Jack Aitken had a disastrous penultimate weekend of the 2025 DTM campaign as the Emil Frey Ferrari driver left the Red Bull Ring without a point.
The 29-year-old retired from race one in Austria before finishing 20th in the second one-hour contest, leaving Aitken sixth in the standings and 21 points behind leader Lucas Auer.
In race one he crashed from second just three corners before the finish and a lap three puncture while running in third derailed Aitken in the final outing.
But what was the cause of that puncture? “We had some contact in lap one, but nothing heavy, and it was on the other side of the car,” Aitken told Motorsport-Total, referring to the incident with eventual winner Ricardo Feller. “So, that cannot be the cause.”
It may be that the right rear tyre was slowly losing pressure. “There was a very small leak,” added Aitken, “just like there was a hole in the tread, probably from some debris or carbon, or it can even be from the gravel sometimes.
“We saw that the pressure was dropping. I was able to keep driving for a bit, but then at some point, the pressure was so low that the tyre simply came off the rim.”
Jack Aitken, Emil Frey Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, Ricardo Feller, Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3
Photo by: ADAC Motorsport
What has since been suggested, however, is that the damage could have been caused by a bolt, as Emil Frey technical director Jurg Flach cited “an object on the start-finish straight” as the cause.
The damage was similar to what Aitken’s team-mate Thierry Vermeulen suffered in Friday practice, as his tyre lost pressure slowly and looked as though it had been caused by a bolt.
Aitken later claimed “it wasn’t the weekend for us”, especially as “we never had the safety car to bring us back to the pack” after losing significant time due to the puncture.
Pre-Austria, the six-time DTM race winner was just two points off championship leader Auer and with what the gap now is, Aitken’s title hopes are all but over ahead of the Hockenheim finale, where 56 points are on offer.
“We’ll go to Hockenheim and we will see what it brings,” said Aitken. “It’s tough for now, but there’s nothing we can do.
“The whole season, the DTM has had a lot of ups and downs. For sure, now we are having a bad period, so hopefully Hockenheim can come back to us.”
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