Andy Priaulx believes he can show his true ability in the DTM in 2013 now that he has learned the series' "tricks of the trade."
The three-time World Touring Car champion was only 13th in his maiden DTM season last year, as fellow BMW man Bruno Spengler won the title in the marque's first season back.
Speaking at the AUTOSPORT International motorsports show, Priaulx said 2012 had effectively been a learning season.
"Looking at Bruno and Martin Tomczyk, my two teammates, between them they've had 20 years of DTM experience," he said.
"You can't underestimate the importance of that.
"Learning new tracks was always a challenge for me. You can all go out and drive, but knowing the absolute details of how the track develops during the weekend, knowing the tricks of the trade in the DTM, that was all new experience during the first year. I feel like a DTM driver now. Toward the end of the season I started getting some good results.
"Definitely, my performance was there. Enough for BMW to say 'Andy's worth a DTM drive again'."