Marco Wittmann made his way onto the podium with a spirited manoeuvre on the last lap of Sunday’s DTM race at Imola – Lucas Auer is pissed
“You don’t let yourself be overtaken on the last lap,” Lucas Auer told ‘ProSieben’ after the second DTM race in Imola, Italy. The Austrian missed out on what he thought was a podium on Sunday at the very last second, as Marco Wittmann relegated the Winward Mercedes driver to fourth place on the last lap with a crisp overtaking manoeuvre on the outside lane.
“I made a shitty mistake in the first chicane,” said Auer, describing the crucial situation in the extra time of the race, which went three laps longer than planned due to a yellow period.
“The BMW is strong at top speed and it sat next to me. I didn’t want to crash either, but it’s impossible to be overtaken on the last lap. Normally it crashes, but to be overtaken from the outside is a no-go!”
Wittmann: After Auer mistake “went all-in “
Wittmann, who secured his first podium in the 2022 DTM season in his Walkenhorst-BMW, speaks of a “chaotic race” in Imola. The German struggled at the beginning of the race when he lost a position to Maro Engel at the start and also lost important tenths at the pit stop. However, the duly-named Fürther struck back!
The re-start after the safety car phase was the turning point for Wittmann: “The drivers around me had difficulties or even punctures. So I made up some positions and was then behind Lucas. We had the faster car, but it’s difficult to overtake in Imola if you don’t have a big pace or tyre advantage. I tried to put Lucas under pressure. “
The BMW driver kept jerking out to overtake Auer and, typical of GT racing, used his flashers several times to unsettle the Austrian in third. “Then in turn 4 of the last lap he made a small mistake,” said Wittmann. “I took the momentum into turn 5 and then went ‘all-in’. That was a great feeling.” The Walkenhorst driver praised Auer for his fair driving, even though third place was at stake.
Auer “rarely so exhausted” after enormous tension and heat
Auer, who is in fourth place in the overall standings after the Imola weekend, is very annoyed and is very self-critical of himself. Nevertheless, he has the big picture in mind.
“I am fourth and I have the points. To be fair, we were bad this weekend, but it was still good because of the re-start,” he points to the fact that many drivers ahead of him had trouble seeing the lights.
In addition, the heat in Italy had a massive impact on the Austrian. Temperatures of over 30 degrees were measured on Sunday, which is why it quickly got over 60 degrees hot in the cars: “I lost so much water because it was so warm and Marco felt a second faster than me every lap. One mistake is one too many, as you saw on the last lap. That was a lot of tension, I’ve rarely been so exhausted. “
