BMW Team RMG have accepted the blame for Marco Wittmann’s exclusion from the second DTM race at Zandvoort, which came after his car was found to contain too little fuel after the race.
Wittmann had won the race on the road ahead of Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller, but just hours after the race the defending champion was thrown out of the results.
The issue was caused by Wittmann not having enough fuel left in the tank of his M4, denying him a first win of the season which would have elevated him to second in the drivers’ championship standings.
Instead Wittmann leaves The Netherlands eighth overall in the points, 35 adrift of the series leader.
“I am obviously very disappointed, but as a driver there is nothing you can do about it,” said Wittmann. “We have to accept it and ensure that nothing like this happens again.
“It was still a mega weekend for me, as our pace was very good. We will push again at the Nürburgring.”
BMW Team RMG Team Principal Stefan Reinhold accepted his outfit’s role in the disqualification of Wittmann, but insisted that the team would quickly move on.
“It has been an intense weekend for us, full of emotion,” said Reinhold. “First, we celebrated Marco’s victory, then came the disappointment of the disqualification.
“Unfortunately, when analysing the race, we discovered that we had made a mistake in operating the tank system, which resulted in there being too little fuel in the tank at the end of the race.
“That is frustrating, but we win and lose together.”
BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt says that the Munich marque can leave the Dutch circuit with their heads held high, thanks to two poles and a victory and podium lock-out on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, Marco Wittmann’s disqualification on Sunday prevented us from adding a second victory,” added Marquardt. “That is obviously a great shame. We will look into how it could have happened.
“Maxime Martin and Timo Glock fought very hard in the race, and Augusto Farfus and Bruno Spengler also picked up points.
“Hard-fought overtaking manoeuvres, plenty of action and a lot of points: despite the disappointment of missing out on victory on Sunday, Zandvoort was definitely worth the trip again for us this year.”