Andy Priaulx has criticised rival racer Adrien Tambay after the Frenchman spun the Brit in Sunday’s Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters race at Brands Hatch, costing him valuable positions.
On the 26th lap of the race Audi’s Tambay dived up the inside of the BMW driver at Druids and the pair made contact, sending Priaulx into a half-spin. The move cost the Guernseyman significant time and as a result of the incident he was lapped by race leader Mike Rockenfeller.
Priaulx feels that he was then hindered by the use of the blue flags, costing him time in a race which also saw him handed a five-second pitstop penalty for not obeying the blue flags.
“Obviously this is disappointing, in so much as I could have had a reasonable race, but I got hit by Adrien Tambay,” said a frustrated Priaulx. “He has apologised, but it doesn’t really help me.
“I am unhappy with the blue flags, as I don’t feel they were used in the right way – some came out too early and some not at all. But the most important thing is I have to look at the race data and try to work out what I need to do for the next race. I am very hungry for points and felt a few were on offer after our good qualifying.”
Tambay was apologetic for the incident, which compromised his own race and saw him finish down in 18th, one position ahead of Priaulx.
“It began with a poor start where I lost a lot of places due to wheel spin,” said Tambay. “Afterward, I turned Andy around, for which I’d like to say sorry. Then of course the drive-through penalty that was due for the incident ruined my race. Now we’ve got to analyze this weekend, learn from it and very quickly start looking ahead to Spielberg.”