DTM driver Clemens Schmid dishes it out after the crash festival: Why the race management should consider looking for a new job and he attacks Schumacher
Following Rene Rast’s fury after Sunday’s race at the Nürburgring, Grasser Lamborghini driver Clemens Schmid goes one better and harshly criticises the DTM race management and David Schumacher. “I am of the opinion that the policy of hardly handing out any penalties simply does not work. “
“The driving standards are sub-standard for a professional racing series.” Schmid believes that race director Scot Elkins, who is known for driving hard, has to take responsibility for this: “The race directors should think about it until Spa, maybe they should look for another job – or they finally do their job.”
But what is the reason for Schmid’s harsh words? The 32-year-old has the impression that, apart from the overly harsh approach in the DTM, the same measure is not applied to all drivers. In his opinion, while the drivers at the front of the field are being watched closely, even gross unsportsmanlike conduct is not being punished in the midfield.
Too much leniency with Schumacher? “He’s in every time “
The Tyrolean takes a shot at David Schumacher in the process. “You get the feeling that certain names are never punished,” Schmid digs in. “Schumacher gets rowdy every race – and that always goes unpunished.”
On Saturday, he says, Ralf Schumacher’s son shot down Rosberg Audi driver Dev Gore and got away with it. On Sunday, he did the same to Rast, he said. “And then again that’s only five seconds,” Schmid marvels. “He clears someone who is racing for the championship completely senselessly. He’s there every time – and there’s never anything!”
Schmid calls for race director Elkins to finally crack down on Schumacher. “Normally you have to say: now you come along and think for once. But that’s just not happening,” Schmid said. By the way, we gave Elkins and Schumacher the opportunity to comment on Schmid’s accusations. However, both refrained from doing so.
Schmid compares incidents: “Out of proportion “
But the excessive harshness in midfield is not the only reason for Schmid’s displeasure. He also misses the consistency of the penalty, as he explains with an example: His Grasser team-mate Mirko Bortolotti had “flipped the leading AF Corse Ferrari driver Felipe Fraga in Saturday’s race – and there’s a demotion of five places on the grid”, says Schmid.
On Sunday, however, Fraga “completely wiped out him and Schubert-BMW driver Philipp Eng, total loss – and then that’s a five-second penalty. That is out of all proportion.”
Schmid has the impression that there are not the appropriate consequences for incidents in the midfield. “If you see it on the TV picture or it’s about the top three, there’s a big penalty, but with the rest they look the other way or they don’t see it,” he says. “Maybe also because it’s good for the show. “
“Racers are like little children “
In the future, he said, penalties must be “consistent”, “whether it’s the first or the last in the championship. The same rules must apply to everyone. You shouldn’t only punish when it’s about the fight at the very front. And at the back you say you didn’t see it or you can’t penalise it.” If the DTM wants to be a professional racing series, “then the race control has to behave like that as well,” Schmid demands.
Because if Elkins does not show a clear edge, the situation in the midfield will escalate, he fears. “I’m of the opinion that racing drivers are like little kids,” he says. “If you let them off the leash like that and there are never any consequences, then it never gets better. It then becomes even more of a massacre. “
Should the SRO be taken as an example?
To prevent this, there must not only be tougher penalties, Schmid said. They also need to be more effective. “If the car doesn’t finish, there has to be a penalty for the next race, because other cars are totalled alongside the track,” Schmid demands – and thus strikes the same note as Rast.
He cites SRO boss Stephane Ratel’s GT3 competition series GT-World-Challenge Europe as a possible role model. “I think the SRO system is quite good: if the person who has been cleared cannot continue, there is a stop-and-go penalty. If he can continue and loses a lot, there is a drive-through penalty. Because then the spook stops right away. These are such unnecessary actions. “
At least in this respect, the DTM reacted last weekend: The five-second penalty for David Schumacher, which was criticised by Schmid, was converted into a demotion of five grid positions for the upcoming race in Spa-Francorchamps after the Winward driver’s retirement.
Incidentally, the same fate also befell GruppeM Mercedes driver Maro Engel, who had spun AF Corse Ferrari driver Nick Cassidy and later retired.
