The rules and instinct

CUPRA is an official partner of the DTM and provides the vehicles that are only allowed onto the track when something has gone wrong and before the race gets properly underway: the safety car and the lead car. The lead car is deployed before the start of the race to lead the drivers during the formation lap. It sets the pace and ensures an orderly starting grid. It leaves the track before the flying start – in the case of a rolling start – or before the standing start. The pace car is therefore not a car competing for victory. For a brand that sees itself as a ‘Cup Racer’, this is about as satisfying as an engine idling at full throttle.

So CUPRA is doing the obvious thing. The brand is also becoming an unofficial partner of the DTM. This isn’t a contradiction. They are simply two sides of the same coin.

Because CUPRA has two things in its blood which, whilst seemingly at odds, nevertheless belong together: the ability to master a system, and the desire to challenge it. Responsibility and instinct. Control and the urge to push boundaries. Anyone who only leads the pack when they have to is showing just one side of the coin. And CUPRA has never been one for half-measures.

The rest of the campaign is therefore not a departure from its role as a partner. It is the logical continuation. ‘Follow your instinct’ does not mean not knowing the rules. It means knowing them so well that you get the best out of them.

To set the record straight for anyone who thinks the DTM is just any old racing series: the DTM is both a modern GT3 series and a legend with forty years of touring car history. Anyone who has ever spent a weekend there knows that hardly anyone comes just for the speed. You come for the atmosphere. You know the drivers, recognise the cars by their sound, follow the rivalries throughout the season and hear the first engine long before you even catch sight of the paddock.

And then there’s the ritual. A race weekend unfolds according to a script that fits like a tailor-made suit: free practice, qualifying, the grid, the formation lap, the start. Every movement, every role, every second is part of a system that has been refined over decades. The drivers are driven to perfection. And sometimes it is precisely this perfection that holds them back.

Bureaucracy? Not at all. Here, rules are neither an end in themselves nor mere red tape. They are the fundamental prerequisite. They foster trust, responsibility and fairness, and ensure that hundreds of decisions can be made every minute without the whole thing going up in smoke. Rules give courage a direction. Pure, controlled performance.

Let’s be perfectly honest. Nobody drags themselves off to the Nürburgring at the crack of dawn just to watch a flag fluttering in the wind. Nobody – and I mean absolutely nobody – has ever got goosebumps from a set of rules. People come for the drivers. For the madness. For those three or four seconds when everything can change in an instant and nobody knows how it will end. The rules set the stage. But instinct writes the story – every single time. Motorsport has thrived on passion and obsession ever since that first day when two madmen, with petrol coursing through their veins, both put their foot down at the same time. That’s the crux of the matter. And that will never go out of fashion.

This is exactly where CUPRA comes in. Not as a troublemaker rebelling against the system. But at that focal point where control and freedom collide. Away from polished perfection, towards unadulterated racing, towards that energy that arises when engines roar and emotions take the wheel. The same passion as on the official circuit. Only with the window rolled down and your elbow sticking out of the window.

And how do you pull something like that off? “It’s quite simple,” says CUPRA with the nonchalant grin of someone who knows that it isn’t simple at all. You take the right car. And two blokes who each embody one side of the coin. So the brand finds itself in two roles on the starting line: naturally as the DTM’s official partner, and at the same time as its unofficial partner. Rebellious in the best sense of the word. No contradiction. A long-overdue addition.

On the one hand: Daniel Abt. The man with knowledge, skill and a commanding overview. And yet – or perhaps precisely because of this – he senses almost exactly where the system sets limits for him . Opposite him: a creator. His name: Felix Stein. He embodies the counter-movement, asks questions where others nod in agreement, creates a bit of chaos and appeals to all those for whom traditional motorsport has always been a bit too polished.

And right in the middle, straddling both camps at once, stands the same car: the Formentor VZ5. Because it is quite simply no compromise. A five-cylinder engine with 450 PS in ABT specification. Plus a torque distributor that directs power to the rear axle at will, including a drift mode for closed-circuit racing. In other words: precision when you need it. And a rear end that breaks loose when you have the courage to let it. Officially and unofficially, all in one powertrain. You just have to tell it which truth applies today.

At the Nürburgring, the highlight of the season, the mask finally comes off. That’s when the VZ5 sheds its immaculate façade and reveals the true nature of its other side: rougher, louder, more untamed. The official car becomes the unofficial car. Without any decorative frills. None of those contrived art projects where everyone claps politely and nobody feels a thing. It’s a statement that makes it loud and clear what really drives motorsport at its core.

Exactly.

You just have to follow your instincts.

The Formentor VZ5 is the most powerful version in the range. Its five-cylinder turbocharged engine is paired with a seven-speed DSG and 4Drive all-wheel drive. A torque splitter variably distributes power between the rear wheels, whilst an Akebono braking system handles deceleration. CUPRA is producing a limited run of 4,000 units of this model; it will serve as the Hero Car, as well as the Safety Car and Leading Car, in the DTM in 2026.