Pitstops proved to be a crucial element in the DTM last year, with Liam Lawson’s debut victory at Monza credited in large part to the superior work performed by the AF Corse crew in the pits.
It followed Red Bull’s partner team introducing a new pitstop philosophy to the DTM, which immediately gave it an edge over its rivals. Using this technique, the mechanic operating the wheel gun first loosened the front wheel, but, instead of waiting for a fresh tyre to be fitted by another mechanic, ran straight to the other end of the car, completing the entire procedure on the rears. He then swiftly returned to his original position, tightening the wheel at the front.
Some rival teams were able to copy the AF Corse-style pitstops by the second round of the championship, but BMW, Lamborghini and Audi squads were forced to carry out their slower, conventional pitstops as their cars did not come with a locking ring that ensured the wheel nut on the front tyre didn't become loose before the mechanic tightened it.
The DTM has banned this pitstop technique in 2022, but the teams are already looking at other areas to gain an advantage in the pits. This is especially useful as, unlike Class One cars, GT3 machines are not equipped with dedicated overtaking aids such as DRS or push-to-pass.
It now appears that the DTM teams could start competing for the best pitstop mechanics, as is the case in NASCAR on the other side of the Atlantic.
These specialist mechanics earn around $80,000 a year and their sole duty during a typical race weekend is to change tyres as quickly as possible. This immediately sets them apart from those mechanics who have to perform a wide range of duties, including setting up the garage and taking it down.
"Last year we were still looking at how everything was going," Walkenhorst team boss Niclas Konigbauer told Autosport. "You have to make sure that it doesn't go in the direction of NASCAR now, where people are hired just for the pit stop who earn a lot of money and are flown in especially for that. I hope not, but I do see the danger that it will all develop here bit by bit."
Gottfried Grasser, whose eponymous team competed in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for many years, added: "That's a separate job description there, and they are far better paid than any normal mechanic. They come to the race site with the wheelgun in their pocket and do nothing else on the race weekend but tighten wheel nuts."
After the demise of the Class One ruleset, the DTM reduced the number of mechanics allowed during a pitstop from nine to six, putting further stress on those involved to get things right.
In addition, with manufacturers no longer funding their entire operations, teams are working with smaller crews and rely on freelancers wherever possible.
"DTM used to be a very closed system because it was very manufacturer-heavy," said Konigbauer. "You didn't work for one team one weekend and another team the next. With GT3 teams, on the other hand, there are open boundaries."
Haupt Racing (HRT) is one team that has benefited from investing in freelance mechanics, allowing it to regularly perform some of the quickest pitstops in the DTM last year.
The outfit tapped into the services of Cedric Darimont and Pierre Emmanuel Cary, who had previously won the trophy for the fastest pitstop in GT World Challenge Europe in both 2017 and ‘18.
With the benefits of having a superior pit crew already evident in the DTM, some teams might feel inclined to dig deeper into their pockets to gain the tiniest of the advantage over the rest of the field.
However, the problem is that the teams are already relying on partial factory support from manufacturers to meet their current costs of one million euros per car. A bidding war for the fastest mechanics on the grid may prove financially unsustainable and pose a major problem for the series...
