DTM and team orders.
Two things Kiwi race fans have really come to despise the last few months.
It was October when Liam Lawson was robbed of a first DTM title thanks to reckless driving by a fellow contender and team orders imposed by Mercedes AMG.
The German marque instructed two drivers to slow down and let Maximilian Gotz past to seal the driver’s title.
Had those orders not been enforced, Lawson would have won the championship.
Basically, the entire final race was a debacle.
DTM faced stiff resentment from fans (many Kiwis, especially) and rival teams.
AF Corse Ferrari called Mercedes’ ploy “a disgrace to the sport.”
Mercedes defended themselves by insisting any other team would have done the same thing had they been in a similar position.
“It’s part of the game,” the team said.
Well, it’s not anymore.
There is a complete ban on teams orchestrating a result from this season onwards.
“Teams and drivers who influence the race action by means of a team order, may face exclusion from the championship in future,” the series said.
Team orders were actually banned at the start of the 2020 season. But the series relaxed the regulations for 2021 as they believed moving to customer team racing meant there would never be a need to have a race result manipulated.
DTM finds itself in a sticky situation where it must undo all the damage last season’s fiasco caused.
It’s just a shame it’s all a tad too late for those of us down under who saw a first Kiwi title slip from our grasp.