From one to three: Audi driver René Rast loses his victory at Spa. The reason? The prohibited use of an overtaking aid.
Klettwitz (dpa) - Audi driver René Rast was finally deprived of victory in the second race of the season of the German Touring Car Masters (DTM).
The German Motor Sport Association (DMSB) had assessed a misconduct of the two-time champion at the race in Spa-Franchorchamps with a time penalty of ten seconds. Rast slips from first to third place. "I am obviously disappointed that I lost my victory at Spa due to the pit stop penalty," said the two-time DTM champion after the verdict was announced on Friday afternoon at the Lausitzring.
As the leader on the Ardennes circuit, Rast had pressed the so-called Push-to-Pass-System (PTP) twice, with which 60 HP more power can be called up for a short time. As the first placed driver, however, he is not allowed to use the overtaking aid and is also protected from activation by the so-called marshalling system. However, due to connection problems on the route, the marshaling system could not offer this protection. "I instinctively pressed the PTP button when the system signaled to me that I could use PTP. It has been proven that I did not benefit from using it," said the 33-year-old from Minden.
During the negotiation, Audi was able to prove that Rast activated the 60 hp in places where it was of no benefit to him. Audi put the time advantage at 0.01 seconds. Due to the small time difference, the DMSB gave the Audi driver a time penalty. "We accept the stewards' decision," said Audi Motorsport Director Dieter Gass, "I am disappointed with the sentence. René had no advantage from the action."
Nico Müller, who subsequently received the victory and after two races with 53 points, is the beneficiary of the downgrade. Rast is now in third place with 29 points behind Jamie Green (30 / all Audi). At the weekend Rast already has the opportunity to narrow the gap in two races at the Lausitzring (Saturday and Sunday at 1.30 p.m. / Sat 1).
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200814-99-168107 / 3
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