The Stuttgart-based brand 2012 2012 ZUR DEUTSCHEN VERSION

Mercedes-Benz in the DTM 2012   The 2012 season marks a new era in the world’s most popular touring car series with new technical regulations, a new safety concept, plus the new Mercedes AMG DTM C-Coupé and a third premium manufacturer. In 2012, a total of eight Mercedes-Benz drivers will contest ten points-scoring races and a show event in Munich’s Olympic Park. New to the Mercedes-Benz DTM driver line-up this year are Spanish driver Roberto Merhi (21, Junge Sterne Mercedes AMG C-Coupé) and Canadian Robert Wickens (23, stern Mercedes AMG C-Coupé). Merhi has been part of the Mercedes-Benz young driver programme since 2008 and secured the Formula 3 Euro Series championship and the inaugural FIA Formula 3 International Trophy in 2011 driving a Dallara-Mercedes. To reward his success, he was given the opportunity to test the new DTM Mercedes AMG CCoupé at the end of 2011. Wickens secured the 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 World Series championship after taking five wins. He gained his first experience in Formula 1 at the end of the year by completing the Young Driver Test with Marussia Virgin Racing and Lotus Renault GP. He finished second in the 2009 Formula 2 championship and achieved the same feat in the 2010 GP3 Series. Mehri and Wickens, plus German driver Christian Vietoris (23, Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG C-Coupé) form the new Mercedes-Benz Junior Team in the DTM. The role model for the Junior Team will be Michael Schumacher; the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula 1 driver will offer his experience from seven world championship titles and 91 Grand Prix victories. Schumacher himself also benefited from the Mercedes-Benz programme in 1990 and 1991, when he lined up alongside Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger with Sauber Mercedes in the Sports Prototype Championship. Also joining Vietoris in the HWA team are: Gary Paffett (31, THOMAS SABO Mercedes AMG C-Coupé), 2005 DTM champion, DTM runner-up 2004, 2009 and 2010 and Formula 1 test driver for McLaren-Mercedes; Ralf Schumacher (36 , DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé), third most successful German Formula 1 driver to date with six Grand Prix victories; and Briton Jamie Green (29, DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé), 2004 Formula 3 Euro Series champion and seven-time DTM race winner. Susie Wolff (29, TV Spielfilm Mercedes AMG C-Coupé) and David Coulthard (41, DHL Paket Mercedes AMG C-Coupé) will respectivelystart their seventh and third DTM seasons with Mercedes-Benz. All eight Mercedes-Benz DTM drivers will be driving the new DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé. Its predecessor – the AMG Mercedes C-Class – achieved 85 victories in 159 races to establish itself as the most successful DTM car ever. Jamie Green secured the final victory for the AMG Mercedes C-Class at the last race of the 2011 DTM season in Hockenheim. Canadian Bruno Spengler won two other races last season, plus the inaugural DTM show event in Munich’s Olympic Stadium. The DTM offer exciting racing that is unmatched by any other touring car championship. The 2011 series was broadcast on TV channels in 221 countries around the world. In Germany last year, coverage of the DTM totalled more than 69 hours, which generated around 450 million TV contacts; on an average race weekend, an average 2.11 million viewers tuned in to watch the qualifying sessions and the race itself on the ARD national network. By comparison, RTL’s coverage of Formula One last year pulled in audiences of 8.04 million viewers for each weekend’s cumulative live broadcasts – so the DTM achieved a healthy 26 percent of the Formula One figure. Worldwide, the DTM accounted for more than 6,997 hours of TV time, with qualifying and races being shown live or recorded on 46 channels in 114 countries. Since the 2012 season, the DTM has been broadcast in high-resolution (1080i50) HDTV format. All trackside and on-board cameras as well as the entire video wireless technology have been upgraded to the new standard. Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “In 2012, the DTM starts a new era - indeed, its third and most important era. The fact that Audi and Mercedes-Benz stayed the course for six years, putting on fascinating races in competition with each other, created the stable platform for a fresh start with new momentum. We are now welcoming BMW as a new competitor to the DTM. Thanks to Audi, Mercedes, the ITR and its board plus the DMSB and its officials, this unique, outstanding motorsport series has been preserved. Now, the world’s three best and best-known premium car manufacturers are competing against each other in the DTM, with a new and exciting generation of vehicles. Over a quarter of a century, Mercedes-Benz has been the most successful manufacturer in the DTM. In figures, a total of 165 victories from 342 races, ten driver titles, nine manufacturer titles and 13 in the team championship, encapsulate the achievements of our teams over the past 24 years. We will all work on the new chapter of this success story with focus and the highest motivation.” READER COMMENTS ADD YOUR COMMENTS Daimler AG, Motorsport-Communication, 70546 Stuttgart/Germany Mercedes-Benz - A Daimler brand, 2012 BACK TO TOP

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