Paffett slams officials after ‘embarrassing’ handling of pit crashes
DTM driver Gary Paffett has hit out at officials after Lucas Auer, Edoardo Mortara and Bruno Spengler were disqualified from the second Hungaroring race following pitlane incidents.
Three pitlane marshals were airlifted to hospital with leg injuries after Auer, who had qualified on pole, was unable to stop entering his pitbox and slithered into them.
One lap later, fellow Mercedes driver Mortara knocked over his pit gantry, while BMW man Spengler collided with one of his mechanics, albeit without causing injury.
The race was duly red-flagged, although all three continued and finished in the top 10.
But they were later disqualified after stewards ruled the accidents had been an infringement of article 30.9 of the sporting regulations, which states: “The driver must reduce speed as soon as he joins the deceleration zone so that he can stop his car at the pits without endangering other participants or the marshals.”
Paffett, the 2005 champion, criticised the stewards, tweeting: “With the pitlane in the condition it was today it was nearly impossible not to crash.”
Paffett had earlier lambasted the decision to only red flag the race after all three incidents happened, saying Mortara’s crash “could have killed people”.
“The whole race was disastrous, it was the most embarrassing DTM race I’ve been in over the last 15 years,” he said.
“Honestly don’t know how you can let a race carry on with a guy with a broken leg in the pitlane.
“How can you have an ambulance parked in the pitlane and let people do pitstops on a surface that you already see is like ice? I don’t understand it.
“As soon as you see one accident like that, you red flag the race immediately. You know people are gonna make pitstops because it is raining. Edo hit the pit gantry and it could have killed people.”
Auer spoke of his regret after the incident, saying his “heart wasn’t in the race anymore” and called on the DTM to ensure that the incident is not repeated.
BMW driver Marco Wittmann won the restarted race after Mercedes’ Paul di Resta had triumphed in the opening contest.