5th February, 2012
A brilliant display from the DTM and
its stars at the 42nd ’Ball des Sports’
DTM
This year, numerous prominent guests from sports, business, politics and media once again followed the invitation from the Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe to the ’Ball des Sports’ at the Rhein-Main-Hallen in Wiesbaden. Next to Franziska van Almsick, Rainer Calmund, Veronica Ferres, Jens Lehmann, Dr. Guido Westerwelle and numerous other celebrities, the invited DTM drivers also enjoyed the spectacular programme. In spite of the frosty temperatures on the red carpet, the arrival of the DTM stars with the official DTM Safety Cars was a hot show.
The BMW drivers Bruno Spengler and Dirk Werner presented the DTM safety car of the series’ returnee from Munich, a BMW M3, for the first time to the public around the red carpet. Audi works drivers Rahel Frey and Timo Scheider climbed out of an Audi DTM RS 5 in safety-car trim. The heads of motorsport of German premium car manufacturers BMW and Mercedes-Benz also gathered on the red carpet: Norbert Haug (head of motorsport, Mercedes-Benz) and Jens Marquardt (head of motorsport, BMW) entered the VIP parquet together.
The central point of the grand gala under the motto “A night for gold” was a 44m³ large water basin in the middle of the ballroom. Synchronised swimmers, canoeists, springboard divers and water polo players impressed the 1,800 guests with great sporting performances in the water. Afterwards, the DTM stars tried their hand at the various locations of the Erlebniswelt, among them Mercedes-Benz works driver Christian Vietoris. Wiesbaden-based notary and board member for legal and financial affairs of the DTM’s rights-holder and promoter ITR e.V., Dr. Thomas Betzler, ensured that Germany’s probably best known tombola, in which prizes with a total value of 600,000 Euros were at stake this year, was held according to the regulations.
Another highlight of the evening was the performance by the founding fathers of the German hip-hop scene: “Die Fantastischen Vier” performed their most successful songs during the midnight show. In the ’DTM Race Club’, the prominent guests danced until the morning hours to the beats from star-DJ Julian Smith from Frankfurt. Having been involved with the Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe as a reliable partner for many years, the DTM, like in previous years, again organised the official after-show party of Europe’s most successful sports charity event.
