Marco Wittmann’s expression after the Saturday race of the DTM in Spielberg said everything: The Schubert BMW driver was anything but happy after second place behind his team-mate Rene Rast. And indicates that the BMW Platz exchange in the third round before the third curve was not voluntary. “We defended the lead at the start of the race,” says the polesetter. “And I think the rest were seen on TV, so there isn’t much to say.”
Later he becomes more specific when asked by Motorsport-Total.com. “The constellation was not ideal today,” said Wittmann, whose teammate now took the lead in the overall ranking, about the situation in the title fight. “We had to give a few points and have to give up for certain reasons.”
In any case, a driving error was not the reason why racing came over to the third curve after the first curve. “I had a good exit from curve 1, yes,” he says – and takes a break. “I think there is not much to say. I had a good first rounds.”
Team boss Schubert admits: “That was a clear announcement”
He also does not want to leave the observation that after the exchange of space he could not keep the pace of Rasts. “Nope, I had a good pace,” he says. “Everything was perfect on my side.”
All of this is not yet proof of a team order that is prohibited in the DTM and is punished with a juicy fine of 250,000 euros. It is interesting, however, that team boss Torsten Schubert does not even deny that there was an announcement.
“Of course we have to take every point with us here and there it is that Rene was a bit ahead in the championship. They shouldn’t fight together, that was a clear announcement,” said Schubert after the race at ran.de.
Schubert explains Wittmann’s statements with “disappointment”
When asked by Motorsport-Total.com, Schubert remains with his statement, but adds that this is not a team order from his point of view. “No,” says Schubert. “The one who is faster goes over. It is not fighting together because we need the distance to the rear,” he refers to Emil-Frey-Ferrari-Pilot Jack Aitken, who was in a lurk position.
Schubert attributes that Wittmann himself says that it was not due to his pace, but at “certain reasons”, why he lost the position against Rast. “Afterwards, suddenly almost three seconds were distance, so the pace must have been quite good,” he defends the later winner.
In addition, it is about the team classification: “Now it is simply important – and everyone can think about how you want … everyone will try to leave the car that is in front. It is legitimate that you have to try to secure the championship now.” Apart from that, “everyone would put you down as a fool if you fight each other as a teammate, right?” Said Schubert.
According to the investigation: why the DMSB does not become active
It is known that despite the Team Marrow ban, there are ways in the DTM despite the Team Marrow ban to make the drivers to implement a team or manufacturer tactics. Because what is spoken behind closed doors can only be demonstrated in rare cases.
According to information from Motorsport-Total.com, the incident at Schubert led to the German Motor Sports Association (DMSB), which is responsible for compliance with the rules, carefully looked at the matter. And Schubert’s statement that there was an announcement also confirmed the suspicion of a forbidden team order.
Nevertheless, it was decided not to let a procedure arrive. “In such a case, the evidence must be waterproof, so that it is clear not only in the negotiation with the sports commissioners, but also before a possible court of appeals to which it would happen,” explains a DMSB spokesman.
“For this, the statements in the media, which we naturally perceive, were not cut and stab-proof enough. So of course we also checked the team’s radio sayings carefully and have not found any information that would justify a procedure.”
No suspicious radio sayings on rest or Wittmann
In fact, no abnormalities were noticed by radio: although there are rumors that the exchange of space was even ordered by Wittmann’s racing engineer, Motorsport-Total.com had inspected the radio protocols of both Schubert BMW pilots with their racing engineers. And in both cases there are no suspicious radio sayings.
There is also no clear evidence for Wittmann’s strong pace, because Rast was sitting in his Schubert BMW teammate from the start in the neck and clearly settled after the overtaking maneuver. In addition, Wittmann was overtaken at the pit stop by Aitken. Only through the mistake of the Emil-Frey-Ferrari driver a few 100 meters before the finish came Wittmann in second place.
And then there was the situation at the Sachsenring when Rast Wittmann passed in the final phase of the race because it was faster and had the better tires. And at this point in time, Rast in the championship was already in a better position, which would not be clearly detectable to the privacy of the enabled pilot in the overall ranking.
Why the team order paragraph was not a help
The Team Marrow Paragraph, who is also responsible for a possible procedure, does not make the task easier. Article 20.2 states that “agreements between manufacturers or applicants (teams) and drivers, which provide for the manufacturer or applicant to issue direct or indirect instructions to the driver for his behavior during qualifying or evaluation runs that limit the driver in sporting competition”.
A corresponding agreement that entitles you to a instruction would be, for example, a contract that says that a driver or team must submit to a manufacturer’s command. In this regard, too, it was skeptical whether the evidence can withstand a procedure.