Audi A5 DTM Prepped and Ready for DTM Season

Audi, Mercedes and BMW are prepping for the opening of the DTM series at Hockenheim at the end of the month. Audi has won at least one title with its three previous DTM models: the V8, TT and A4, and it is hoping to continue the streak with the new A5 DTM.

Audi has entered eight cars among three teams for the 2012 season, which will be the largest number of new Audis to compete since the restart of the DTM in 2000 - teams were limited to the number of new cars that they could enter in past years, although the previous year's cars were legal. Among the three teams, Audi has tested the new car over 30,000km before the season has even started. 

The A5 DTM is built by Audi Sport in Ingolstadt, Germany, but the actual assembly is performed by the invidually teams so that the engineers and mechanics can gain a better understanding of how the cars are put together. Each car is made up of about 4,000 components and takes about two weeks for a five person team to assemble. 

Audi Sport has enough room to allow two cars at once to be assembled. The monocoque is a shared component among all of he DTM teams regardless of manufacturer, and the assembly process begins by bolting the front end to the monocoque. Audi supplies the teams with necessary spare parts, but the teams are responsible for any further assembly that might be necessary. 

The DTM season begins on April 29 at Hockenheim at 2pm local time.