BMW Motorsport and Mercedes AMG have decided to not pursue their appeals over Marco Wittmann’s and Daniel Juncadella’s exclusions from Sunday’s DTM race at the Hungaroring.

Both drivers were excluded after their skid pads, a safety device that prevents the chassis from touching the ground, were found to be too thin after technical scrutineering.

Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport Director, said to Sport 1: “We decided in the interest of sport to not bring the disqualification of Marco Wittmann in Hungary before the appeal court. Immediately after Sunday’s race we wanted to keep this option, therefore, the BMW Team RMG had initially announced the appeal. We remain of the opinion that the increased wear on the underbody was because of the incidents and touches that came shortly after the start. As you could see clearly from Marco’s lap times, it brought no performance advantages, but rather the opposite.”

The appeal hearing was likely to take place after the season finale in Hockenheim, meaning the results on track would be provisional until a decision had been made.

“We accept the stewards’ decision, because we don’t want the title to be decided in court. The DTM should present a champion to the fans at Hockenheim”, concluded Marquardt.

Ulrich Fritz, Head of DTM at Mercedes AMG, said: “Dani had damage because of going over the kerbs to avoid Edo Mortara. But we have assumed that an appeal wouldn’t be successful, so we won’t pursue it any longer.”

Marco Wittmann heads to the season finale with a 14-point advantage over Audi Sport’s Edoardo Mortara in the drivers’ standings. Jamie Green also remains in contention, 39 points adrift from the BMW driver.