Although Audi continues to maintain the position that it has not violated the regulations at the DTM race at Zandvoort, Audi accepts the penalties and warnings issued by the DMSB in the interest of the sport and the spirit of the DTM.

The stewards assume a violation of the regulations in the fact that Mattias Ekström was able to overtake his two Audi colleagues, Oliver Jarvis and Alexandre Prémat without any defence on their part in the final phase of the DTM race at Zandvoort.

“We continue to be of the opinion that we did not violate the wording of the regulations,” says Head of Audi Motorsport, Dr Wolfgang Ullrich.  “It would not be in the best interest of the DTM and motorsport if the discussions were to extend over several weeks and the results of Zandvoort continued to be provisional.  The fans would be the primary losers in that case.  With this in mind, Audi has made the decision in deference to the sport, accepts the views of the DMSB and elects not to lodge an appeal.”

As a result Mattias Ekstrom was moved back to third place, the provisional result occupied by Oliver Jarvis. 

“For the future, Audi recommends that the ‘team order’ passage in the regulations be worded more precisely to allow for an exact definition between team orders and strategies,” said Dr Wolfgang Ullrich.