The 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the twenty-ninth season of premier German touring car championship and also sixteenth season under the moniker of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since the series' resumption in 2000. The season started on 2 May at Hockenheim, and ended on 18 October at the same venue, with Mercedes Benz driver Pascal Wehrlein clinching the Drivers' Championship, Mercedes Benz's HWA AG winning the Teams' Championship and BMW taking the Manufacturer's Championship after a total of nine events.
Marco Wittmann entered the season as the defending Drivers' Champion, BMW Team RMG as the defending Teams' Champion and Audi as the defending Manufacturers' Champion.
Rule changes
Sporting
Drivers were assigned permanent numbers for the duration of their DTM careers, with the championship adopting a system similar to the one used in Formula One and MotoGP. The number 1 was the champion's right, with drivers free to choose any number from 2 to 99 or 100; the champion's "regular" number was reserved while they were using the number 1.[1]
The 2015 season saw the DTM series go back to a two races per weekend format. It was the first time since 2002 that the DTM used the format but the usual number of laps were replaced by time limit.
The usual knockout qualifying format was replaced by 20-minute single-session qualifying format (similar to 60-minute 1996-2002 Formula One single-session qualifying format).
Technical
The weight of all DTM cars were increased to 1,120 kg.
The performance weights also has been introduced.
The softer optional tyres were removed to provide overtaking manoeuvre.
Teams and drivers
The following manufacturers, teams and drivers competed in the 2015 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Hankook.
Starting from Norisring, ITR introduced a system of ballast based on the results obtained in the previous race. The basis weight is 1120 kg, and performance weight ranges from a minimum of 1105 kg to a maximum of 1140 kg[14]