Sporting Director Martin Tomczyk feels that the Abt collision was not punished to the same extent as Preining’s maneuver against van der Linde: What’s behind it
The duel between the Abt-Audi drivers and winner Thomas Preining made for a great spectacle at Sunday’s DTM race in Lausitz (race report). But after the podium ceremony, there was a discussion between Martin Tomczyk and race director Sven Stoppe: The Abt sports director did not understand why his driver Ricardo Feller was punished more severely for the collision with teammate Kelvin van der Linde than winner Preining for the action against the South African
“Thomas left him no room at the exit of the corner,” says Tomczyk about Preining’s overtaking maneuver against van der Linde for the lead, which sent the Abt driver into the gravel. The Austrian was given a warning by the race stewards. “So it was clear that it wasn’t clean,” said Tomczyk.
But when Feller also squeezed past van der Linde shortly afterwards and there was contact, race director Sven Stoppe took tougher action: He demanded that the Swiss driver give back the position. A penalty that automatically brings with it a caution
Tomczyk: “That was a double penalty!”
“I know what my drivers do and that they are fair,” says Tomczyk. “And if there is a contact, then I don’t feel any pain because I can rely on my drivers. But Ricardo got a warning and had to change position. Preining only got a warning and didn’t have to give back his position. So that was a double penalty.”
Tomczyk was particularly unhappy with the position swap ordered by Stoppe. “We had to swap places, which I didn’t need to do because I sorted that out internally,” he says. “I would have liked him to have looked at the other situation as well.”
Immediately after the race, however, there was not enough time to clarify the matter with Stoppe, whom Tomczyk greatly appreciates. “Perhaps the angle was the decisive factor in that case, that he didn’t see it properly. I spoke to him, but that’s always a matter of interpretation. In the end, it is what it is, but I would have liked it to have been judged equally. “
Why Preining’s maneuver was punished less severely
Why Stoppe punished Preining less harshly than Feller? that Preining’s maneuver against van der Linde was basically already complete when he pushed him off the track. In Feller’s case, on the other hand, he felt that the contact made it possible for him to gain position against his Abt teammate in the first place.
Kelvin van der Linde, whose tires were not yet up to operating temperature after the stop, was relatively relaxed about Preining’s action against him. “He could have given me a bit more space at the exit, but I would have done the same the other way round,”
Tomczyk: “Preining’s overtaking maneuver against Ricardo was mega “
How did Preining experience the decisive overtaking maneuver? “I also knew that it wouldn’t be easy to overtake him. It wasn’t either. But I managed it – and that’s what counts.” The Austrian now has two warnings because he was previously also penalized for changing lanes on the brakes against Feller. In the DTM, three warnings result in a five-place grid demotion.
In general, Tomczyk takes the Abt defeat against Preining in a sporting manner, especially as Kelvin van der Linde now leads the overall standings after his victory and second place in the Lausitz. “Preining’s overtaking maneuver against Ricardo in turn 8 was mega,” he says, complimenting the champion. “He fought his way back into position twice against my drivers. He deserved to win. “