Motorsport: Joy and frustration for Edoardo
After a commanding victory in Race 1 of the DTM in Hungary, Edoardo Mortara suffered a setback on Sunday. However, the unexpected disqualification of his title rival Marco Wittmann puts the man from Geneva back in a better position ahead of the season finale at Hockenheim. The Audi team had a perfect day at the Hungaroring on Saturday. All eight Audi RS5 [...]
The Audi team had a perfect day at the Hungaroring on Saturday. All eight Audi RS5s lined up on the first four rows of the grid, with six of them occupying the front positions after the one-hour race, led by Edoardo Mortara. The Genevan turned his pole position into an unchallenged start-finish victory, especially as his teammates shielded him from the rear. These included Nico Müller in a good fifth place, who has scored points on every DTM weekend so far in 2016.
On Sunday, the Audi of the Italian-Swiss driver, who was naturalized in June and born in Geneva, was again in first place on the grid, but this time Edoardo Mortara's start was unsuccessful and his Abt teammate Mattias Ekström took advantage of it to take a clear victory. Before the first corner, there was a scramble in which Mortara, Nico Müller and Jamie Green, who was also still fighting for the title, damaged their cars. All three Audi drivers then had to retire prematurely.
Memories of the fall of Marcel Fässler's Audi R18
As a result, Edoardo Mortara's deficit on BMW driver Marco Wittmann in the standings increased again to 26 points. At the final scrutineering, however, the scrutineers found that the height of the underbody panel on Marco Wittmann's BMW M4 and Daniel Juncadella's third-placed Mercedes was too low. The stewards removed them from the classification, against which the teams concerned lodged an appeal.
It won't be of much use if you remember a case from April. Audi, and therefore also Marcel Fässler, were subsequently stripped of victory at the opening round of the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone for the same reason. Marco Wittmann and Edoardo Mortara will travel to the DTM finale at Hockenheim on October 15 and 16 with a difference of just 14 points. 50 points are still up for grabs there. If the DMSB Court of Appeal does not meet beforehand, the title could be decided afterwards at the green table.
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Photos: DTM
