Following on from the visit by both Lexus and Nissan at the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters finale at Hockenheim, rights holders ITR e.V. will be heading to Japan for the forthcoming Super GT finale next month.
All three brands from the DTM will take part in a demonstration run of their own at Motegi using up-to-date machinery, having already selected their respective drivers for the event itself.
Maro Engel will be the only one to have not yet ventured onto Japanese soil, unlike fellow DTM compatriots Augusto Farfus and Loïc Duval, who have both raced over there.
Duval, who was the 2010 Super GT champion alongside Takashi Kogure, is proud to be representing Audi that weekend, having been in awe of the current Japanese machinery that were piloted by Heikki Kovalainen and Ronnie Quintarell at Hockenheim.
“The cars are just as spectacular as the DTM vehicles and seeing them all the five together was just amazing,” explained the Team Phoenix driver, who also took part in the premier single-seater class, Super Formula.
Farfus himself had raced at the Suzuka 1000kms in Super GT’s GT300 class, finishing third for the Munich marque, and is proud to have been selected to represent BMW on Japanese soil.
“For me, having been offered the chance of presenting the BMW M4 DTM in front of the Japanese motor-racing enthusiasts represents a real honour,” admitted the Brazilian, who will be driving Tom Blomqvist’s M4 DTM at the 4.8-km circuit.
“I contested the Suzuka 1000-Kilometre Race this year and the atmosphere was just fantastic.”
“I am curious about the race and – of course – about the response of the Japanese fans to our Mercedes-AMG DTM,” said Engel, who has raced in Asia at Macau, but is looking forward to his first set of demonstration laps at Motegi, piloting his SILBERFEIL Energy Mercedes C63 AMG Coupé in three weeks’ time.
The planned visit from the DTM in Japan is bolstering further potential for both series, with joint technical regulations set to come into force for 2019.
Even with Mercedes-AMG Motorsport’s withdrawal from the DTM at the end of 2018, it still provides a chance of any of the brands looking to race in the other series from then onwards.