Cecotto takes controversial V8STAR win
Johnny Cecotto scored his second consecutive victory in the German V8STAR series in an incident-packed race at the Lausitzring on Saturday that ultimately led to a two-week probation period for the race winner
It was Pole Vision Racing's Roland Asch that looked set to dominate proceedings after taking pole position and leading the early part of the race. Asch held onto the lead after the round of mandatory pitsops and was still out front at the end of the first section.
The V8STAR format is such that halfway through the race, the pace car comes out to bunch up the field before the cars are released for the second section of the race. The winner is the driver with the fastest aggregate time over the two sections.
Asch's stint out front in the second section was short-lived. Steffen Widmann spun into the pit wall after being hit from behind by Arthur Deutgen bringing out the yellow flags. Spotting the caution flags Asch slowed down, but Cecotto and Karl Wendlinger, who was running third, both sailed past.
The safety car was out by the time the leaders made it round to the start/finish, but peeled off on lap five, only to be brought back out two laps later when Wendlinger lost control of his Zakspeed car and hit Asch taking them both out the race.
Two laps later the race was stopped due to debris on the track, handing Cecotto victory, with DTM refugee Marcel Tiemann second and Kurt Thiim in third.
After almost 24hrs of discussion from the stewards, Cecotto was awarded a 12,000DM fine for overtaking under yellows and will hold onto his win, providing he stays out of trouble at the Nurburgring in a fortnight.
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