The central departure in DTM Race Driver from its predecessors was the addition of a narrative campaign. Players took on the role of Ryan McKane, a fictional young racing driver attempting to establish himself across a variety of real-world motorsport categories. The story was built around family drama: Ryan raced under the shadow of his more accomplished older brother and was haunted by memories of watching his father die on a racetrack during his childhood. This character-driven structure was unusual for a racing game of the period and distinguished the title from more conventional competition-focused releases.
The game spanned multiple motorsport disciplines, giving players access to a broad range of car categories beyond the British Touring Car Championship for which the TOCA series was named. The BTCC returned to the franchise in this entry — the real-life championship had suffered declining manufacturer support and falling attendance, and Codemasters' involvement was partly motivated by the series' desire to boost its public profile. Many new circuits were added to the roster, though some tracks from the previous TOCA 3 — including Watkins Glen and Surfers Paradise — were not carried over despite their popularity with fans.
Grid positions were assigned randomly, and the game did not implement a penalty system for driving infractions, continuing conventions established in earlier TOCA titles.
The PlayStation 2 version launched in 2002, with Xbox and PC conversions following in March 2003. A further Xbox release appeared several months later at a budget price point, adding Xbox Live multiplayer support. Although Microsoft terminated Xbox Live service for all original Xbox titles in 2010, DTM Race Driver remained playable online through revival server networks including Insignia and XLink Kai.
Reviews were broadly positive for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions, which received favourable assessments from critics. The PC version was received with more moderate enthusiasm. The UK's Official PlayStation 2 Magazine awarded the PS2 version eight out of ten, calling it an "ultra-realistic racer with top visuals" and including it in the publication's list of the top 100 games, where it also received a Bronze Medal. The game entered the UK sales charts at number one on release.
A direct sequel, TOCA Race Driver 2, was released in April 2004 for Windows and Xbox, with a PlayStation 2 version following in October of that year. Mobile and PlayStation Portable versions of TOCA Race Driver 2 appeared subsequently. A further sequel arrived in February 2006, continuing the series across multiple platforms.
DTM Race Driver's story mode was a formative example of narrative integration in racing games — a genre that had rarely attempted character-driven campaigns at that point. The game's multi-discipline structure also anticipated later Codemasters titles that would blend career storytelling with varied motorsport content, making it a meaningful step in the evolution of the TOCA franchise and the broader genre.