The Salzburgring is being considered as a hot candidate to make a comeback on the DTM calendar as early as 2025.
The chief of the Austrian venue believes all the “homework” has been done and the circuit is ready to welcome the DTM for the first time since its only previous appearance in 1987.
ADAC Motorsport Director Thomas Voss already paid a visit to the Salzburgring in September of last year and is expected to make another trip to the track to evaluate its current condition.
"The ADAC will be with us in the next few weeks and will look at the Salzburgring with its current state of technology and the modification of the race control," the circuit’s managing director Ernst Penninger told Autosport’s sister title Motorsport-Total.com.
Asked how he viewed Salzburgring’s chances of joining the DTM calendar, he said: "I can't judge that because that is entirely up to the ADAC. All the requirements have been met and it is [now] an issue for the ADAC. The only question is whether it will be in 2025, 2026, 2027 or 2028.
“But it is already possible to think about it for 2025.”
Located 13km from the Austrian city of Salzburg, the 4.2km circuit was first opened in 1969 and has gone through a number of updates in recent times.
At the centre of the overhaul is the race control room, which now comes equipped with all the latest technologies to help the race director and their team monitor the action on track.
The circuit spent a six-figure sum to upgrade the race control and bring it up to Formula 1 levels.
"We now have a completely new, fully digitalised race control system," Penninger revealed. "We finished it in April and it has been in full operation since May.
"Technically, we are on the same level as Spielberg, but with newer technology because the camera technology is newer.
“We are more modern than many other DTM tracks and would have no problem handling Formula 1 today."
In addition to building a modern race control room, the circuit has widened the pit entrance, while the width of the pit exit will also be increased by autumn of this year.
According to Penninger, the capacity of the circuit will also be no obstacle to holding a DTM round: "We host music festivals with 17,300 campers.”
Penninger made no secret of his desire to bring the DTM back to the Salzburgring in the coming years.
"There would then be no reason why the DTM could not race here,” he said. “But it is purely a decision for the ADAC whether they want to race here.”
The Salzburgring is most famous for hosting the 500cc motorcycle championship (now MotoGP) between the 1970s and mid-1990s. The World SportsCar Championship, World Touring Car Championship and the World Superbike Championship are some of the other series to have raced at the venue in the past.
