– The DTM season has just begun, but three teams have already used their only private and freely selectable joker test day on DTM tracks before the finale in Hockenheim. These are the Lamborghini team Abt, the Mercedes-AMG team Landgraf, and the Ferrari crew Emil Frey.
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All three teams tested in Zandvoort, where the second race weekend of the season is scheduled for this weekend (all info on TV times, stream, etc.) and where the new slightly softer DTM special tire from Pirelli will face its true endurance test. The dune circuit is considered an absolute tire killer due to its rough asphalt, and high temperatures are also expected.
Curiously: While Abt and Landgraf tested on May 8 at temperatures around 20 degrees in the Netherlands, the Emil Frey crew was already on site on March 19 with the regular drivers Thierry Vermeulen and Matteo Ciaroli – but still with the DHG tire from Pirelli, which was used last year.
Why did the Emil Frey team test without DTM tires?
How do the Swiss explain the Zandvoort test in March, when the new DTM special tire from Pirelli was not yet available and it was not even clear what it would look like?
“Emil Frey Racing chose Zandvoort because we race on this track in the DTM and in the GT World Challenge Europe,” explains technical director Jürg Flach. “Thus, all four drivers had one test day each. Additionally, it was about doing further setup work with the Evo package on this track to establish a good basis for the races.”
In the sprint series of the GT World Challenge Europe, which will only visit Zandvoort in September, the DHG tire from Pirelli is still used. However, the focus of the test was the new Evo package of the Ferrari, which the crew has tested intensively beforehand and is still working on.
“We do not understand it well enough yet,” Thierry Vermeulen refers to the difficult start before the DTM weekend in Zandvoort. “We really had problems in Brands Hatch in the GT World Challenge and at the Red Bull Ring, especially in qualifying, to get the car as usual and with a proper balance. We still have a lot of work ahead of us as a team.”
Abt team tests only with one Temerario: “Need many kilometers”
So-called joker test days make sense this year not only in Zandvoort but also at the Nürburgring and in Oschersleben, because on the remaining four DTM tracks there is an official test day organized by the ADAC, which expires if not used (SPONSORED LINK: Secure tickets now for the DTM season 2026!).
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It is not surprising that the Abt crew has already used the only private test day on DTM tracks, as the Lamborghini team from Kempten had a difficult start with the new Temerario GT3, similar to the Grasser team, which sought progress on Rosberg’s driving dynamics test bench.
“We still need many test kilometers with the new car so that we can get to know it better and also further develop it,” says Abt team boss Thomas Biermaier. “That is why we went to Zandvoort. On top of that comes the preparation for the next DTM weekend in Zandvoort.”
It is interesting that the Abt crew was not on site with both Temerario GT3 cars, even though the test day expires anyway. “We were only testing with one car because we had other commitments with the second car,” explains an Abt spokesperson on request. The regular drivers Luca Engstler and Marco Mapelli took turns at the wheel.
Landgraf team tests, HRT withdraws test
“We do not want to provide further details about the exact use of the second car in this case, we ask for understanding.”
The Mercedes-AMG team Landgraf used the test opportunity in Zandvoort because both Lucas Auer, who recently was under multiple burdens due to the Nordschleife program, the GTWCE, and the DTM, and Tom Kalender had no scheduling conflicts.
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The Ford team HRT was also in Zandvoort, but with the ADAC GT Masters drivers. The request to also test with the DTM duo was withdrawn in time by the team, leaving the option of a private test in Oschersleben or at the Nürburgring.
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