At first it looked like a brake defect when Luca Engstler in his Audi drove into the door of the Norisring SSR-Lamborghini driver Franck Perera shortly before the end of the second free practice session and caused the car to break off. The youngster later admitted it was a driving error. To apologize to the French team for the damage, the German treated the SSR mechanics to cold drinks.
“Of course, that’s my responsibility first,” says the 23-year-old from Wiggensbach to ‘ran.de’. “I immediately apologized to Franck and SSR. That was a really stupid situation and of course it looked really stupid, but at the end of the day it’s a street circuit with ABS. Unfortunately, I had a long pedal, I’m over drove over the bump and then slipped off the brake pedal.”
So his Audi didn’t fly with the desired braking effect towards the Grundig hairpin bend, which Perera wanted to steer into. “It sounds stupid, but the wave made me slip up,” Engstler explains the chaotic situation in free practice. “I only braked with my heel and tried to avoid Franck. On the left you get into full ABS – and then there was a collision.”
“There goes the pen”
Engstler took the curb with him so as not to crash fully into the rear of the SSR Lamborghini, which would have meant major damage to the rear axle. “I tried to avoid it,” Engstler clarifies. “He didn’t see me in the rear-view mirror, gives in and then I catch him at the front. If I had braked later, I would have passed.”
In addition, according to the German, a Porsche came out of the pits, forcing him to drive over the curb. “You’re going to lose your pen,” admits the youngster from the family team. “That’s not an excuse, it’s entirely my fault. With a minute on the clock, you’re usually just behind.”
“The guys really did a good job,” Engstler praised the mechanics, who repaired the damage caused before qualifying. “I was there for a long time and also helped – as a small apology and as a thank you. Nothing helps, I definitely have to buy a few more boxes of beer tonight.”
Case of beer for the Lamborghini team
After that, Engstler not only helped his team to get his Audi back into shape, but also apologized to Perera and his crew. According to information from ‘Motorsport-Total.com’ he brought a crate of beer into the Lamborghini team’s pits to compensate the mechanics for the overtime he caused. That’s how you make friends in the DTM paddock!
By the way, it wasn’t enough for the youngster to score points in Nuremberg: On Saturday Engstler himself was shot down by David Schumacher in the Grundig hairpin bend, on Sunday he was 19. He scored his only two points so far in Zandvoort with two 14th places.