Will the Class One series ever exist?

For those who don’t know what I mean with Class One or what it is, I will explain it first before going on with the question.
As you probably know is DTM one of the most famous racing series in the world in terms of touring car racing. In Asia, they have a similar kind of racing series, namely the GT500 class from the Super-GT series.

Since the beginning of the 2014 season, the two classes started to co-operate and share almost the same technical regulations. For example, the chassis and the rules for aerodynamics have been quite identical since then. Their plan is to create races between the German and Japanese manufacturers: Audi, BMW, Honda, Lexus, Mercedes-AMG and Nissan.
They also have to be the same in terms of drivetrain to keep the future races spectacular, fair and fun to watch, but there wasn’t an agreement yet on this.

Until the 30th of September 2014. During a joint meeting, in Tokyo, between the DTM rights holder and promoter ITR, the Japanese Super-GT organisers GTA and all the manufacturers was agreed upon a joint engine regulations. According to this regulations, the cars will have a 2 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine delivering somewhere around 600 bhp in 2017. In addition, they also decided on details like tyres specs and the use of DRS. Thanks to these moves, those involved are convinced to be on a good way to being able to contest races in other championships without major modifications being necessary, with a Class One car from 2017.
The American motor-racing association IMSA was also present at this meeting and said that they plan to announce races according to the new Class One regulations.

So the big plan is to organise spectacular races with cars from different continents, a high level of safety and a cutback of development costs due to the new regulations. The first race according to the plan will be held at the end of 2017 in Japan. In early 2018, a return round will be held in Germany. When IMSA adopts the platform, American manufacturers will be welcomed too.
In my opinion the idea is absolutely brilliant and I will definitely go watching the races. Since I was a kid playing Gran Turismo, I often wondered how it would be if DTM and Super-GT cars would race against each other. So I really can’t wait for Class One races to happen.

Back to the question: Will the Class One series ever exist?

Well, at the end of last year I read some bad news about it. In an article from the German Auto Motor und Sport magazine, I read that Mercedes is blocking the introduction of the new turbocharged engines by 2017. According to Mercedes, the development costs of the new engines are currently too expensive. So I thought: “Well, that sucks.”
A few weeks ago, I read on a Dutch and an English internet page that also Audi and BMW conclude that the development costs are currently too high to realise the plans. As a result of that, they would like to move the first race in Japan to 2019 instead of 2017, because it would be easier to spread their costs over more years.
In addition, I also read that the Japanese, according to Auto Motor und Sport, feel more for a switch to cars under GT3 regulations, but this was denied by a DTM spokesman who had received assurances from Japan.

In short, the news about development costs of the new engines are bit of a problem now. Now I am in doubt by these rumours and reports. Do DTM and Super-GT really want a series like Class One?

I, personally, hope that the plans will go through because the popularity of motorsports and the series can increase significantly. Furthermore, my childhood dream would come true.

What do you think about the rumours and reports? And would you like to see the Class One series? Please tell me in the comments.

Sources:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/119060/
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116091/
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/dtm/neue-motoren-fuer-dtm-class-one-kommt-ab-2017-9594835.html
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/dtm/neue-class-one-ab-2017-das-ist-die-neue-motorenformel-der-dtm-8636429.html
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/dtm/streit-um-neuen-turbomotor-in-der-dtm-9988261.html
http://www.dtm.com/en/news/dtm-and-super-gt-agree-upon-new-class-one-regulations-2014-09-30.html
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/122541
http://www.racexpress.nl/dtm/gerommel-tussen-de-dtm-en-het-super-gt-nieuwe-motoren-uitgesteld-tot-2019/n/71367
https://supergt.net/news/single/15408
https://supergt.net/news/single/15633