International Touring Car Championship
The International Touring Car Championship ( ITC for short ) was an international racing series for touring cars . It existed in 1995 and 1996 and was the direct successor to the German Touring Car Championship at that time .
history
After the costs in the then DTM rose enormously due to the arms race between the three factories involved, Alfa Romeo , Mercedes and Opel , the idea of a touring car world championship was born. It seemed reasonable to invest such large sums in class 1 touring cars. The idea of internationalizing the DTM was not new. There were already such discussions at the time of " Group A " in the early 1990s. Initially, in 1991 some invitation races took place in Brno in the Czech Republic and in Donington Park in England under the name ITR-Cup, which did not count towards the championship. Brno was also visited in 1992, Donington instead in 1993 and 1994.
founding
In 1995, the ITC was brought into being and held parallel to the DTM. In addition to seven double races in Germany, the DTM drivers completed another five in other European countries, which were counted separately from the DTM for the ITC championship. The separate rating of the two series was unpopular and confusing among the fans. Ultimately, the same driver, Mercedes driver Bernd Schneider, won both ratings.
Because of the confusion and for reasons of better marketing , only one evaluation was held in the ITC in 1996, the DTM was dropped without replacement. As part of the series, six races were held in Germany, five in Europe and two outside of Europe. For 1997, the plan was a regular World Touring Car Championship , as up to this point, only 1,987 had been once; however, it never took place.
Technology and costs
The 1996 ITC season is considered to be the most technically advanced touring car championship that has ever existed. Even Formula 1 was more strictly regulated at the time. The gearboxes of the DTM vehicles shifted fully automatically; The chassis were tuned via laptops instead of adjusting springs and dampers; The differentials and stabilizers could be programmed differently for each point of the route ; the vehicle height could be adjusted hydraulically; there was a movable sled that could move weight forward or backward; the air inlets on the straight were closed by blinds for better aerodynamics; The front and rear of the Mercedes C-Class could be completely changed in a few minutes using the modular design . Electronic driving aids such as traction control or anti-lock braking systems , which are common in road cars today, have been perfected in racing touring cars. Development costs exploded and admission prices rose, which put fans off.
Action and sport
The 1996 season was not only a superlative in terms of technology, sport on the racetrack also set a high point. For the first time in the history of the DTM, all brands were practically equally strong, after one brand had always dominated before. Alfa Romeo , nine Opel and seven Mercedes-Benz won ten races . The races were exciting, there were a lot of overtaking maneuvers. The title finally went to Opel. By winning the championship, Manuel Reuter made his car a legend among Opel fans, who still think of the spectacular touring car when they hear the term “Cliff-Calibra”. For Opel, the ITC title was the greatest motorsport success since winning the World Rally Championship in 1982.
The end
Although there was a lot of excitement on the racetrack, there were no spectators in the stands. The reasons for this were the high entrance fees and the "hermetically sealed" paddock . If there was still contact between athletes and visitors during the DTM, the ITC became more and more anonymous. The hoped-for success abroad did not materialize, in Germany the grandstands became emptier. In addition, a few weeks before the start of the season, ZDF was lost as a television partner, with VOX quickly moving in as a replacement. During the season, the fans wanted "their old DTM" back. For the manufacturers, participation in the racing series became increasingly expensive. The sports directors realized too late that they were exaggerating the arms race. "In mid-1996 the attempt was made to freeze the technology for the 1997 season and then to start in 1998 with technically less complex cars (without all-wheel drive and without electronic driving aids)". However, this came too late. On September 25, 1996, the two manufacturers Alfa Romeo and Opel announced their withdrawal from ITC in a jointly formulated letter. A short-term plan to start in 1997 with vehicles from the previous year failed. In contrast to 1993, there was no new, saving manufacturer and so it was over. After the deaths of DRM and DTM, ITC also died in the cost trap, and history repeated itself.
successor
The ITC had not only lost an international touring car series, but a national touring car series was also missing in Germany after the end of the DTM. The Super Touring Car Cup , which had been the second division up until then, was promoted and had the task of replacing the DTM. After leaving the ITC, Opel and Alfa Romeo were also involved in this touring car class, while Mercedes competed in sports car races in the FIA GT . But the class 2 touring cars were too close to series production and unspectacular and were therefore not accepted by the public. In 1999, the STW in Germany reached its end point. Here, too, the costs became too high, due to the very narrow scope of the regulations, which should or had to be exploited at great expense.
German Touring Car Masters
After the end of the STW, a successor racing series was developed in Germany, which was to tie in with the old DTM. The main initiators were the former ITC manufacturers Opel and Mercedes . BMW was also involved in drawing up the regulations. However, there was no participation until 2011. From the year 2000 a new DTM was held, now called the German Touring Car Masters , which optically is more based on the old Class 1 regulations, but has very strict cost-cutting rules. Since the vehicles are technically structured like prototypes , they have little to do with the road versions and are relatively prone to collisions, but they look spectacular and are comparatively fast. Until BMW joined the company in 2012, there were only two manufacturers, Audi and Mercedes . Opel was represented until 2005.
World Touring Car Championship
Even internationally, the super touring cars no longer had a future. Here the FIA, together with several manufacturers such as BMW and the former ITC manufacturer Alfa Romeo , developed a successor regulation for the Super 2000 touring car. Unlike the DTM, these are classic touring cars that are built on the bodyshell. Therefore, these cars are quite close to series production and robust, which makes a tough touring car driving style possible with vehicle contact. The first to be held in 2002 with these vehicles was the European Touring Car Championship, which was newly introduced by FIA . In 2005 the EM was converted into a touring car world championship . In contrast to 1997 in ITC times, this time it worked; the World Cup status also aroused interest from several manufacturers. In the first season , 5 works teams were represented with Alfa Romeo, BMW, Chevrolet , Ford and Seat .
master
| year | Driver master | Brand Masters |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 |
 Bernd Schneider ( DTM AMG Mercedes C-Class ) |
Mercedes Benz
|
| 1996 |
Manuel Reuter ( Opel Calibra V6 4 × 4 ) |
Opel
|
See also
literature
- DTM - The Story - The official book of the DTM . Heel Verlag GmbH, Königswinter 2003, ISBN 3-89365-993-5 .