HRT has applied for an exemption for the Ford Mustang in light of the testing restrictions: What conditions must be met and how does the ADAC benefit?
Special permission for the Ford Mustang GT3 in the DTM: Although the HRT team has already used up all five of its limited team test days per season, the Nürburgring-based team has now been granted additional testing opportunities.
HRT will be allowed to test on September 2, when numerous DTM teams will be testing in Spielberg, and on September 22 in Hockenheim – but only with one car each time. “We have never driven on either track before,” “which means we don’t know how the car will behave there, nor what the fuel consumption and other factors will be like.”
Against this background, “we asked the ADAC. They checked it thoroughly and we got the feedback that we can do it,” he explains how the decision was made.
ADAC promises BoP data for “Mustang track”
The DTM test regulations, which allow five test days per team with both cars per season – three of which can be chosen freely – generally grant new manufacturers additional testing opportunities. However, the “exact conditions” are “determined on a case-by-case basis” by the “DTM Sporting Board,” which consists of one representative each from ADAC and DMSB, as well as Technical Coordinator Robert Maas.
This is because they want to decide on a case-by-case basis and based on competitiveness whether a team really needs additional tests with a new vehicle. There is another reason why this has now been approved for HRT, as it was last year for the Dörr team with the McLaren: it gives SRO and the ADAC the opportunity to obtain valuable data from the Ford Mustang GT3 for the Balance of Performance (BoP) classification.
And that is particularly challenging in Spielberg: the track, with its long straights and fast corners, should suit the long Mustang similarly to the BMW, but the altitude is not exactly favorable for the naturally aspirated V8 engine, unlike turbocharged cars such as the M4 GT3.
Coin toss decides test opportunity for drivers
This is likely to make it difficult to choose the right restrictor and the appropriate minimum angle for the rear wing, which affects the top speed. In addition, fuel consumption is also an issue in Spielberg, which has already pushed Lamborghini and McLaren to their limits in the past. The Mustang is not exactly known for its low fuel consumption either.
Although the Red Bull Ring test next Tuesday is basically a private event, ADAC representatives will reportedly be on site to collect data for the BoP.
Team boss Fritz understands that his team is only allowed to use one car in both tests. “If I use two cars, I might learn twice as much, but then everyone will say I used it to train the driver,” he says. “That’s exactly what we don’t want. The goal is actually to just drive the car there before we go.”
Why Scherer has one less test day than Maini
But where will Arjun Maini and his teammate Fabio Scherer be deployed? “We left it up to them, and in the end, I think they tossed a coin,” reveals Fritz. “Fabio will do the Red Bull Ring and Arjun will do Hockenheim.”
An interesting side note: Unlike Maini, Scherer has only used four test days of the limited quota so far, but unlike his teammate, the Swiss driver did not take part in the test at Zandvoort because the test day was already fully booked. Nevertheless, the test day was forfeited because a team is only allowed to test at “a maximum of five different locations” and only “once per season at the same location.”
