It’s been 30 years! This DTM driver’s debut and final race are separated by more than three decades – and it’s not DTM legend Bernd Schneider.
There’s no question about it: Bernd Schneider is the face of the DTM. Born in Saarland and also known as “Mr. DTM,” he competed in a total of 236 DTM races during his career, celebrating 43 victories and winning five titles. Schneider remains the sole record holder in all of these categories to this day.
But there is one exciting statistic that puts Schneider “only” in second place in the all-time rankings: exactly 22 years, two months, and nine days lie between his DTM debut in Zolder in 1986 and his last start at the 2008 finale in Hockenheim.
However, there is one driver who has significantly fewer starts but can boast an even longer DTM career: Hubert Haupt only competed in 40 races, but his personal DTM career spanned three decades.
Hubert Haupt even holds two DTM records
The Munich native made his debut at the 1991 season opener in Zolder, before returning to the series in the 2021 season with his own team for two guest starts at the Nürburgring and Hockenheim.
This means that an impressive 30 years, six months, and two days passed between his debut and his farewell—a record! At the same time, Haupt is the first and, to date, only driver in the history of the DTM to have competed in at least one race in all three eras of the traditional series.
Haupt made his debut with Audi in the classic DTM from 1984 to 1996, competed in the second era from 2000 to 2020 with Opel, and completed this milestone in the current GT3 generation (from 2021) with Mercedes-AMG.
The record for the longest DTM career, measured by the longest gap between debut and retirement, is therefore unlikely to be broken by Hubert Haupt. Only one active driver is currently in the top 15 of the rankings.
