The "remarkable" debut that proves Aston's DTM intent
HWA and R-Motorsport are the key players in Aston Martin's DTM project, but significant signs at Hockenheim amid a mixed debut suggest the British brand is front and centre of the project
"To score points in our maiden race, if I may use the vernacular, is bloody remarkable."
The words are those of Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer, in the Hockenheim paddock on the Saturday evening of the first round of the 2019 DTM season. And what's eye-opening is not his justified enthusiasm in the wake of the debut for the finished-just-in-time Vantage DTM racers, but the fact that he is in Baden-Wurttemberg anyway, referring to the project gushingly and frequently using the words 'we', 'us' and 'our'.
This is, after all, the same Aston Martin that appeared to be keeping R-Motorsport's DTM programme at massively extended arm's length when it was announced last October, back at the same venue during the 2018 season finale.
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