on 8 June, with the field again using the in-field circuit in-spite of plans to switch to the full oval.

Qualifying

For the full qualifying report, head to the 2003 Lausitzring Race article.

Race

For the full race report, head to the 2003 Lausitzring Race article.

Round V: DTM Nuremberg 2003

The Norisring in Nuremberg got its chance to host the DTM on 22 June, the headline act of the Norisring Speedweekend.

Qualifying

For the full qualifying report, head to the 2003 Norisring Race article.

Race

For the full race report, head to the 2003 Norisring Race article.

Round VI: DTM Donington Park 2003

Donington Park was retained for the 2003 season, with the United Kingdom hosting the DTM once again on 27 July.

Qualifying

For the full qualifying report, head to the 2003 Donington Park Race article.

Race

For the full race report, head to the 2003 Donington Park Race article.

Round VII: DTM Nürburg 2003

Late August saw the return of the Championship to the Nürburgring, again using the National Layout on 17 August 2003.

Qualifying

For the full qualifying report, head to the 2003 Nürburgring II Race article.

Race

For the full race report, head to the 2003 Nürburgring II Race article.

Round VIII: DTM Spielberg 2003

The revived DTM's third weekend abroad would come on the 7 September 2003, when the Austrian based A1 Ring hosted the Series.

Qualifying

For the full qualifying report, head to the 2003 Spielberg Race article.

Race

For the full race report, head to the 2003 Spielberg Race article.

Round IX: DTM Zandvoort 2003

The DTM would arrive in North Holland in the Netherlands for the penultimate round of the 2003 campaign, with the Circuit Park Zandvoort hosting its race on 21 September.

Qualifying

For the full qualifying report, head to the 2003 Zandvoort Race article.

Race

For the full race report, head to the 2003 Zandvoort Race article.

Round X: DTM Hockenheim 2003

The first weekend of October saw the conclusion of the Championship back at the Hockenheimring, using the full Grand Prix circuit once again.

Qualifying

For the full qualifying report, head to the 2003 Hockenheim Finale Race article.

Race

For the full race report, head to the 2003 Hockenheim Finale Race article.

Regulations

Sporting

The full points scoring system for the 2003 DTM campaign is outlined below:

2003 DTM Championship Race Points
1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th
10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1

All of the DTM field in 2003 used tyres supplied by Dunlop, with no variation in compounds.

Standings

2003 DTM Championship for Drivers

Outlined below are the Championship standings for the 2003 DTM Championship for Drivers:

2003 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship for Drivers
Pos.	Abb.											Pts.
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1st	BSC	1st	5th	4th	1st	3rd	2nd	3rd	2nd	2nd	6th	68
2nd	ALB	5th	1st	1st	7th	1st	5th	2nd	3rd	1st	12th	64
3rd	FAE	2nd	4th	2nd	10th	2nd	4th	5th	1st	6th	3rd	57
4th	EKS	8th	2nd	7th	3rd	Ret	3rd	4th	5th	3rd	2nd	46
5th	ALE	4th	7th	Ret	5th	5th	1st	6th	Ret	5th	1st	42
6th	AIE	3rd	3rd	3rd	8th	6th	Ret	1st	4th	9th	5th	41
7th	DUM	6th	6th	5th	2nd	4th	6th	10th	Ret	10th	4th	31
8th	TSC	7th	15th	13th	4th	16th	8th	7th	Ret	Ret	7th	12
9th	MEN	18th	8th	6th	6th	10th	Ret	9th	7th	Ret	10th	9
10th	REU	9th	Ret	9th	12th	13th	Ret	15th	10th	4th	19th	5
11th	PAF			Ret	15th	Ret	9th	8th	6th	12th	18th	4
12th	ABT	20th	DSQ	8th	9th	7th	Ret	Ret	Ret	11th	9th	3
13th	JAE	10th	Ret	12th	14th	9th	7th	Ret	9th	13th	11th	2
14th	BLE	14th	11th	11th	18th	14th	13th	17th	12th	7th	15th	2
15th	WIN	16th	9th	10th	11th	8th	10th	13th	14th	15th	Ret	1
16th	WEN	15th	12th	16th	13th	11th	15th	11th	16th	8th	17th	1
17th	TER	Ret	13th	14th	DNS	12th	14th	18th	13th	14th	8th	1
18th	TOM	12th	Ret	18th	DNS	Ret	Ret	Ret	8th	Ret	13th	1
19th	MAY	11th	10th	17th	16th	Ret	12th	14th	15th	16th	20th	0
20th	MUC	17th	Ret	15th	DNS	15th	11th	12th	11th	17th	14th	0
21st	HUI	13th	Ret									0
22nd	KAN	19th	14th	19th	17th	17th	Ret	16th	17th	18th	16th	0
Pos.	Abb.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts.

2003 DTM Championship for Teams

Outlined below are the Championship standings for the 2003 DTM Championship for Teams:

2003 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship for Teams
Pos.	Abb.	No.											Pts.
			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1st	VOD	3	1st	5th	4th	1st	3rd	2nd	3rd	2nd	2nd	6th	132
		4	5th	1st	1st	7th	1st	5th	2nd	3rd	1st	12th
2nd	AMG	9	2nd	4th	2nd	10th	2nd	4th	5th	1st	6th	3rd	99
		10	4th	7th	Ret	5th	5th	1st	6th	Ret	5th	1st
3rd	ABT P	5	8th	2nd	7th	3rd	Ret	3rd	4th	5th	3rd	2nd	47
		6	15th	12th	16th	13th	11th	15th	11th	16th	8th	17th
4th	ABT H	1	3rd	3rd	3rd	8th	6th	Ret	1st	4th	9th	5th	44
		2	20th	DSQ	8th	9th	7th	Ret	Ret	Ret	11th	9th
5th	PHO	18	7th	15th	13th	4th	16th	8th	7th	Ret	Ret	7th	43
		19	6th	6th	5th	2nd	4th	6th	10th	Ret	10th	4th
6th	HOL	7	9th	Ret	9th	12th	13th	Ret	15th	10th	4th	19th	14
		8	18th	8th	6th	6th	10th	Ret	9th	7th	Ret	10th
7th	ROS	24	13th	Ret	Ret	15th	Ret	9th	8th	6th	12th	18th	4
		42	17th	Ret	15th	DNS	15th	11th	12th	11th	17th	14th
8th	EUR	16	16th	9th	10th	11th	8th	10th	13th	14th	15th	Ret	3
		17	14th	11th	11th	18th	14th	13th	17th	12th	7th	15th
9th	ORI	11	10th	Ret	12th	14th	9th	7th	Ret	9th	13th	11th	2
		12	11th	10th	17th	16th	Ret	12th	14th	15th	16th	20th
10th	ABT J	14	12th	Ret	18th	DNS	Ret	Ret	Ret	8th	Ret	13th	2
		15	Ret	13th	14th	DNS	12th	14th	18th	13th	14th	8th
11th	ART	21	19th	14th	19th	17th	17th	Ret	16th	17th	18th	16th	0
Pos.	Abb.	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts.

2003 DTM Championship for Manufacturers

Outlined below are the Championship standings for the 2003 DTM Championship for Manufacturers:

2003 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship for Drivers
Pos.	Abb.											Pts.
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1st	Mercedes	27	21	23	16	28	29	22	27	25	19	237
2nd	Audi	7	14	9	7	5	6	15	10	7	13	93
3rd	Opel	5	4	7	16	6	4	2	2	7	7	60

References

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References: