DTM promotion made easier: Road-to-DTM winner's support increased fourfold

DTM promoter ADAC is responding to partly declining grid sizes in the DTM support series in recent years by significantly increasing the level of support available through its Road-to-DTM program: While the winner was previously given a waiver of the entry fee for moving up to the next series, significantly more funding will be available from 2027.

In the ADAC GT Masters, the prize-money fund will total 775,000 euros next season, which the ADAC says is "is bigger than ever before". The series sits directly below the DTM in the junior ladder. The winner of the Road-to-DTM classification can look forward to 620,000 euros in prize money. Compared with the previous award, that is roughly four times as much.

For the 2026 DTM season, Road-to-DTM winner Finn Wiebelhaus had his DTM entry fee of 109,000 euros plus VAT waived. Various tire prizes were added to that, bringing the overall package to around 150,000 euros. That is only a fraction of the roughly 1.5 million-euro annual budget per DTM car.

With a 620,000-euro prize, however, the ADAC would contribute more than one-third of a driver's annual DTM budget, significantly increasing the chances of securing a seat. It also makes competing in the ADAC series more attractive, with between 12 and 16 cars taking part depending on the event this year.

The winner of the Road-to-DTM classification is not automatically the ADAC GT Masters champion. Instead, specific criteria apply: The driver must be under 25 years old and classified by the FIA in the Silver category. This primarily applies to drivers before they make the step to a professional contract. Qualifying results also play a role in the points system.

But how is the 620,000 euros made up? As before, the Road-to-DTM winner will be provided with the DTM entry fee. On top of that, in the fourth year of the program, there will be a tire package for the entire DTM season for the first time, as well as cash prizes.

The exact breakdown is not yet known, as the DTM entry fee for the 2027 season has not yet been finalized. It is also unclear how many sets of tires the teams will need. What is certain, however, is that all tire sets required by the Road-to-DTM winner for the entire 2027 DTM season, including testing, will be funded, whereas the tire prizes were previously distributed among several drivers. On top of that, there will be a substantial financial contribution toward securing a cockpit.

The format of the ADAC GT Masters will also be adjusted next season to better prepare drivers for the DTM: The endurance races introduced in 2025 will be scrapped, meaning all races will last one hour, as they do in the DTM. In return, mandatory pit stops with a minimum stationary time will be introduced, allowing junior drivers to learn how to bring cold tires up to temperature after a stop, just as they have to in the DTM.

The changes are not limited to the ADAC GT Masters: Support will also be increased in the ADAC GT4 Germany, which has had just under 20 cars on the grid this year. A Road-to-DTM classification will also be introduced there, as in the ADAC GT Masters, to ensure that the funding actually benefits young talents. In 2024, the then 41-year-old Michael Schrey came close to winning the championship.

The Road-to-DTM winner in the GT4 series will receive 235,000 euros in support, consisting of the entry fee, tire prizes and a contribution toward a season in the ADAC GT Masters. That would already secure a large part of the funding required for a year in the GT3 junior series, as a cockpit costs a driver around 350,000 euros. The total prize-money fund for the ADAC GT4 Germany in 2027 will be around 330,000 euros.

The BMW M2 Cup, which was launched by the ADAC this year, will also see its prize-money fund increased to 305,000 euros: The Road-to-DTM winner of the one-make series will receive 170,000 euros in support in the form of entry fees, tire packages and prize money for the ADAC GT4 Germany. That should even be enough to finance a cockpit for an entire season.

For comparison: This year's champion will only have the ADAC GT4 Germany entry fee waived, which in 2026 ranged from 40,000 to 49,000 euros depending on when the entry was submitted. The organizers expect this to result in a significantly larger grid in 2027 than in 2026, as fewer than 10 cars have usually taken part this year.

How was the ADAC able to increase the level of support so significantly? According to the ADAC, this was made possible by redistributing the available funds. While the organization previously followed more of a "watering can" approach, distributing tire prizes across various classifications in addition to waiving the Road-to-DTM winner's entry fee, from 2027 it will focus more specifically on the Road-to-DTM winner.

The same applies to the traditional prize money: Until now, a total of 31,500 euros per race was distributed among the teams finishing in the top 15 in the ADAC GT Masters. From 2027, a large share of that money will also go to the Road-to-DTM winner.

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