The DTM teams wrapped up their final preparations at the official test and media day in Oschersleben on Wednesday. The 15 participating teams used the event to optimize their setups for the 550-horsepower cars ahead of the season opener in Magdeburg Börde from April 25th to 27th. This was the first time the 24 DTM cars had run on the new Pirelli slick tyres, as well as with a new synthetic fuel during the test.
The fastest time of the day came from Thomas Preining (Austria) in the Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R. Preining posted a lap of 1:21.887 minutes, the only driver to dip under the 1:22.000-minute mark. “It feels amazing to be back in a DTM car, which is much sharper than an endurance car. Over the winter, we focused on testing specific areas and made sure to refine them in Oschersleben for the best possible season start,” explained the 2023 champion. His teammate, Ayhancan Güven (Turkey), took second place, while Jordan Pepper (South Africa) secured third on the 3.667-kilometre circuit.
The teams spent the day fine-tuning their DTM cars using the new Pirelli P Zero DHG slick tyres, which were debuted at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. The dry and sunny weather provided ideal conditions for gathering critical data with different set-ups, focusing on both fast laps and long-run simulations.
“We tested a lot of different things. The car seems a bit faster with the new tyres. A test day offers a lot of individual insights that come together to form a complete picture, which helps us prepare for the season start,” said Maro Engel (Monaco) from Mercedes-AMG Team Winward. Nicki Thiim (Denmark) of Abt Sportsline, driving for Lamborghini, also experimented with the new Pirelli tyres. “The tyres worked especially well when cold. We made many adjustments, from air pressure to camber settings, to extract the most performance. We did a great job.”
Ford and Aston Martin both made their DTM debuts in Oschersleben, gaining valuable data for the season ahead. “I’ve followed DTM since I was a kid, and it feels incredible to be a part of it now,” said Gilles Magnus (Belgium), who took his first DTM laps in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Comtoyou Racing. “As newcomers, this test was particularly important. I found starting on cold tyres a real challenge.” Arjun Maini (India) from HRT Ford Performance was pleased with the Ford Mustang GT3’s DTM debut. “It’s an iconic car with very unique characteristics. I’ll need some time to adjust, even though I’m familiar with DTM. The test went well, and we focused on how the car responds in specific situations rather than chasing outright performance.”
Ayhancan Güven and his Dutch teammate Morris Schuring from the Manthey junior team completed the most laps, each driving 141 laps. In total, the drivers covered 10,378 kilometres across 2,830 laps. The first two races of the 2025 DTM season will take place from April 25th to 27th.
2025 Pre-Season Test Results:
- Thomas Preining (A/Manthey EMA) – 1:21.887 minutes
- Ayhancan Güven (TR/Manthey EMA) – 1:22.211 minutes
- Jordan Pepper (ZA/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) – 1:22.388 minutes
- Luca Engstler (Kempten/TGI Team Lamborghini by GRT) – 1:22.402 minutes
- Jules Gounon (F/Mercedes-AMG Team Mann-Filter) – 1:22.599 minutes