When we left the action after the second FIA World Touring Car Cup race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, the stewards were still busy in their attempt to evaluate all that had happened in a dramatic day of racing. Here, we’ll give you a run-down of all their final conclusions.
First up, reversed-grid polesitter Yvan Muller was investigated for a potentially incorrect starting procedure during the first race of the new campaign. It had been questioned as to whether Muller conducted a practice start on the grid before the formation lap – an illegal manoeuvre – however in the end it was decided that this was an incorrect interpretation of events.
So, Muller escaped without penalty and his second place finish from the opening round would stand.
Luca Engstler, meanwhile, wasn’t so fortunate. The young German shone at his home circuit in race two, but in race one, he had a trickier time in the midfield.
After dropping back down the order in the early stages, Engstler engaged in contact with the CUPRA of Mikel Azcona. As a result, the Spaniard would have to deal with a bumper that was rubbing against his left-rear tyre, which added to the woes of Zengő Motorsport’s difficult weekend.
The stewards deemed that the youngster had gained that place back illegally, and as such he was dealt a five-second time penalty which dropped him back down from fourteenth to seventeenth in the standings, behind Azcona and outside of the points. Frédéric Vervisch was therefore elevated up into fifteenth place, which would earn him his first and only championship point so far this season.
Moving onto race two, Esteban Guerrieri was dealt a drive-through penalty having a member of his team work on the car to soon before the start, though this was enacted upon during the race itself.
Guerrieri’s Honda stablemates Néstor Girolami and Tiago Monteiro also caught the eye of the stewards however.
Girolami came under investigation for his firm defence of second place at the very beginning of race two, which saw him guide the onrushing Hyundai of Engstler into the pit lane exit. In the end though, no harm came of the move and Engstler still managed to get by Girolami at turn one, so on this occasion the Argentine escaped punishment, allowing his third place to stand.
Likewise, opening race winner Monteiro came under heat for potentially causing Vervisch’s scary off-track excursion through the high speed Tiergarten sequence. But again, no judgement was made against the Portuguese in the end.