– What is behind the test strategy of the Aston Martin racing team Comtoyou with title contender Nicki Thiim and the Lamborghini racing team Grasser? In addition to the four official test days (Spielberg, Lausitzring, Sachsenring, Hockenheim), the teams have a private test day available on DTM tracks in 2026. While all others have already made use of this so-called joker test, it is still unused by Comtoyou and Grasser.
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After the Nürburgring weekend, only two tracks remain on the program with the Sachsenring and Hockenheim, where an official test day is already scheduled in advance. So how do the two teams approach the joker test day?
“We will probably not use it,” announces team boss Gottfried Grasser an unconventional approach. “Instead, we would prefer to use this tire allocation in the free practice sessions.”
Reasons to forgo the joker test day
The teams receive four new sets of tires per test day for one vehicle. Since the tires for test drives and free practice sessions come from the same allocation this season, the sets may also be used on Fridays, when each driver receives a new set.
The disadvantage: Instead of a whole test day, you only have a total of 1:40 hours on the track on Friday, making experiments hardly possible. The advantage: The conditions on Friday are often more representative of the race weekend than during a private test.
“I see it the same way. Also, you can run a new tire in every free practice,” says Grasser, whose team recently started only with Mirko Bortolotti after Maximilian Paul’s injury. “That helps a lot during the race weekend. And at the Sachsenring, where there is an increased need for testing for our car, a test is taking place anyway.”
Thiim’s Comtoyou team considers double test before title finale
The Comtoyou team had originally planned to test simultaneously for DTM and GT World Challenge Europe at the Nürburgring but abandoned this idea because it was not compatible with the numerous programs.
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“Sachsenring and Hockenheim are fixed, so we are considering whether to conduct a second test at Hockenheim,” announces Mario Schuhbauer, who leads the DTM project at Comtoyou. This would especially make sense if Thiim is fighting for the DTM title at the finale, which from the current perspective is not unrealistic.
The Aston Martin team could, for example, test privately as the only team immediately after September 23, when the ADAC-organized DTM test takes place at Hockenheim, and prepare even better. “But it is also not excluded that we will use the tires in the free practice sessions,” Schuhbauer does not want to commit yet.
Nürburgring most popular location for joker test
The last team to use its joker test day was the HRT team, which prepared at the Nürburgring on August 2 with Arjun Maini and Finn Wiebelhaus. (SPONSORED LINK: Get tickets now for the 2026 DTM season!)
“The weather was good, we got a lot of driving time, and it was very decent,” HRT team boss Ulrich Fritz draws a positive conclusion. “We also found out a bit.”
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Before the HRT duo, the teams Manthey, Land, and Winward had already used their joker test in the Eifel, making the Nürburgring the first choice of the teams in this regard. In Zandvoort, six drivers tested with the teams Landgraf, Abt, and Emil Frey, and in Oschersleben four drivers with Schubert and the Dörr team.
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