Audi hit with Zandvoort penalty

Mattias Ekstrom has been docked a position in the results of the DTM race at Zandvoort after Audi was found guilty of a breach of regulations in the Dutch race.

An investigation by the German Motorsport Federation - the DMSB - found that Audi had breached the rules by using team orders in the closing stages of the race to allow Ekstrom to move ahead of both Oliver Jarvis and Alex Premat to finish second behind the Mercedes of Gary Paffett.

With team orders not allowed in the series, the DMSB elected to hand Ekstrom a five second penalty which drops him from second to third in the result of the race.

Stewards also gave a penalty of 25,000 Euros to both Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline and Phoenix Racing - with 20,000 Euros suspended.

Audi will not appeal the decision.

"We continue to be of the opinion that we did not violate the wording of the regulations," Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich said. "It would not be in the best interest of the DTM and motorsport if the discussions were to extend over several weeks and the results of Zandvoort continued to be provisional. The fans would be the primary losers in that case. With this in mind, Audi has made a decision in deference to the sport, accepts the views of the DMSB and elects not to lodge an appeal.

"For the future, Audi recommends that 'team order' passage in the regulations be worded more precisely so that there will be an exact definition of where the line is drawn between team orders and strategies."