The unfortunate incident happened during the first DTM race in Zandvoort on Saturday afternoon. During the mandatory pit stop, Oschersleben winner Luca Engstler collided head-on with a mechanic in the Grasser pit.
“Our pit is right next to Abt Sportsline’s. One of the two Audis (Ricardo Feller’s, ed.) came in before us. In addition, Luca had to give way to Clemens Schmid (Dörr-McLaren, ed.) in the fast lane when leaving his position at the beginning of the pit lane, which is why he was directly behind him,” explained GRT team boss Gottfried Grasser in an interview with Motorsport-Magazin.com the mishap that now took its course.
Grasser explains the serious incident: unfortunate circumstances
“Unfortunately, there was an unfortunate chain of events, because our mechanic, who was supposed to change a wheel on the outside of our car, suddenly realized that he, like his counterpart on the other side, was holding the wrong impact wrench. In the resulting confusion, the two compressed air hoses also had to be untangled. All of this happened at the moment when Luca came into the pits and the unfortunate collision could not be prevented.”
Engstler could not see what was happening in his pit lane when he turned his car to stop and the mechanic was unfortunately standing in the middle of the way at that moment.
“He is not at fault at all, he could not prevent the collision,” emphasises Grasser: “Luca is totally devastated, but there is no reason to blame him in any way.”
Luca Engstler: It is not a good feeling
Engstler himself describes the unfortunate moment at the ProSieben microphone as follows: “I naturally look to the left at my turning arrow, turn in and see the two (mechanics, ed.) standing in the middle of my box. The one on the left ran away and the one on the right didn’t quite make it and I dragged him along with me. It’s not a good feeling.”
The mechanic was checked at the medical center at the race track and then transported to a nearby hospital for further examinations.
“He is stable, but the injuries are serious,” said Grasser after he was informed of the diagnosis: “The left ankle is shattered and the shinbone is also affected.” No wonder, because the unlucky guy was hit head-on by the front splinter of the Lambo. However, the GRT team member from northern Italy was probably lucky in his misfortune given the severity of the injury.
His left leg was put in a cast and after that, according to Grasser, he “discharged himself of his own accord.” He would spend the night in his hotel and fly home on Sunday morning, where he would then undergo surgery in a hospital he knows. 2I expect that he will be out of action for months!”
Grasser hopes that the bad luck will not be repeated in Sunday’s race and that the start from positions 11 (Christian Engelhart) and 13 (Luca Engstler) will be rewarded with top 10 places.