After ninth place in Sunday’s DTM race on the Lausitzring, Lucas Auer’s lead within the total standings has shrunk to 6 factors. And from the Landgraf Mercedes driver’s perspective, two-time champion Marco Wittmann is clearly in charge.
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“That was a write-off; a shitty race,” the Austrian grumbled to ran.de. “I used to be pushed off, the automotive was badly broken – and that’s it! Wittmann pushed me off, however that is motorsport and we’ll cross paths once more.”
Saturday’s winner Auer was alluding to the incident on the second lap when, after a great begin from fourth, he had already handed second-placed Wittmann earlier than contact occurred within the quick Flip 7, sending Auer flying into the gravel.
Suspension and ground harm for Auer’s Mercedes
After the contact, which dropped the Landgraf Mercedes driver all the way down to seventh place, crew boss Nico Heinz mentioned Auer had been hamstrung as a result of “the suspension was broken and the ground was affected”.
“I obtained numerous oversteer and it was very troublesome to drive,” mentioned Auer. “The steering wheel wasn’t precisely straight anymore. I’m simply irritated as a result of I may have achieved nicely once more at this time.
“I might normally simply make do with the ninth place, however this has a bitter aftertaste.”
Why Wittmann wasn’t penalised
Marco Wittmann, Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3
Photograph by: Alexander Trienitz
Schubert BMW driver Wittmann, who completed eighth on account of an ABS drawback, seen the incident considerably in another way: “We each went in, and he was already sideways. In different phrases, he was already off-line. Then there was a bit of contact.
“It was a tricky battle, however ultimately there was no motion from the stewards,” he mentioned, unwilling to just accept the blame.
The stewards agreed with Wittmann. After a listening to with each drivers, they judged the state of affairs to be a ‘racing incident’ within the chaotic turmoil of the opening part.
The onboard digital camera of Wittmann’s team-mate Rene Rast exhibits that Wittmann barely loses management of his automotive, makes a small correction and slides into Auer’s Mercedes. Wittmann due to this fact wished to keep away from contact and couldn’t be accused of intentionally inflicting the accident.
Watch: 2025 DTM – Spherical 2 – Lausitzring: Race 2 highlights
On this article
Sven Haidinger
DTM
Marco Wittmann
Lucas Auer
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