Will the two crashes at the Sachsenring and in Spielberg cost Jack Aitken the DTM title? What speaks for this and what chances he can calculate for himself in the final
Emil Frey Ferrari driver Jack Aitken goes into the DTM title finale at Hockenheim in sixth place, 21 points behind, and thus as an outsider. Without the two crashes at the Sachsenring, when he collided with Thomas Preining in the battle for victory, and in Spielberg, when he threw away second place shortly before the finish, he would already be almost champion!
“We would have been blessed,” says Emil Frey technical director Jürg Flach. The math shows that without the two incidents, the Brit would probably now have two second places and 39 more points to his name, which would give him a comfortable lead of around 20 points going into Hockenheim and allow him to seal the deal in the first race.
The Sachsenring collision was clearly Preining’s fault, but if Aitken had let “Grello” pass, he would probably have finished second instead of 15th. And he would have scored 20 points instead of one. However, the unnecessary retirement on Saturday in Spielberg, when he crashed into the tire barrier three corners before the finish line while in second place, was particularly painful.
Aitken on his faux pas: “The car was really badly damaged.”
That cost him 20 sure points. “He couldn’t believe he had made such a mistake. We’re not used to that either, but we lose and win together,” says technical director Flach. “Once again, it was a kind of match point on a plate – and we couldn’t take it.”
Without the mistake after Saturday’s race in Spielberg, Aitken would have taken a twelve-point lead in the overall standings. Aitken himself says that he “made a mistake at a very unfortunate moment.”
LAST-LAP DRAMA AT THE RED BULL RING
With his victory this morning in Austria, René Rast picked up maximum points against DTM title rival Jack Aitken, who found himself in the barrier on the final lap of the race.
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“I thought you could put two wheels in the gravel there without it being a big problem, and I had a little too much speed. But the car bounced really badly—and when I landed, the rear was out of control,” he said, describing the incident.
Emil Frey technical director: “Starting position now extremely difficult”
It is a bitter irony of fate that, after securing a strong third place on the grid on Sunday, which earned him a point, he probably drove over a screw on the starting grid, which then caused a puncture. As a result, Aitken once again failed to score any points in the race.
“The starting position is now extremely difficult, with a 21-point deficit. But hope dies last,” says technical director Flach, hoping for racing luck in the first race at the Hockenheimring in order to still have a chance in the second race. After all, there are still 56 points up for grabs at Hockenheim.
But what does the Emil Frey team, which unlike most of its title rivals has not tested the Ferrari 296 GT3, expect from the final race? “The track has always suited us,” says Flach confidently.
“Of course, it depends on what the BoP will be, but we have a good setup there purely in terms of the track characteristics,” he says. “Normally, we should be competitive there.” And Aitken also comes into the decisive weekend on the back of a successful IMSA victory in Indianapolis on his 30th birthday.
