– Dangerous scenes in the DTM pit lane in Zandvoort are causing a safety debate in the DTM – and a regulation discussion: Arjun Maini’s Ford hit the tire held by a Dörr mechanic with the rear wing while merging in for a pit stop on Sunday – the wing was damaged, the mechanic escaped unharmed.
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Thomas Preining almost dragged an Abt mechanic with him while accelerating after the stop, who just managed to turn away. On Saturday, Thierry Vermeulen hit a prepared tire of the HRT team for Finn Wiebelhaus’ pit stop and knocked it towards the Emil-Frey box.
And Mirko Bortolotti was penalized on both days after collisions in the pit lane, even though he was already in the “Fast Lane” and was hit by vehicles coming from the “Working Lane.”
Bortolotti warns: “Risking dangerous precedent”
“It is hard to understand that we get hit twice in the ‘Fast Lane’ due to unsafe releases and then receive penalties,” Mirko Bortolotti complains about what he sees as “questionable decisions” by the race stewards after collisions with Lamborghini brand colleague Mapelli on Saturday and Preining on Sunday. “This risks creating a dangerous precedent.”
His team boss Gottfried Grasser uses even stronger words. “I find the current regulation very questionable because it allows you to always go out – regardless of losses or accidents in the pit lane. You always win,” says the Austrian. “We were two thirds ahead of Preining with the car because he hit Mirko’s right rear wheel. No offense meant, but he doesn’t even see him at the moment of contact.”
Therefore, Grasser demands that the regulation “should be the same as in every other racing series in the world, that the ‘Fast Lane’ has priority. Otherwise, there will be no more unsafe releases. Then they force you to always go out,” he also sees a precedent.
Grasser criticizes DTM rule: “Promotes accidents in the pit lane”
“What I find particularly questionable about it: On a track like the Norisring, there will probably be seriously injured people,” he worries about the mechanics. “This really needs to be thought about because it promotes accidents in the pit lane.”
Even if not all team bosses speak frankly in public like Grasser, he is not alone with his opinion in the paddock. “We are reaching the point where someone will die,” says a leading team member of another team after Zandvoort. “If you see how the tires fly, how the cars crash into each other, how close they pass the mechanics: If someone gets hit, they won’t get up again.” A wheel weighs about 20 kilograms, by the way.
This also has to do with the special situation in Zandvoort: No pit lane in the DTM calendar is as tight and narrow – plus, due to the high attrition, almost everyone stops at the same time. This already caused an accident last year and even a demand for a minimum standing time.
Unsafe Release: What the controversial DTM rule looks like
But what does the regulation in the DTM actually look like? And why was Bortolotti really penalized both times – much to the incomprehension of many spectators?
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“It is the responsibility of the participants to only allow the vehicle to leave its box or a pit stop position when this is possible without endangering other participants,” states Article 23.9 of the DTM Sporting Regulations. “Vehicles in the ‘Fast Lane’ have priority over those in the ‘Working Lane.'”
So far, the regulation matches most other racing series, but there is an addition in the DTM: “The mere fact that a vehicle in the ‘Fast Lane’ has to brake to avoid a collision with a vehicle coming from the ‘Working Lane’ is generally not considered a danger (‘Unsafe Release’). In any case, it is prohibited to switch from the ‘Working Lane’ to the ‘Fast Lane’ if there is an overlap with a vehicle in the ‘Fast Lane’ at the moment of switching.”
Hit in the “Fast Lane”: Why Bortolotti was penalized
This also explains why Bortolotti received a five-second penalty in the case with Preining: The “Grello” driver drove up to the inner white line marking the boundary of the “Working Lane” after his stop but had to brake there because Vermeulen passed by. He then crossed the white line – clearly before there was an overlap with Bortolotti’s Lamborghini.
Preining therefore complied with the regulation – and Bortolotti should have let him into the “Fast Lane” ahead of him. Regardless of whether Preining was moving, because – as the events prove – it was impossible for the Lamborghini driver to react even at 60 km/h when Preining suddenly moved into the “Fast Lane” and hit the right door of the Temerario GT3, damaging the “Grello” at the front left.
“I think the rules should be reviewed,” says HRT team boss Ulrich Fritz. “No one wants to lose positions in the pits, but every team must do everything to prevent accidents, so penalties are the logical consequence in case of incidents. If the approaching driver in the pit lane always has to lift because otherwise he gets a penalty, then it is not fair.”
HRT team boss: “Predestined to generate dangerous situations”
What particularly bothers him? “It rewards opportunistic behavior – and you will always make the release in doubt because you assume the other will brake,” he warns. This is not only unfair but also “predestined to generate dangerous situations. And that in an area that should be especially protected because people work there, for whose health and lives we are responsible.”
According to information from Motorsport-Total.com, race director Sven Stoppe wants to discuss the pit stop issue with the teams before the Lausitzring weekend, although there should be no problems at Lausitzring due to the wide pit lane and the rule that it is only an unsafe release if the vehicles overlap when switching to the “Fast Lane” has been unchanged in the DTM for over ten years.
It was also introduced so that teams whose drawn pit boxes are at the end of the pit lane are not so heavily disadvantaged because they have to let all vehicles pass during stops. This even led to tactical blockades in the manufacturer era of the DTM.
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