Wittmann: We have to accept it

Defending DTM champion Marco Wittmann has expressed his 'disappointment' in losing his race two victory at Zandvoort, but takes the positives following what he still labels as a 'mega weekend'.

The Team RMG BMW driver took what looked to be his first win of the 2017 season after fending off Audi's Mike Rockenfeller during today's second race in Holland.

However, Wittmann's joy was short-lived after the 27-year old was disqualified from the result due to insufficient fuel left in his Team RMG BMW M4. The fuel level of Wittmann's BMW fell short of the minimum 1kg requirement at the end of the race.

Subsequently, Wittmann's bid to retain his drivers' title is now in jeopardy after slipping back down to eighth in the standings, 35-points adrift from championship leader Mattias Ekstrom.

The Team RMG driver said: “I am obviously very disappointed, but as a driver there is nothing you can do about it. We have to accept it and ensure that nothing like this happens again. It was still a mega weekend for me. Our pace was very good. We will push again at the Nürburgring.”

Witttmann's Team RMG boss Stefan Reinhold admitted a 'mistake in operating the tank system' was the cause of the costly infringement.

"Unfortunately, when analysing the race, we discovered that we had made a mistake in operating the tank system, which resulted in there being too little fuel in the tank at the end of the race," Reinhold explained.

"That is frustrating, but we win and lose together."