Battle for a real-world DTM Trophy cockpit: for the best five sim racers in DTM Esports, it is about a dream coming true 27.04.2022: • Unique chance to win in DTM Esports Championship powered by MediaMarkt Dream of all sim racers: The real cockpit in motorsport, as Moritz Löhner has already achieved in the DTM Trophy © DTM

Dream of all sim racers: The real cockpit in motorsport, as Moritz Löhner has already achieved in the DTM Trophy © DTM•    Unique chance to win in DTM Esports Championship powered by MediaMarkt



•    Prior to the season finale: Siggi, Löhner, Hasse, Fiduci and Ottaviani about to secure a licence course

•    Season opener of the real-world DTM: the sim racers’ favourites

Unique in sim racing: in the DTM Esports Championship powered by MediaMarkt, there is a real-world cockpit in the DTM Trophy, the talent pool on the DTM platform, at stake. The five best-placed participants in the high-class championship will take part in a licence course at Lausitzring and the best of this course will receive a free cockpit in the 2023 DTM Trophy.

“Participating in a real championship is something every sim racer is dreaming of,” says Gianmarco Fiduci, one of the five candidates prior to the finale.



The full attention is on Portimão: at the virtual Formula 1 track, the DTM Esports finale will be held on Thursday, from 19.05pm CEST live on YouTube and DTM Grid (grid.dtm.com), and at the real circuit on the Algarve, DTM is getting its new season underway this weekend. And every esports professional has his own hero in DTM.



Kevin Siggy (Team Redline), who is the clear favourite going into the finale, is looking at DTM champion Maximilian Götz. “He is a cool guy. I had him as my instructor in the AMG Academy which was a cool experience,” the 23-year-old Slovenian says.

Moritz Löhner, still the reigning DTM Esports champion and currently second in the standings, is rooting for Sheldon van der Linde as he was already successful together with the South African in DTM Esports in 2020.



Löhner’s teammate at Dörr Esports Florian Hasse, third in the standings, is backing Kelvin van der Linde. While Alessandro Ottaviani (R8G Esports), fifth in the DTM Esports standings, is supportin three-time DTM champion René Rast (“He is a great driver and a DTM legend!”), Gianmarco Fiduci (Team Fordzilla) mentions Nick Cassidy as his favourite: “I think it is really great that he is very close to his fans thanks to his own YouTube channel.”



The full focus, however, is on the finale of the DTM Esports Championship, the value of which has considerably increased in the 2022 season. “I think the DTM Esports season is a step ahead compared to other series,” five-time season winner Kevin Siggy is convinced. “Especially the 60-minute races, providing more variety in terms of strategy, are the best characteristic of the series.”


Defending champion Löhner particularly appreciates the possibility to determine one’s own set-up in this year’s championship. “In most series, that is not the case, but we now have to invest a lot of time and effort to find the perfect set-up for the next race,”




Löhner reports. “That is why I consider this year’s championship as one of the hardest we have ever had on RaceRoom.” Fiduci adds: “From the spectators’ perspective, I think the broadcasts and the graphics in the stream are really great.”

Kevin Siggy, who always seems to have found a slightly better set-up for his Ferrari 488 than the opposition, enjoys a commanding lead after five of six events in the DTM Esports Championship powered by MediaMarkt at 380 points, clearly ahead of BMW driver Moritz Löhner (326).



Florian Hasse (BMW/234) and Italian Ferrari duo Gianmarco Fiduci (222) and Alessandro Ottaviani (202) round out the top five. However, sixth-placed Leonard Krippner (BMW/Dörr Esports) is also still within striking distance at 197 points.



Moritz Löhner has already achieved what his rivals still want to achieve. As a reward for winning the DTM Esports title, the 23-year-old from Munich was given a test with a production-based GT sports car. Löhner used the opportunity and ended up competing in the full 2021 DTM Trophy season, even finishing on the podium twice. “For a sim racer without a background in motorsport, that is simply stunning!,” Löhner says.

“I am certain that everyone doing well in esports also can convert his skills to real-world motorsport and can take on the best.” In 2022, Moritz Löhner will be racing in DTM Trophy again, but as he hasn’t secured a drive for 2023 yet, he isn’t about to let his rivals run off with the main prize just like that.



And it can’t be fully ruled out yet that Moritz Löhner successfully defends his DTM Esports Championship powered by MediaMarkt title on Thursday evening. The chance is small, but he wants to use it. In any case, Löhner is considering the fascinating duel with Siggy as the highlight of the season.




Aline Proll - photos DTM