German motorsport federation DMSB found “no irregularities” in engines of Thomas Preining, Mirko Bortolotti and Ricardo Feller after an unusually long but routine inspection that took nearly two weeks to complete.
It is understood that DMSB wanted to signal teams and manufacturers that it is closely looking into the legality of engine parts as the season reaches its climax in Hockenheim later this month.
In recent weeks, there have been repeated complaints in the paddock about SSR Performance, with rival teams feeling it has been able to make a major leap in performance from Saturdays to Sundays.
Factory Lamborghini driver Bortolotti, who leads the outfit’s charge and is currently second in the standings, attributed his pole on Sunday to not having set the best individual sector times in the previous qualifying session.
Given Bortolotti was one of the select few drivers to miss the pre-race test at Sachsenring and thus had more room for improvement, this statement isn’t completely unbelievable.
However, teams are currently engaged in a poker battle to get the best Balance of Performance rating for Hockenheim, and with four drivers in title contention, there is a lot at stake.
The debate around the Lamborghini’s brake lights issue also shows that there is a lot of tension in the paddock ahead of the title decider.
Given the situation, the DMSB collected the engines of the top three championship contenders after Spielberg on September 24.
The engines were dismantled at the facilities of each of the three manufacturers (Porsche, Lamborghini and Audi) in presence of a DMSB technical inspector.
All performance parts were checked for legality, including crankshafts, cylinders, connecting rods, various inlet pipes and the displacement, before engines were allowed to be reassembled.
While the process itself only takes a full working day, the results of the round couldn’t be declared for almost two weeks because manufacturers and the DMSB had to agree on a date for the inspection.
The Porsche and Audi engines were eventually inspected in the week after the Red Bull Ring races, while the Lamborghini engine was examined last week.
Interestingly, while Porsche and Lamborghini engines were dismantled at their motorsport headquarters in Weissach and Sant'Agata respectively, the Audi engine in Feller’s car was opened in Malmedy near Spa-Francorchamps. That’s because Malmedy is home to Breuer Technical Development (BTD), which has been carrying out revisions to Audi R8 LMS GT3 customer engines since 2010.
All three engines have since been sealed and returned to the teams.
