Photo: Audi Mediacenter

Jonathan Aberdein and Mike Rockenfeller penalised for slow zone infringements

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BMW Team RMR driver Jonathan Aberdein and Audi Sport Team Phoenix driver Mike Rockenfeller have received penalties for infringements of the slow zone regulations.

The slow zone was activated to recover Loïc Duval’s car that was parked on the grass after Turn 3 due to a technical issue.

Rockenfeller was found to have exceeded the 80 km/h speed limit, receiving a 30-second time penalty. The 2013 champion, who crossed the line in tenth place, was demoted to 11th, with WRT driver Harrison Newey promoted to score his first ever DTM point.

Aberdein’s situation was the opposite. The South African was just ahead of race leader Nico Müller (Audi) when the slow zone was activated. The BMW driver received a 30-second time penalty for excessively slowing down other drivers during the procedure.

“Aberdein slowed down on purpose, at times we were going at just 50 km/h,” Müller told TouringCarTimes. “The gap I had built to Van der Linde (BMW) was gone.”

The South African, however, had a different view on the issue, blaming an error on his part for his slow speed.

“It was totally my fault,” Aberdein told TouringCarTimes. “The slow zone was activated very late, when I was already into Turn 1 and carried a lot of speed. I tried to brake down and, by mistake, I pressed the pit lane speed limiter, and that’s why I went down to 50 km/h.

“It took me a while to realise that I had the limiter on, and the team couldn’t advise me as they didn’t have the information about my speed at that point.”