Audi: DTM will have an unusual start!

This year's DTM will have a very unusual start. First track is a well-known shopping street in Duesseldorf. It's like racing the Champs Elysées in Paris, the Tokyo Ginza or New York's 5th Avenue.

That’s something completely new for the sports city Düsseldorf: in the great DTM Launch, held on 26th March, on the ‘Königsallee’, DTM is going to accelerate flat out. From 13.00hrs, two-time Formula One World Champion Mika Häkkinen, Jean Alesi, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and their colleagues will present their brand-new cars on Düsseldorf’s famous shopping mile. As an additional attraction, the shops located at the ‘Königsallee’ will be open on Sunday, 26th March, from 13.00hrs.

“We are delighted that Lord Mayor Joachim Erwin invited DTM to come to Düsseldorf,” said Hans Werner Aufrecht, chairman of the ITR e.V. organiser DTM. “The Düsseldorf citizens are known as sports enthusiasts and will have the chance of getting very close to DTM, its drivers and teams. I’m convinced that this will turn out to be a very special experience for everybody.” Joachim Erwin, Lord Mayor of North Rhine-Westphalia’s capital, Düsseldorf, is sure: “The best international touring car series coming to Düsseldorf represents a very special highlight. The Düsseldorfers are going to welcome DTM enthusiastically.”

In the paddock that also will be erected at the ‘Kö’, the fans can take a close look at the DTM cars and the cars used in its partner series. In addition to demonstration runs, autographing sessions and competitions held on the ARD show stage, Düsseldorf will also be the venue of the first duel between Audi and Mercedes-Benz: the pit-stop contest. Who will be the first winner of the 2006 season?

42 trucks are necessary to transport the teams and the entire material to Düsseldorf. For the racing teams of Audi and Mercedes-Benz it will represent a particular challenge to make it to Düsseldorf in time as the cars are used for the official DTM tests in Brands Hatch that will be help up to and including Thursday, 23rd March. Afterwards, they will be stripped on site to then be made ‘ready to race’ for the DTM Launch at the ‘Kö’. Having this task completed, the racing teams will hit the road for the 12-hour trip to Düsseldorf, thus making sure that the cars arrive at the Königsallee in time, on Saturday afternoon. Altogether, the teams will take ten DTM cars and two Safety-Cars to the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia. Furthermore, there will be five cars of the DTM support series.

The stage for the DTM show and the live concert of Melanie C will be erected already on Saturday. 30 helpers will need about 30 hours this job. 98 loudspeakers with a total output of 20,000 Watt will make sure that the visitors will also enjoy an extraordinary sound experience. And there will be three 44-square metre video walls, each of them weighing more than 3,500 kilogram.

Please also read more here.

Related news: GermanCarBlog, P4MR, Audi, DTM

Source: Fourtitude

Audi: DTM will have an unusual start!

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