The DTM announced its full 2025 calendar earlier this week, but curiously both Vila Real and the Salzburgring were absent from the eight-round schedule.
Portuguese street circuit Vila Real, best known for hosting World Touring Car Cup races, had signed a deal with DTM’s previous owner ITR for 2023, but the change of promoter meant that it never got to make its series debut.
Vila Real had since entered into negotiations with the ADAC for its third season of hosting the DTM, while Salzburbring bosses were also confident of hosting a race next year after upgrading some of its facilities.
Ultimately, neither venue got the nod for 2025, as the DTM elected to keep its proven eight-round schedule, with six weekends taking place in Germany and one each in Austria and the Netherlands.
In an official statement, ADAC motorsport director Thomas Voss said: “Over the past few months, we have carefully scrutinised exciting venues for the DTM.
“However, as all the events in Germany have experienced a significant increase in popularity among visitors, we will stick with the tried and tested venues for the 2025 season.”
Motorsport.com understands that the ADAC wants to expand the calendar beyond eight events in the long term.
There were also discussions to hold a ninth round as early as 2025, but teams – already fighting to keep expenditure within their budgets – were not supportive of the idea.
Hence, visiting Vila Real – or Salzburgring – would have come at the cost of an existing German venue, something teams were, again, not in favour of.
Moreover, the ADAC wants to focus on consistency in event development, with an uptick in trackside spectators at all circuits except Spielberg vindicating its approach.
Plus, if it is possible to expand the calendar beyond eight events in the future, any German circuit that would have been omitted from the 2025 schedule would have to be added back again.
Issues with Vila Real and Salzburgring
TCR racing at the Salzburgring in 2017
Photo by: TCR media
Teams were also not keen on a city race in Vila Real due to the high risk of crash damage and the travel costs associated with shipping cars and equipment to Portugal.
In this regard, the ADAC was reportedly able to secure insurance for teams, as half of the field competes with uninsured GT3 cars. Moreover, it would also have subsided travel costs for teams, reducing their financial burden. But ultimately, a decision was made not to take any undue risks for the time being.
As for the Salzburgring, the DTM still wants to test the suitability of the track for GT3 racing with a GT Masters event in 2025.
Although the circuit invested in a state-of-the-art race control facility at the request of the DTM, Voss still believes “that some work still needs to be done on the track.”
He added: “I think the chicane at the start-finish is too narrow for GT cars. The Nocksteinkehre [region] always has problems with water.
“If it rains heavily, you don’t drive there, just like at the Lausitzring, but in principle I wouldn’t rule out a test event.
He added: “We would not want to run a DTM race at the Salzburgring without trying it out.”