DTM reveals new race format details

The DTM has revealed full details of its new two-race format for 2015, with pit stops being optional during the Saturday races.

The reintroduction of a double-header format was announced late last year, forming a nine-event, 18-race calendar.

From the season opener at Hockenheim on May 1-3, each race will have its own 20-minute qualifying session – a departure from the elimination format of recent years – and the races will be worth equal points, despite different durations.

Saturday's race will be timed to 40 minutes plus one lap, with pit stops to change tires optional but not mandatory, creating a strategic variable. A pit stop is, though, required during Sunday's longer race, which will run for 60 minutes plus one lap.

"With two championship rounds per weekend we provide the spectators twice as much of the things that count: more door-to-door battles, more thrilling decisions, and more fascinating motor racing," series boss Hans Werner Aufrecht said. "We are convinced that the differing race formats will make for entertaining and thrilling races."

Originally on Autosport.com