An action was announced, but not on the race track: But then the start of the Sunday DTM race at the Norisring had to be postponed by twelve minutes because of a climate protest in front of the Grundig bend.
Despite the large police presence, four activists gained access to the racetrack. According to a report by the dpa, which refers to a police spokesman, a sports director was also slightly injured.
He tried to prevent members of “Extinction Rebellion Racing” and “Last Generation” from getting on the track. A “physical altercation” ensued.
ADAC: “It is questionable whether you have to express it in this way”
According to ‘Bild.de’, the 47-year-old man suffered bruises and abrasions, but has now been able to leave the hospital. The police are investigating three people for dangerous bodily harm, and trespassing is also being investigated. 13 people were arrested in total.
“You can definitely have a different opinion on some things, but for me it is more than questionable whether you have to express it in this way,” said ADAC Motorsport Director Thomas Voss on ‘ran.de’ about the protest action. “I think it’s dangerous. And I feel a little sorry for the spectators.”
This is how the activists came to the race track
But how was it even possible for the activists to get onto the race track despite the increased security measures? They must have climbed onto the track at around 1:15 p.m. at the level of the approach to the Grundig bend through the adjoining allotment garden settlement.
Accompanied by a whistling concert from the spectators, they stormed onto the straight in orange safety vests and placards, one poured an orange liquid onto the asphalt, which, according to a statement from the “Last Generation”, was oil.
Meanwhile, an activist wanted to screw himself to a safety fence on the inside of the race track with the help of a tubular construction. However, it only took a few minutes for the police to arrive with vehicles and a large contingent of emergency services, overpowering and arresting the activists. Nobody was stuck on the race track.
police well prepared
“Of course we were prepared because something had been announced beforehand,” says Voss, who originally expected a “peaceful protest.” A vigil and a bicycle demonstration outside the race track had been announced for Sunday. “Unfortunately, we don’t like the fact that there are conflict stories like this.”
In fact, at the Norisring weekend, the police were not only represented on the starting grid and in the entire track area, but also in race control, which is, however, normal on a non-permanent race track. When it became clear from the track surveillance cameras that everything wasn’t going according to plan, the race director withdrew and handed over to the police.
Fear in the cockpit? “Activists should be more afraid”
But was the situation dangerous? “It’s very dangerous,” said ADAC Motorsport Director Voss. “I don’t want to imagine what would have happened if nobody had noticed and we had pulled off the start.”
In contrast to Formula E in Berlin or Formula 1 in Silverstone a year ago, where the action took place on the warm-up lap, there was no immediate danger in the DTM, as there was still around ten minutes left before the start. In general, however, the cars drive at speeds of more than 200 km/h at this point, which means that the consequences of a collision would be catastrophic.
As a driver, are you afraid that something like this could happen during a race? “We’re relatively safe in the cars,” answers Rene Rast. “I think the activists should be more afraid to run out onto the tracks when we come. I’m less afraid of that.”
The fact that the field only started the two warm-up laps behind the safety car at 1:42 p.m. was due to the fact that a track cleaning vehicle had to clean up the liquid that the activists had spilled. There were no other incidents during the race.