Is there a threat of a 2027 DTM season without two-time champion Marco Wittmann, who fought for the title until the final race of this season, and Mercedes AMG driver Jules Gounon? The problem is the race calendar, because - as Motorsport-Total.com has already reported - there are several clashes with the American IMSA series and the World Endurance Championship WEC.
"For next year, there are currently two clashes on the DTM schedule. That makes it extremely difficult, because Hypercar is clearly the priority for the BMW drivers," Wittmann tells Motorsport-Total.com, explaining the issue. The BMW works driver is part of the Hypercar line-up and competed in the full IMSA championship in 2026 alongside Philipp Eng.
"As things stand, I can't say what the plan is," says Wittmann with a view to 2027. "BMW and I are in discussions about how things will continue and what we will do next year, but the clashes don't make the whole thing any easier."
Wittmann's desperate appeal to the DTM
Wittmann is currently the longest-serving DTM driver in the field and has contested 228 races without ever missing one. This year, the 36-year-old German enjoyed a second spring and fought for the title at the season finale for the first time since 2021. He is also closely connected to the series through his link with DTM partner Schaeffler. What would it mean to him not to start in the DTM next year?
"To put it plainly, that would be crap," Wittmann replies. But "no decision has been made yet. In the end Andreas (Roos - BMW Motorsport director; editor's note) and BMW decide, but for us it makes the decision extremely difficult."
That is why he is making an appeal to DTM promoter ADAC. "We hope and also ask the ADAC and the DTM to perhaps take another look at it and move dates," says Wittmann. "I think it doesn't only affect me. It also affects Manthey, who also race in IMSA. The calendar has not been chosen optimally there."
BMW is also trying to find a solution. "We are strongly committed to this and are also in dialogue with the ADAC and IMSA," confirms BMW Motorsport director Andreas Roos.
"DTM has shot itself in the foot"
But what is it all about? The DTM season finale at Hockenheim takes place at the same time as the IMSA endurance race "Petit Le Mans", which will be held from 8 to 10 October in 2027. But that is not the only IMSA clash: because of an IMSA date change announced at the end of August, the DTM weekend at Zandvoort now also clashes with the Road America endurance classic from 5 to 8 August.
"The DTM has shot itself in the foot with that," says Wittmann. "If they perhaps lose their best-known drivers and the best-known names as a result, then I don't know whether that is beneficial for the DTM."
The problem: both IMSA events are classics that count for the Endurance Cup - and this year the Manthey team also competed there with DTM drivers Thomas Preining and Ricardo Feller in the GTD Pro class. For the Porsche team, too, competing in 2027 with this line up would probably no longer be possible because of the two clashes.
Wittmann not the only leading DTM driver affected
And then there is Winward Mercedes driver Jules Gounon, who competed in the WEC for the Alpine team in 2026. The WEC weekend at Silverstone, which takes place on the final weekend of April, clashes, of all things, with the DTM season opener at Spielberg. There is also a second clash between the WEC at Fuji and the DTM at the Sachsenring on the final weekend of September.
It is still unclear whether Gounon is affected, as the tug-of-war over the takeover of the Alpine team continues, but according to information from Motorsport-Total.com, the clash could derail his DTM plans.
But can the drivers hope for a change? "It is becoming increasingly difficult to put together a calendar in a way that really satisfies everyone," ADAC motorsport chief Thomas Voss makes clear. They will "examine" the situation and, in principle, "dates can always be changed".
Calendar dilemma: why there may be no solution
In this case, however, the situation is complex: the date of the season finale at Hockenheim could theoretically be pushed back, although the early dusk was already a problem for certain support series this year. And so late in the season, it would theoretically also be possible for the manufacturers to find a replacement for the series in which the driver no longer has any title chances.
But the IMSA clash in the summer with the DTM at Zandvoort is problematic: the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany has a contract with the DTM and appears on the support bill at the Dutch round. And because numerous drivers and teams also compete in the Porsche Supercup on the Formula 1 support package, there must not be an F1 clash.
Moving Zandvoort forward is impossible because of the Formula 1 double-header, while postponing it is also complicated from a logistical point of view because that would mean a double-header for the DTM with the Nurburgring (20 to 22 August). In addition, it is also difficult for the teams and manufacturers to determine, as early as the fifth DTM weekend, which series has priority in terms of the title fight.
As far as the WEC is concerned, things do not look any better: bringing the season opener at Spielberg forward in April is risky because of the altitude, while moving it by a week is out of the question because of the GT World Challenge Europe (GTWCE) at Brands Hatch. The same applies to the DTM at the Sachsenring, because one week before and after that the GTWCE races at Zandvoort and in Budapest.