Dušan Borković banned from TCR Europe

Dušan Borković will not be allowed to compete in the remainder of this year’s TCR Europe series season, after being banned by the promoter following the incident that took place at the Red Bull Ring paddock at the weekend.

The Serbian was excluded from the race weekend following an altercation in the paddock after the second race of the weekend, which followed an incident on track with Nelson Panciatici.

Borković was seen sprinting across the paddock to confront Panciatici afterwards, although he approached Panciatici’s M Racing team-mate Natan Bihel in error, with the resulting altercation with members of the M Racing team, and with his wife allegedly being flung onto the bonnet of Bihel’s car, resulting in him being thrown out of the meeting.

With the Target Competition driver having already been involved in a similar incident at Monza last year, the decision has now been taken to ban Borković from competing, with the series promoter informing him that he is “no longer welcome to the TCR Europe events during the current season.”

Borković will also be reported to the relevant National Sporting Authorities and the FIA.

“We took this action with regret, but had no other choice,” promoter Paulo Ferreira said. “As the Series Promoter, we cannot remain as mere spectators of this unfortunate event. Violence cannot go unpunished in an event that is open to the fans and covered by the media.

“Very often the drivers are the models for young people who wish to enter the world of motorsport and it is precisely because of this philosophy that we can no longer tolerate aggressive behaviour. We tolerated what happened in Monza last year, with the aim of giving a second chance that in our ethical code is worthy of being given to those who repent and apologize for their mistakes.

“But now the time for tolerance is over.”