MERCEDES AMG GT S DTM SAFETY
CAR
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netcarshow.com
A new Safety Car
celebrates its DTM premiere: at the second DTM race at the EuroSpeedway
Lausitz, the Mercedes-AMG GT S was deployed for the very first time. The new
sports car will help to ensure maximum safety on the race track in the world's
most popular touring car series. In technical terms, the 375 kW (510 hp)
eight-cylinder sports car is for the most part the same as the series
production vehicle - just like its counterpart from the FIA Formula 1 World
Championship™, the Official Safety Car.
In its road-going guise
the Mercedes-AMG GT S has turned heads since its market launch in March 2015
and now the sports car is also taking to the DTM stage. The new season of the
German Touring Car Masters (DTM) got under way during the first weekend of May
in Hockenheim. The second DTM race taking place at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz at
the end of May will see the Mercedes-AMG GT S make its first appearance as the
official Safety Car. As part of the DTM, the three manufacturers regularly
switch their Safety Cars, meaning that the GT S will also be deployed at the
fourth race in Zandvoort, Netherlands and at the final race in Hockenheim.
At the wheel of the
official Safety Car will be racing driver Jürgen Kastenholz (47). He takes to
the track when dangerous situations, such as an accident, extreme weather
conditions or other incidents make it necessary for the vehicle to be deployed.
The objective is to achieve maximum safety for the drivers, spectators and
track marshals. After receiving a radio message from the race organisers, the
Safety Car takes up its position at the head of the DTM field and guides the
cars around the track until the normal course of the race can be resumed once
more.
The Mercedes-AMG GT S
replaces the previous Safety Car, the C 63 AMG Coupé Black Series, which saw
active service in the DTM from 2012 to 2014. As the second sports car
independently developed by Mercedes-AMG, the GT S features a virtually identical
configuration to the Official Safety Car being deployed at all of the 19 races
of the 2015 Formula 1® season. High cornering speeds, dynamic bursts of
acceleration and fast lap times - the profile of requirements is a demanding
one. The ultimate goal is to guide the powerful 360 kW (490 hp) DTM touring
cars safely around the circuit. In doing so, the Safety Car must not drive too
slowly, in order to prevent the tyres and brakes cooling down too much and the
engines overheating.
To face up to such a
hard job on the race rack the GT S boasts ideal qualifications: the front
mid-engine concept with transaxle, the V8 biturbo engine with dry sump
lubrication, the dual clutch transmission and the sports suspension with
aluminium double-wishbone axles provide the basis for fast laps on the race
circuit. Excellent driving dynamics are innate in the genetic make-up of the
Mercedes-AMG GT S: the intelligent aluminium lightweight design guarantees not
only a low vehicle weight but also a low centre of gravity for the vehicle and
an advantageous weight distribution of 47 to 53 percent between front and rear
axle.
The drivetrain of the
Safety Car is identical to that used on the road-going version of the AMG GT S.
With a maximum output of 375 kW (510 hp) and peak torque of 650 Newton metres,
the 4.0-litre V8 biturbo engine guarantees high-end performance: the GT S
accelerates from a standing start to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds and attains a
maximum speed of 310 km/h. As music to the ears of the fans in the stands and
in front of their TV screens, the GT S is fitted with a modified Performance
exhaust system for an even more striking AMG V8 engine sound which is
predestined to give spectators goose bumps.
