The results for Portuguese rookie Antonio Felix da Costa have shown just a glimmer of what he is capable of in a touring car, having made the transition to BMW Motorsport’s ranks in the DTM after competing last season in World Series by Renault 3.5.
His speed behind the wheel was evident during qualifying, but everyone has to play by the rules when it comes to track limits being exceeded. Even after the race, where he retired with just four laps left to go, he did know that the move he attempted on Timo Scheider going into the hairpin was not the best idea: “It was not very clear, as the yellow flags had just disappeared again, and I had the impression that Timo had gone a bit wide in the corner. Therefore, I saw the opportunity for an attack.”
The Team MTEK driver ended up getting a drive-through penalty for his over-eager passing attempt on the two-time champion, before confusion during the pitstop meant that he would go out after a slight delay due to the pit crew not being ready.
He congratulated fellow stable mate Marco Wittmann, whose impressive performance in the new M4 has shown the way forward for the rest of Munich’s men come Oschersleben, as well as the baton being nicely passed from the outgoing M3 on the way.
The Infiniti Red Bull Racing test and reserve driver made a public apology via Twitter in light of his actions during the race, which shows his character as a sporting racing driver: “Just want to apologise @ScheiderTimo, it was a childish move and took us both a top 5 finish! Sorry mate, on to Ochersleben!!”
In two weeks’ time, da Costa will want to make up for what could have been this weekend, as he is concentrating at the next task at hand: “The preparations for Oschersleben begin tomorrow. I want to do a better job there!”
