The 2006 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the twentieth season of premier German touring car championship and also seventh season under the moniker of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since the series was resumed in 2000. The number of race weekends was reduced, from eleven in 2005, to ten for the 2006 season. Each track hosted one race, with the exception of Hockenheim, which hosted two. As in 2005, each event consisted of one race of approximately one hour, with two compulsory pit stops for each car. The Championship was won by Bernd Schneider driving an AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2006 for the HWA Team. Team Rosberg returned to the series after one-year absence and thus switched to Audi Sport machinery.

Changes for 2006 Opel exited the series, leaving Audi and Mercedes as remaining manufacturers. Audi and Mercedes respectively increased their number of entries from eight to ten cars each to fill up the four empty spots left by Opel. Older 2004 models became cheaper, allowing privateer teams to buy them. The rounds in Belgium at Spa-Francorchamps and Turkey at Istanbul Park were dropped in favour of Le Mans in France and Barcelona in Spain. The round in Czech Republic at Brno were removed from the schedule.

Teams and drivers The following manufacturers, teams and drivers competed in the 2006 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Dunlop. CarTeamDriversRounds Mercedes-Benz AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2006 HWA Team 2 Bernd Schneider All 3 Jamie Green All 8 Mika Häkkinen All 9 Bruno Spengler All AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2005 Persson Motorsport 10 Jean Alesi All 11 Alexandros Margaritis All AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2004 21 Mathias Lauda All AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2005 Mücke Motorsport 17 Stefan Mücke All 18 Daniel la Rosa All AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2004 22 Susie Stoddart All Audi Audi A4 DTM 2006 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline 4 Martin Tomczyk All 5 Mattias Ekström All 6 Heinz-Harald Frentzen All 7 Tom Kristensen All Audi A4 DTM 2005 Audi Sport Team Phoenix 12 Christian Abt All 14 Pierre Kaffer All Audi Sport Team Rosberg 15 Frank Stippler All 16 Timo Scheider All Audi A4 DTM 2004 Futurecom TME 19 Olivier Tielemans 1–3* Jeroen Bleekemolen 4–5** Nicolas Kiesa 6–8*** Thed Björk 9–10 20 Vanina Ickx AllSources:

Team changes Opel left the series after the 2005 season due to budget cuts at General Motors in Europe. Team Holzer would also leave after being part of Opel's squad since 2000.

Team Joest left the series so they could concentrate on the development of the Audi R10 diesel sports car. They were replaced by Team Phoenix, who had run Opel's the previous season, and Team Rosberg who returned to the series after a one year absence. Both teams would run one year old cars.

F1 team boss Colin Kolles would enter the championship with two two year old Audi A4s run under the Futurecom TME banner.

Mercedes teams Mücke Motorsport and Persson Motorsport expanded to three cars each  with each running two one year old cars and one two year old cars each.

Driver changes Reigning champion Gary Paffett left the DTM to focus on his F1 test driver role at McLaren Mercedes with hopes of a race seat in 2007.

Bruno Spengler and Jamie Green were promoted from Persson Motorsport to HWA Team while Jean Alesi was demoted from HWA Team to Persson Motorsport.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen switched from Opel to Audi to replace Allan McNish who left the series to focus on Endurance racing.

Laurent Aïello and Manuel Reuter retired from motorsport after Opel left the series.

Marcel Fässler left the DTM to join Swiss Spirit in the Le Mans Series.

Rinaldo Capello left the DTM to focus on Endurance racing.

Alexandros Margaritis moved from Mücke Motorsport to Persson Motorsport.

GP2 driver Mathias Lauda joined the DTM with Persson Motorsport.

Daniel la Rosa and Susie Stoddart joined the DTM with Mücke Motorsport after spending the previous year in Formula Renault 3.5 Series and British Formula 3 respectively.

Vanina Ickx and Olivier Tielemans joined the DTM with Futurecom TME after spending the previous year in BELCAR and 3000 Pro Series respectively.

Mid season changes Olivier Tielemans was replaced by Jeroen Bleekemolen after the second round of the season.

Jeroen Bleekemolen was replaced by Nicolas Kiesa after sponsorship troubles after the fifth round.

Nicolas Kiesa was replaced by Thed Björk for the final two races after Kiesa was injured in a motocross accident.

Race calendar and winners Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest Lap Winning driver Winning team Winning manufacturer TV Präsentation Düsseldorf 26 March 1 Hockenheimring 9 April Jamie Green Bruno Spengler Bernd Schneider Vodafone AMG Mercedes Mercedes ARD 2 EuroSpeedway 30 April Jamie Green Bruno Spengler Bernd Schneider Vodafone AMG Mercedes Mercedes ARD 3 Oschersleben 21 May Tom Kristensen Tom Kristensen Tom Kristensen Audi Sport Team Abt Audi ARD 4 Brands Hatch 2 July Tom Kristensen Bernd Schneider Mattias Ekström Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi ARD 5 Norisring 23 July Jamie Green Bruno Spengler Bruno Spengler DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes Mercedes ARD 6 Nürburgring 20 August Bruno Spengler Bruno Spengler Bruno Spengler DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes Mercedes ARD 7 Zandvoort 3 September Jamie Green Mika Häkkinen Tom Kristensen Audi Sport Team Abt Audi ARD 8 Barcelona 24 September Martin Tomczyk Bernd Schneider Martin Tomczyk Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline Audi ARD 9 Le Mans 15 October Bruno Spengler Mika Häkkinen Bruno Spengler DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes Mercedes ARD 10 Hockenheimring 29 October Heinz-Harald Frentzen Jamie Green Bruno Spengler DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes Mercedes ARDSource:

Championship standings

Scoring system Points are awarded to the top 8 classified finishers.

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th  Points 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

Drivers' championship Pos Driver HOC LAU OSC BRH NOR NÜR ZAN CAT BUG HOC Pts 1 Bernd Schneider 1 1 5 3 2 2 2 2 5 4 71 2 Bruno Spengler 9 5 2 7 1 1 4 5 1 1 63 3 Tom Kristensen 2 2 1 18† 5 5 1 9 3 3 56 4 Martin Tomczyk 7 8 6 4 16† 3 3 1 4 5 42 5 Jamie Green Ret 4 3 2 Ret 9 8 Ret 6 2 31 6 Mika Häkkinen 4 3 9 11 3 12 11 11 2 Ret 25 7 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 3 13 4 17† 11 6 5 3 10 14† 24 8 Mattias Ekström Ret DSQ 7 1 6 8 13 4 Ret 12† 21 9 Jean Alesi 6 7 8 6 Ret 4 Ret 14 11 8 15 10 Timo Scheider 8 9 14 10 7 7 6 Ret 8 6 12 11 Alexandros Margaritis 5 6 20† 8 Ret 15 Ret 8 7 13† 11 12 Stefan Mücke Ret 12 12 13 4 11 7 12 15 Ret 7 13 Christian Abt Ret Ret 17 5 10 10 Ret 10 9 7 6 14 Frank Stippler 12 11 13 Ret 9 Ret 14 6 Ret Ret 3 15 Daniel la Rosa 14 Ret 11 12 15† 16 10 7 Ret Ret 2 16 Pierre Kaffer Ret 10 10 9 8 14 9 Ret 12 NC 1 17 Susie Stoddart 10 15 15 16 14† Ret 12 15 13 9 0 18 Mathias Lauda 11 14 16 15 Ret 13 15 13 Ret 10 0 19 Vanina Ickx 15 16 18 Ret 13 18 Ret Ret 16 11 0 20 Jeroen Bleekemolen 14 12 0 21 Olivier Tielemans 13 17 19 0 22 Thed Björk 14 15† 0 23 Nicolas Kiesa 17 16 Ret 0 Pos Driver HOC LAU OSC BRH NOR NÜR ZAN CAT BUG HOC Pts Sources:Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap † — Driver retired, but was classified as they completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

Teams' championship

Team HOC LAU OSC BRH NOR NÜR ZAN CAT BUG HOC Points 1 Vodafone / Salzgitter AMG Mercedes 2 1 1 5 3 2 2 2 2 5 4 102 3 Ret 4 3 2 Ret 9 8 Ret 6 2 2 DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes 8 4 3 9 11 3 12 11 11 2 Ret 88 9 9 5 2 7 1 1 4 5 1 1 3 Audi Sport Team Abt 6 3 13 4 17† 11 6 5 3 10 14† 80 7 2 2 1 18† 5 5 1 9 3 3 4 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline 4 7 8 6 4 16† 3 3 1 4 5 63 5 Ret DSQ 7 1 6 8 13 4 Ret 12† 5 stern / Easy Rent AMG Mercedes 10 6 7 8 6 Ret 4 Ret 14 11 8 26 11 5 6 20† 8 Ret 15 Ret 8 7 13† 6 Audi Sport Team Rosberg 15 8 9 14 10 7 7 6 Ret 8 6 15 16 12 11 13 Ret 9 Ret 14 6 Ret Ret 7 TV-Spielfilm / TrekStor AMG Mercedes 17 Ret 12 12 13 4 11 7 12 15 Ret 9 18 14 Ret 11 12 15† 16 10 7 Ret Ret 8 Audi Sport Team Phoenix 12 Ret Ret 17 5 10 10 Ret 10 9 7 7 14 Ret 10 10 9 8 14 9 Ret 12 NC 9 AutoScout24 / Junge Gebrauchte AMG Mercedes 21 11 14 16 15 Ret 13 15 13 Ret 10 0 22 10 15 15 16 14† Ret 12 15 13 9 10 Futurecom TME 19 13 17 19 14 12 17 16 Ret 14 15† 0 20 15 16 18 Ret 13 18 Ret Ret 16 11 Team HOC LAU OSC BRH NOR NÜR ZAN CAT BUG HOC Points Sources:

References

Bibliography

External links