Mattias Ekström (left) won his first Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Drivers' Championship while Gary Paffett (right) finished second in the championship.

The 2004 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the eighteenth season of premier German touring car championship and also fifth season under the moniker of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since the series' resumption in 2000. There were 10 championship race weekend with one round each, plus a non-championship round at the streets of Shanghai. Originally each track hosted one race each with the exception of Hockenheimring (two races, premier and finale). Each track hosted one race, with the exception of Hockenheim, which hosted two. As in 2003 each weekend compromised one race of circa one hour and with two compulsory pit stops for each contender.

Changes for 2004

• The coupé style cars were replaced by four-door sedans. Smaller independent teams were allowed to run the year-old coupes for one more season due to cost reasons. While the first-generation 4.0-litre V8 naturally-aspirated engines still remained to continue in the sport until 2018 despite transition to sedans.
• Audi entered as an official works team for the first time since 1992 season.
• A non-championship one-off race was held at the streets of Shanghai, China.
• A1-Ring in Austria was removed from the schedule. The track was to undergo major repairs, but those were not completed (see article on A1-Ring for full story).
• DTM did not return to Donington Park in the United Kingdom for 2004. In 2006 a DTM race in Britain did return to the calendar, but with it being held at Brands Hatch.
• Shell became official control fuel partner from 2004 season until mid-2005 season.
• The new Dunlop SP Sport Maxx DTM tyre sizes were altered for the first time. With 265/660-R18 (10.4/25.9-R18) on the fronts and 280/660-R18 (11.0/25.9-R18) on the rears to improve mechanical grip and lateral acceleration.

Teams and drivers

The following manufacturers, teams and drivers competed in the championship rounds of the 2004 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Dunlop.^[1]

Make	Car	Team	No.	Drivers	Rounds
Mercedes-Benz	AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2004	HWA Team	1	Bernd Schneider	All
			2	Christijan Albers	All
			7	Gary Paffett	All
			8	Jean Alesi	All
	AMG-Mercedes CLK-DTM 2003	Persson Motorsport	17	Markus Winkelhock	All
			18	Stefan Mücke	All
		Team Rosberg	20	Jarek Janiš	All
			21	Bernd Mayländer	All
Audi	Audi A4 DTM 2004	Abt Sportsline	5	Mattias Ekström	All
			6	Martin Tomczyk	All
			11	Christian Abt	All
			12	Tom Kristensen	All
		Team Joest	44	Emanuele Pirro	All
			45	Frank Biela	All
Opel	Opel Vectra GTS V8 2004	Team Phoenix	3	Marcel Fässler	All
			4	Laurent Aïello	All
			14	Peter Dumbreck	All
		Team Holzer	9	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	All
			10	Manuel Reuter	All
			15	Timo Scheider	All
		Euroteam	16	Jeroen Bleekemolen	8[2][3]
	Opel Astra V8 Coupé 2003				1-7, 9-10
Sources:[1][4]

Notes

• Peter Terting and Rinaldo Capello made one-off appearances at the non-championship round in Shanghai racing Audis, filling in for the absent Opels of Laurent Aïello and Peter Dumbreck.

Race calendar and winners

Round	Circuit	Date	Pole position	Fastest Lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Winning manufacturer	TV	Report
1	Hockenheimring	18 April	Jean Alesi	Bernd Schneider	Gary Paffett	C-Klasse AMG Mercedes	Mercedes	ARD	Report
2	Estoril	2 May	Mattias Ekström	Gary Paffett	Christijan Albers	DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG-Mercedes	Mercedes	ZDF	Report
3	Adria	16 May	Mattias Ekström	Bernd Schneider	Mattias Ekström	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	ARD	Report
4	EuroSpeedway	6 June	Christijan Albers	Bernd Schneider	Mattias Ekström	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	ARD	Report
5	Norisring	27 June	Jean Alesi	Bernd Schneider	Gary Paffett	C-Klasse AMG Mercedes	Mercedes	ZDF	Report
NC	Shanghai	18 July	Gary Paffett	Race abandoned due to Mayländer's accident after hitting a loose manhole cover sucked up by other cars[5]					Report
				Bernd Schneider	Gary Paffett	C-Klasse AMG Mercedes	Mercedes
6	Nürburgring	1 August	Gary Paffett	Gary Paffett	Gary Paffett	C-Klasse AMG Mercedes	Mercedes	ARD	Report
7	Oschersleben	8 August	Martin Tomczyk	Tom Kristensen	Tom Kristensen	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	ZDF	Report
8	Zandvoort	5 September	Mattias Ekström	Christijan Albers	Mattias Ekström	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	ZDF	Report
9	Brno	19 September	Mattias Ekström	Manuel Reuter	Mattias Ekström	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	ARD	Report
10	Hockenheimring	3 October	Martin Tomczyk	Mattias Ekström	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone AMG-Mercedes	Mercedes	ZDF	Report
Source:[6]

Championship standings

Drivers' championship

Pos Driver HOC EST ADR LAU NOR NÜR OSC ZAN BRN HOC Pts 1 Mattias Ekström 3 2 1 1 4 2 5 1 1 6 74 2 Gary Paffett 1 13 4 DSQ 1 1 4 4 3 3 57 3 Christijan Albers 2 1 2 2 2 16† 12 3 Ret 7 50 4 Tom Kristensen 4 4 10 10 6 5 1 6 2 4 43 5 Martin Tomczyk 5 3 8 14 5 Ret 2 2 Ret 2 39 6 Bernd Schneider 17† 5 11 3 3 3 Ret 5 10 1 36 7 Jean Alesi Ret 7 3 5 10 7 10 11 8 5 19 8 Timo Scheider 8 6 5 16 Ret 6 7 12 7 9 15 9 Marcel Fässler Ret 20† Ret 7 Ret 4 8 10 4 Ret 13 10 Laurent Aïello 9 8 6 4 Ret 9 6 Ret 15 Ret 12 11 Emanuele Pirro 7 11 9 6 9 11 15 7 5 Ret 11 12 Manuel Reuter 10 16 13 8 8 12 3 8 12 Ret 9 13 Peter Dumbreck 6 9 Ret 11 7 8 11 Ret 9 Ret 6 14 Heinz-Harald Frentzen 11 12 12 Ret Ret Ret 14 Ret 6 12 3 15 Stefan Mücke 18† 14 7 Ret 15† 10 17 17 11 10 2 16 Christian Abt Ret 10 Ret 9 14† 13 9 Ret 12 8 1 17 Frank Biela 16 15 Ret 12 11 Ret 13 9 14 11 0 18 Jeroen Bleekemolen 12 19 14 17 12 14 18 13 17 Ret 0 19 Markus Winkelhock 15 17 Ret 13 Ret Ret 16 14 18 13 0 20 Bernd Mayländer 14 18 Ret Ret 13 15 19 15 16 14 0 21 Jarek Janiš 13 Ret Ret 15 16† Ret 20† 16 Ret Ret 0 Pos Driver HOC EST ADR LAU NOR NÜR OSC ZAN BRN HOC Pts Sources:[8][9]

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

† Driver retired, but was classified as they completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

‡ Non Championship Round

Teams' championship

Pos. Team No. HOC EST ADR LAU NOR NÜR OSC ZAN BRN HOC Points 1 Audi Sport Team Abt 5 3 2 1 1 4 2 5 1 1 6 113 6 5 3 8 14 5 Ret 2 2 Ret 2 2 Vodafone / DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG-Mercedes 1 17† 5 11 3 3 3 Ret 5 10 1 86 2 2 1 2 2 2 16† 12 3 Ret 7 3 C-Klasse AMG Mercedes 7 1 13 4 DSQ 1 1 4 4 3 3 76 8 Ret 7 3 5 10 7 10 11 8 5 4 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline 11 Ret 10 Ret 9 14† 13 9 Ret 12 8 44 12 4 4 10 10 6 5 1 6 2 4 5 OPC Team 2 4 9 8 6 4 Ret 9 6 Ret 15 Ret 27 15 8 6 5 16 Ret 6 7 12 7 9 6 OPC Team 4 3 Ret 20† Ret 7 Ret 4 8 10 4 Ret 19 14 6 9 Ret 11 7 8 11 Ret 9 Ret 7 OPC Team 3 9 11 12 12 Ret Ret Ret 14 Ret 6 12 12 10 10 16 13 8 8 12 3 8 12 Ret 8 Audi Sport Infinion Team Joest 44 7 11 9 6 9 11 15 7 5 Ret 11 45 16 15 Ret 12 11 Ret 13 9 14 11 9 Original-Teile / CLK AMG-Mercedes 17 15 17 Ret 13 Ret Ret 16 14 18 13 2 18 18† 14 7 Ret 15† 10 17 17 11 10 10 OPC Euroteam 16 12 19 14 17 12 14 18 13 17 Ret 0 11 Sonax Dark Dog / CLK AMG-Mercedes 20 13 Ret Ret 15 16† Ret 20† 16 Ret Ret 0 21 14 18 Ret Ret 13 15 19 15 16 14 Pos. Team No. HOC EST ADR LAU NOR NÜR OSC ZAN BRN HOC Points Sources:[8][10] Manufacturers' championship Pos. Manufacturer HOC EST ADR LAU NOR NÜR OSC ZAN BRN HOC Points 1 Audi 17 19 11 13 12 12 22 23 22 17 168 2 Mercedes 18 16 21 18 24 18 5 15 7 22 164 3 Opel 4 4 7 8 3 9 12 1 10 0 58 Pos. Manufacturer HOC EST ADR LAU NOR NÜR OSC ZAN BRN HOC Points Source:[8] References 1 2 "DTM (German Touringcar Masters) - 2004: Entrylist". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 31 December 2023. ↑ "Zandvoort: Opel preview". www.motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2019-10-19. ↑ "Google Translate". translate.google.com. Retrieved 2019-10-19. ↑ "Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters 2004 Entry List". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 31 December 2023. ↑ "DTM: Misslungene Generalprobe für Shanghai". motorsport-total.com (in German). 18 July 2004. Archived from the original on 2018-04-09. Retrieved 9 April 2018. ↑ "Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Results 2003". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 31 December 2023. ↑ "DTM (German Touringcar Masters) - 2004: Point standings". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 31 December 2023. 1 2 3 "Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Standings 2004". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 31 December 2023. ↑ "2004 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Drivers' Standings". TouringCars.net. Retrieved 31 December 2023. ↑ "DTM (German Touringcar Masters) - Season 2004: Results". Speedsport Magazine. Retrieved 31 December 2023. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2004 in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. Official DTM website