Yann Ehrlacher “done with being nice” after Suzuka nightmare

Yann Ehrlacher has said he’s not going to “try and be everyone’s friend anymore” and emulate the behaviour of his rivals, after the Frenchman was hit with a penalty for an incident with Rob Huff in Race 2 at Suzuka, while he feels several incidents with the Audi of Frédéric Vervisch have gone unpunished.

Ehrlacher has had a dire last half of the season, after leading the World Touring Car Cup drivers’ standings after Zandvoort, he’s now slipped to 11th and is out of contention for the title heading to the season finale at Macau.

“In Race 1, I was struggling with some racing incidents, and the main thing this weekend is I’ve decided to definitely stop being nice,” said Ehrlacher to TouringCarTimes.

“The time to be liked by everybody is finished, as there are some unfair situations in this championship,” he added. “I got a penalty for the contact with Rob (Huff). For sure, Rob was trying to defend, in the stewards meeting he was saying some wrong things, as it was just a touring car incident. I lost my race as well, I lost ten positions, and at the end, he didn’t give me any room.

“I accept the penalty, but three laps before, (Frédéric) Vervisch did exactly the same thing and I had to run wide in the gravel bed and I lost five places. If this didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have been with Rob. Vervisch, gets no further action. In Ningbo, Vervisch crashed into me and got a penalty, and then got the penalty removed.”