While almost all teams have used their joker on tracks without official tests, there are two exceptions: What’s behind this unusual strategy?
What’s behind the test strategy of the Aston Martin Comtoyou team led by title contender Nicki Thiim and the Lamborghini Grasser team? In addition to the four official test days (Spielberg, Lausitzring, Sachsenring, Hockenheim), the teams have one private test day available on DTM tracks in 2026. While everyone else has already made use of this so-called “joker” test, Comtoyou and Grasser have yet to use theirs.
With the Nürburgring weekend behind them, only two circuits remain on the schedule—the Sachsenring and Hockenheim—where an official test day is already scheduled for each in advance. So how are the two teams planning to handle the “Joker” test day?
“We’re probably not going to use it,” says team principal Gottfried Grasser, announcing an unconventional approach. “Instead, we’d rather use that tire allocation during free practice sessions.”
Reasons to skip the “joker” test day
Teams receive four new sets of tires per test day for one car. Since tires for test runs and free practice sessions have come from the same allocation starting this season, the sets may also be used on Fridays, when each driver receives a new set.
The downside: Instead of a full test day, you only have a total of 1:40 hours on the track on Friday, which makes experimentation nearly impossible. The upside: Conditions on Friday are often more representative of the race weekend than during a private test.
“I see it exactly the same way. Plus, you can run a new set of tires in every free practice session,” says Grasser, whose team most recently fielded only Mirko Bortolotti after Maximilian Paul’s injury. “That really helps on race weekend. And at the Sachsenring, where our car requires more testing, there’s a test session scheduled anyway.”
Thiim’s Comtoyou Team Considers Double Test Ahead of Title Finale
The Comtoyou team, on the other hand, had originally planned to test simultaneously for the DTM and GT World Challenge Europe at the Nürburgring, but scrapped that idea because it was incompatible with their numerous schedules.
“The Sachsenring and Hockenheim are set, so we’re considering whether we might conduct a second test at Hockenheim,” announced Mario Schuhbauer, who heads the DTM project at Comtoyou. That would make sense especially if Thiim is fighting for the DTM title in the finale, which isn’t unrealistic from the current perspective.
For example, immediately following September 23—when the ADAC-organized DTM test takes place at Hockenheim—the Aston Martin team could be the only one to conduct additional private testing, thereby preparing even better. “However, it’s also not out of the question that we’ll use the tires in the free practice sessions,” Schuhbauer says, not wanting to commit to anything just yet.
Nürburgring Most Popular Venue for Joker Test
The most recent team to use its Joker test day was HRT, which prepared at the Nürburgring on August 2 with Arjun Maini and Finn Wiebelhaus.
“The weather was good, we got in a lot of driving, and it went very well,” says HRT team principal Ulrich Fritz, summing up the session positively. “We also learned a few things.”
Before the HRT duo, the Manthey, Land, and Winward teams had already used their Joker test days in the Eifel region, making the Nürburgring the teams’ top choice for this purpose. At Zandvoort, six drivers tested with the Landgraf, Abt, and Emil Frey teams, while at Oschersleben, four drivers tested with Schubert and the Dörr team.