Collisions prevent points at the Nürburgring

Collisions prevent points at the Nürburgring

After a summer break of almost eight weeks, Team Rosberg, including both drivers Nico Müller and Dev Gore, started the second half of the DTM season extremely motivated. However, everyone involved had to wait for a long time because of dense and long-lasting fog before they were finally allowed onto the 3.629 kilometers long Nürburgring sprint circuit. The race did not start until 5:15 p.m. and did not end well for Müller and Gore. The Swiss Müller retired after a puncture due to a contact as did the American Gore, who made contact with David Schumacher and subsequently complained about gearbox problems.

Nico Müller: “The conditions were not easy today, but after the long wait we were all happy to be able to complete the race after all. Unfortunately, the joy did not last too long, as René Rast crashed into my rear right wheel during the third lap, causing my car to get a flat tyre. This incident ultimately led to the early end of my race.”

Dev Gore: “Unfortunately, my race did not last as long as I had hoped. After a hectic start, I wanted to attack some of the drivers in front of me to get further up when I was hit by David Schumacher. Because my car was damaged by the impact, I finally had to give up.”

Kimmo Liimatainen (team principal): “Today did not go as expected, not only due to the long wait. Nico had a puncture just a few laps after the start. Since he still had to drive almost an entire lap with the punctured tyre, he was already far behind at the pit stop. Then it was also slightly drizzling at the time, so we gambled and put rain tyres on his car. Regrettably, the rain did not come, so after a few laps the rain tyres were no longer usable, and Nico’s race was over. Dev had a collision with David Schumacher and received a five-second penalty. I have only seen the scene from Dev’s onboard perspective so far and I do not think the penalty is justified. Dev had already braked and turned in when the contact with Schumacher happened. Since Dev had problems with his gearbox after the accident, he also had to give up early in the pits.”