http://www.omnicorse.it/magazine/1624/
In an attempt to reduce costs and get more brands into the field, it's beginning to look like as many as three different race series in Europe, Asia and the United States may adopt a more-or-less common set of rules. The German Touring Car Championship (shown above) is set to introduced a new rules package for the 2012 season and the Japanese SuperGT series looks to be on-board for its GT500 class. Here in the States,. the NASCAR-owned Grand Am series is also considering jumping in, presumably to replace the current GT class.
The proposals being considered by the DTM organizers clearly show some NASCAR influence, although with more modern technology. A common carbon-fiber chassis could be mandated with an agreed-upon wheelbase and overhangs for all cars. DTM is considering "Introduction of "design line" where on one side all cars are common" which sounds an awful lot like NASCAR's dreaded common templates. Along with the V8 powerplants, hybrid kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) could be part of the picture. The goal is to cut the cost of these cars in half from current levels.
If the new rules are adopted by all three groups, it could result in cross-pollination of cars between the series with Lexus, Nissan and Honda joining Audi and Mercedes-Benz in DTM and possibly the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro mixing it up with the Germans and Japanese.
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