Audi loses appeal, Robert Wickens stripped of win

Audi has lost its appeal against Mattias Ekström’s disqualification from the Norisring earlier this month, where he took the Ingolstadt manufacturer’s first win at the circuit since 2002.

The Abt Sportsline driver was stripped of his victory and excluded from the results, after he infringed parc fermé rules when his father, Bengt, poured water into his pocket after the race.

An appeal by Audi and the Abt Sportsline outfit was heard by the German motorsport federation, the DMSB, in Frankfurt on Tuesday afternoon, but the panel agreed with the race stewards’ original decision that Ekström had breached Article 44.1 of the series’ sporting regulations.

Following the appeal, Audi Sport tweeted: “In spirit of the sport, we respect the decision of the DMSB appeal court.”

However, the race stewards’ decision to promote every other finisher up a position was reversed, which means Robert Wickens, who inherited his first DTM career victory as a result of Ekström’s disqualification has also been stripped of his win.

The Canadian therefore drops to second, and no official race winner is declared.