Europe's most popular touring car series has got a new leader: by finishing third in the season finale, held at the Hockenheimring, Gary Paffett (AMG-Mercedes) succeeded in securing the championship trophy. The 2004 champion, Mattias Ekström (Audi A4 DTM), took the second championship position, with his teammate, seven-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, coming in third.

In addition to the drivers' championship, the trophies for the best team and the best brand were also won by Mercedes-Benz. In spite of the close racing throughout the entire season, it has to be admitted that the Swabians, who won eight of the eleven rounds, dominated the 2005 season rather clearly. Hence, Mercedes Motorsport Director Norbert Haug was truly delighted: “Such a finale is better than any pay rise,” he said. “It's the moment of joy you have been working for throughout the whole season. We have won all three trophies — very valuable titles indeed. It has been a sensational year: for Mercedes and for the entire DTM.” Dunlop's Manager of Motorsport, Enzo Scaramella, was of the same opinion: “The spectacular finale in front of the impressive crowd has been the splendid final act of a DTM season that also turned out to be an extraordinary one for Mercedes Motorsports and all of their partners as well.”

Apart from DTM, this weekend brought the championship decision in another German top-class racing series: the Endurance Championship Nürburgring. In this championship, which is held exclusively at the Nürburgring's famous Nordschleife, BMW driver Claudia Hürtgen succeeded by securing the title. “I'm over the moon,” she said. “The Nordschleife is the most demanding circuit on the planet. Here, every single lap represents a new challenge.” Following her triumph in the 2004 German Production Car Championship, secured on Dunlops, she also relied on the racing tires from Hanau while contesting the Endurance Championship.

In 2005, DTM succeeded in once again increasing its popularity. Altogether, the eleven races were attended by 922,500 spectators, representing an average crowd of 83,864 spectators per event. During eight of the eleven DTM weekends, a new attendance record was established. DTM was covered live in 36 countries. In Germany, the live DTM coverage attracted an average TV audience of about two million viewers per race, some 500,000 more than in 2004. The DTM's official online service (www.dtm.de), offering inter alia a competition around the Dunlop^® SP Sport Maxx^®, was used by more than three million users per month.

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