From the involved parties’ point of view, it’s often difficult to decide who was the victim and who the wrongdoer.
The incident when Timo Glock crashed in the Sunday race into the rear of Nico Müller’s Audi caused controversial discussions. At the end of the day, the BMW driver received a booking for having caused the collision.
Glock, however, sensed a conspiracy and accused the Swiss to manipulate and Audi to use team strategy. An embarrassing approach for the fans, he said. Mercedes driver Robert Wickens was of the same opinion.
“We witnessed them outbraking while they didn’t accelerate out of the corners. It was easy to see what they were trying to do,” the race winner said about the drivers representing the Ingolstadters.
DTM.com investigated the case and tried to get to the bottom of the reciprocate accusations. While Timo Glock wasn’t ready to make further statements, Müller defended himself against the criticism and insisted on his point of view that was shared by the DMSB spokesman to a large extent.
“I registered the decision. I already expressed my basic opinion regarding the Sunday race and the games played by Audi. There’s nothing else I have to say,” explained Glock who had appeared as rueful sinner following his fit of rage at Zandvoort. At the Dutch North Sea coast, the BMW driver caused a lot of discussions by blocking Mercedes driver Edoardo Mortara and the following finger affair. This time, however, Glock didn’t change his opinion.
None the less, the DMSB didn’t agree. “Somebody may have come to the conclusion that Müller deliberately drove slowly and braked too early, thus brake-testing and trapping Glock. But perception and evidence are two sides of a coin.”
“From the outside and Glock’s point of view it sounds logical. When it comes to the facts, however, Müller must be cleared of the accusations. The range regarding the verdict wasn’t large. In the end, the decision was slightly off the middle. The middle would have been ‘No further action’,” said Michael Kramp regarding Glock’s second booking of the season.
“The DMSB spokes man added: “It’s the same as in the traffic on the road. The one who causes a rear-end collision is responsible. And we are talking about a rear-end collision on the straight. An extremely rare incident. Müller’s car was massively damaged and he was forced into retirement a few laps later.”
“Usually, the driver who caused such an incident receives a drive-thru penalty. Exculpatory for Glock was the fact that Müller really braked very early – what could be comprehended by dint of the data. But we couldn’t prove that he did so deliberately to brake-test Glock.”
“There was a lot of room to the right, on the racing line. Glock easily could have passed Müller. That’s to Müller’s credit. Glock wasn’t forced to hit Müller. Müller definitely was driving on the inside, on the left – he only braked very late. Had Glock anticipated what was going to happen he could have passed Müller without touching him.”
The decision conceded that Müller who currently prepares in Riga for his second appearance in the World Rallycross Championship was right and consequently, the Swiss occupied the moral high ground.
He describes the crash from his point of view: “I may defend my position, We all don’t like losing a position. Therefore, I tried to keep Timo behind me. I defended my position in a square and fair style and brakes as I thought it would be necessary to make it through the corner. It’s normal that you have to brake earlier if you are driving off the racing line with old, dirty tyres.”
“I had a bad angle for the tight chicane and my car wasn’t really competitive at that point in time,” said the Swiss who couldn’t forbear taking a dig in the direction of Glock.
“I previously made the same manoeuvre with Robert Wickens and he passed me on the outside. No problem. I expected Timo to make the same move. But he didn’t. Timo just crashed into my car although there was room for two or three cars on the right. The collision could have been avoided. After all, he didn’t hit me when I braked but several metres later. He was just too optimistic and saw red – slightly.”
Müller also was accused by Glock to have cleared the way for Ekström in the Sunday races at Moscow and Zandvoort.
Another accusation the Swiss can’t comprehend. At Moscow, Müller pitted with just three more laps to go and slowed down the field. Ekström finished second behind Mercedes-AMG’s Maro Engel. “These races differ a lot. Discussing the situation at Moscow isn’t necessary.”
“In that round, the entire race was jumbled by the safety car. I just was one of those who had not yet pitted and tried to make the best of the situation.”
“Therefore, we opted for changing our strategy. And it should be clear that I won’t let pass a driver on a fresh set of tyres.” The safety-car period was caused by Maxime Martin who had to stop his car on lap five.”