# 2006 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

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.
| Manufacturer | Car | Team | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2006 | Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | 4 | Martin Tomczyk | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2006 | Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | 5 | Mattias Ekström | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2006 | Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | 6 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2006 | Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | 7 | Tom Kristensen | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2005 | Audi Sport Team Phoenix | 12 | Christian Abt | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2005 | Audi Sport Team Phoenix | 14 | Pierre Kaffer | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2005 | Audi Sport Team Rosberg | 15 | Frank Stippler | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2005 | Audi Sport Team Rosberg | 16 | Timo Scheider | All |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2004 | Futurecom TME | 19 | Olivier Tielemans | 1–3* |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2004 | Futurecom TME | 19 | Jeroen Bleekemolen | 4–5** |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2004 | Futurecom TME | 19 | Nicolas Kiesa | 6–8*** |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2004 | Futurecom TME | 19 | Thed Björk | 9–10 |
| Audi | Audi A4 DTM 2004 | Futurecom TME | 20 | Vanina Ickx | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2006 | HWA Team | 2 | Bernd Schneider | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2006 | HWA Team | 3 | Jamie Green | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2006 | HWA Team | 8 | Mika Häkkinen | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2006 | HWA Team | 9 | Bruno Spengler | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2005 | Persson Motorsport | 10 | Jean Alesi | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2005 | Persson Motorsport | 11 | Alexandros Margaritis | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2004 | Persson Motorsport | 21 | Mathias Lauda | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2005 | Mücke Motorsport | 17 | Stefan Mücke | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2005 | Mücke Motorsport | 18 | Daniel la Rosa | All |
| Mercedes-Benz | AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2004 | Mücke Motorsport | 22 | Susie Stoddart | All |
| Sources: ||||||

### 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 | ARD |
| Source: |||||||||

## 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: |||||||||||||
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | Second place |
| Bronze | Third place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Retired (Ret) |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Red | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Withdrew (WD) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Did not practice (DNP) |
| Blank | Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Blank | Excluded (EX) |
* † — Driver retired, but was classified as they completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

### Teams' championship

| Pos. | Team | No. | 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 |
| 1 | Vodafone / Salzgitter AMG Mercedes | 3 | Ret | 4 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 9 | 8 | Ret | 6 | 2 | 102 |
| 2 | DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes | 8 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 2 | Ret | 88 |
| 2 | DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG Mercedes | 9 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 88 |
| 3 | Audi Sport Team Abt | 6 | 3 | 13 | 4 | 17† | 11 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 14† | 80 |
| 3 | Audi Sport Team Abt | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 18† | 5 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 80 |
| 4 | Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | 4 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 16† | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 63 |
| 4 | Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | 5 | Ret | DSQ | 7 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 4 | Ret | 12† | 63 |
| 5 | stern / Easy Rent AMG Mercedes | 10 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | Ret | 4 | Ret | 14 | 11 | 8 | 26 |
| 5 | stern / Easy Rent AMG Mercedes | 11 | 5 | 6 | 20† | 8 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 8 | 7 | 13† | 26 |
| 6 | Audi Sport Team Rosberg | 15 | 8 | 9 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 6 | Ret | 8 | 6 | 15 |
| 6 | Audi Sport Team Rosberg | 16 | 12 | 11 | 13 | Ret | 9 | Ret | 14 | 6 | Ret | Ret | 15 |
| 7 | TV-Spielfilm / TrekStor AMG Mercedes | 17 | Ret | 12 | 12 | 13 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 15 | Ret | 9 |
| 7 | TV-Spielfilm / TrekStor AMG Mercedes | 18 | 14 | Ret | 11 | 12 | 15† | 16 | 10 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 9 |
| 8 | Audi Sport Team Phoenix | 12 | Ret | Ret | 17 | 5 | 10 | 10 | Ret | 10 | 9 | 7 | 7 |
| 8 | Audi Sport Team Phoenix | 14 | Ret | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 14 | 9 | Ret | 12 | NC | 7 |
| 9 | AutoScout24 / Junge Gebrauchte AMG Mercedes | 21 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 15 | Ret | 13 | 15 | 13 | Ret | 10 | 0 |
| 9 | AutoScout24 / Junge Gebrauchte AMG Mercedes | 22 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 14† | Ret | 12 | 15 | 13 | 9 | 0 |
| 10 | Futurecom TME | 19 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 14 | 12 | 17 | 16 | Ret | 14 | 15† | 0 |
| 10 | Futurecom TME | 20 | 15 | 16 | 18 | Ret | 13 | 18 | Ret | Ret | 16 | 11 | 0 |
| Pos. | Team | No. | HOC | LAU | OSC | BRH | NOR | NÜR | ZAN | CAT | BUG | HOC | Points |
| Sources: ||||||||||||||