Zandvoort replaces China DTM round

The DTM has dropped its Chinese round from this year's calendar, replacing it with a race at Zandvoort on the same late-September date.

The German series was set to return to China for the first time since holding its 2010 finale on the streets of Shanghai, with a new street circuit in Guangzhou scheduled to host the round. However, event officials were not able to get the proposed circuit up to the standards required by the DTM, so series bosses have brought Zandvoort - which was dropped for 2014, back to take its place as the penultimate round of the season.

Hans Werner Aufrecht, chairman of DTM promoter ITR, said: "We have to be able to guarantee the DTM standard when it comes to racing in foreign countries. This applies to safety aspects around the circuit, the paddock, the pit facilities including the garages and the spectator areas.

"In addition, a solid funding must also be ensured. In China, this year, all this couldn't be realized on the necessary level."

Aufrecth added that China, which also hosted a non-championship DTM round in 2004, is still an important country for the DTM to return to in the future.

"Coming back to the most populous country of the world and one of the most important markers for the car manufacturers involved in the DTM to contest races remains our goal," he said. "And we will keep on working on realizing this goal."