Martin Tomczyk thrown out of qualifying
BMW’s Martin Tomczyk has been stripped of his pole position after today’s qualifying session at Brands Hatch, following a stewards finding which discovered his car to be underweight.
At 18:05 this evening, the series organiser, the DMSB, announced that Tomczyk will be sent to the back of grid for tomorrow’s race after infringing article 26 of the sporting regulations, which states that the RMG team driver’s car was “in non-compliance with the minimum weight.”
BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt said: “It’s a shame to lose out on a pole position as a result of a mistake like this. However, we accept the decision of the race stewards.
“You are always at the limit in motor racing. We will now analyse what the case was to ensure this kind of thing never happens again.”
Tomczyk added: “It’s a major disappointment. The season opener at Hockenheim showed that it is possible to fight back from 22nd on the grid and finish in the points.
“However, I know it is almost impossible to do the same on a track like Brands Hatch.”
As a result of the decision, all drivers will move one place ahead of their original qualifying slot. This promotes Audi’s Mike Rockenfeller to pole position which is the second of his career, with the first coming at Brands Hatch 2011.
BMW’s Augusto Farfus will start alongside Rockenfeller on the front row in second, whilst Timo Glock will be promoted to 10th.
