While the German automobile club originally planned on announcing the entry list for next season before Christmas, with the registration period having ended on December 6, it is still in the process of completing negotiations with all interested parties.
"We are pleased about the good and varied interest from participants in the 2024 DTM," an ADAC spokesperson told Autosport's sister title Motorsport-Total.com. "We are currently clarifying various details with the teams and manufacturers before we confirm the grid positions for 2024.
“New manufacturers and other interested teams have approached us in recent weeks and we are currently in constructive discussions about a possible addition to the field for 2024."
As many as three new manufacturers could join the championship next year, taking the number of brands represented in the series up to nine. McLaren, Aston Martin and Honda are understood to be the three new entrants currently planning on competing in the DTM in 2024.
Out of the three, McLaren’s talks with former BMW team Project 1 are already at an advanced stage, and Hans-Bernd Kamps' squad’s chances of being present on the 2024 grid with the 720S GT3 are quite high.
There are also continued efforts in the Aston Martin camp to compete in the DTM next year with the Comtoyou outfit, despite the news of works driver Nicki Thiim joining Lamborghini squad SSR Performance earlier this week. If the plans come to fruition, this would mean Thiim would be competing against his employer next year.
There is also a mysterious Honda project that was originally announced by Frizzi Arnold under the AiM GT banner in September. However, Arnold is no longer believed to be involved in the project, with the successor team now operating under the name of Euroteam Performance. JAS Performance, which provides support to Honda teams in Europe, is also likely to play a role in the programme.
In all, the ADAC expects somewhere between 24-28 cars to be present on the full 2024 grid, roughly in line with this year’s 27-car field. While this is not an impossible number to achieve, it would require several new projects to come to fruition.
At present, not more than 20 cars are understood to be registered for the 2024 season.
Out of these, only seven entries have officially been revealed to the public. These are the two Red Bull-branded Audi cars that Abt Sportline revealed at Hockenheim, the two Manthey EMA Porsche entries, a pair of Lamborghini entered by SSR Performance, plus Grasser’s singler Huracan for Christian Engelhart.
Existing manufacturers set for reduced involvement?
There is likely to be a decline in the number of entries fielded by each manufacturer in 2024.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there will be a depleted field of Audi R8 LMS GT3s in the DTM, as the Ingolstadt-based marque will not be providing factory support in GT racing from next year.
However, even Mercedes, which previously had the largest presence of any brand on the grid, has only registered four cars so far between Winward and HRT. Landgraf, which joined the DTM this year with Maro Engel and Jusuf Owega, is yet to lodge an entry.
Porsche, which was present with six cars in 2023, has only two cars registered for next year, namely the two Manthey EMA entries for reigning champion Thomas Preining and a yet-to-be-named replacement for Ford-bound Dennis Olsen.
The situation at Porsche team Toksport WRT is unclear, much like Mercedes outfit Landgraf.
Not more than three BMW M4 GT3s are expected in 2024, while a maximum of four Lamborghini Huracans could race in the DTM next year.
Apart from that, there are also unanswered questions regarding teams that have already registered for 2024. In some cases, only one car has been named for the time being, even though they want to use two cars. Plus, Mercedes teams, among others, have not yet registered any drivers, even though this was requested by the ADAC. Moreover, not all entrants have paid the entry fee of 98,000 euros per car yet.
With all relevant bosses from manufacturers, teams and sponsors not likely to return to office until the middle of January, it may take a while until before the grid for the 2024 season is complete.
