Why Audi Is Right To Suspend Daniel Abt

[Gabyzen64]

I find everything that happened truly unworthy. As a simdriver for MSI I followed the matter and I am truly embittered. The fact that in the F1 series of Codemasters have invited people who are not fit to run and that sim have nothing to do with it has made me turn up my nose, now this too. Something serious and that could be seen as such is now made fun of by half the world.

I really appreciate the choice of Audi which has tried to put us in a situation that is shameful to say.
Even more shameful is that real pilots who also founded Sim's online platforms took sides against the suspension, even threatening Twich and leaving. They did very well, we don't want people who support scoundrels and cheaters.

I have nothing more to say but advice to everyone: you always win and lose in races as in life, the important thing is to always be yourself and never give a damn to anyone. Better to be honest sucker than cheat winner. Nice big article Paul!

 

[DrRob]

The problem is that in current times eSport is perceived a valid platform for manufacturers, teams and sponsors. At this very moment the game is not a game anymore, it is business.
If these drivers are asked to represent their employer, they should be as professional as they are on the real track.

It would have been a different story if Daniel Abt would have participated in a non-official (so to speak) leisure race with his colleagues. He would maybe have chosen Truck Simulator and a Scania tractor. He cheats there, he is just cheater. He would damage his own reputation.

If he cheats in a Formula E race his employer asked him to represent them there he is not only a cheater, but potentially damaged the reputation of his employer and their partners. And it was in the public media worldwide. There is no excuse for that.
There is no difference if he staged that and everybody participating knew that or not.

Plus this is supposed to be sports, right? Who likes cheaters in a competitive arena? And officials sure don't, too.
See doping cases in athletics and cycling for example.

 

[ltcars]

I fully agree with op concerning the fact it is not done and he deserves it. However, the last one to throw the book at him for cheating should be Audi/VAG as they are the biggest cheaters on the planet, remember dieselgate. So it makes me angry to read that Audi sacked him because they value transparency and playing conform with the rules. Something with a pot and a kettle... In my opinion they fully deserve each other.

What I don't understand about the Dieselgate argument is that since they cheated once they should let every other cheating slide under the table? I think because they cheated once they are now extra careful with anything that involves cheating to not disturb their public image

 

[KittX]

10k euros fine is enough...he did something wrong, he's paying and it's a shame for him, here we go, stop...
Audi hasn't defrauded for years on much more serious things? diesel? pollution?

There's an interesting thing about this Audi scandal and people's perception about it, was hovering in my head for a while now: it seems that people think of Audi/VAG like it's a single person. Everything VAG does now, the usual reaction from people is "aha, you've been caught, look at yourself you hypocrite!" which has sense of course, that diesel gate thing was ridiculous (but tbh not much more, or even far less ridiculous than, say some Henry Ford 1st visions, or Fordlandia, for example), but what is interesting is people look at VAG/Audi like it's one person, which was caught up once, so now he/she/it should shut up. But those people are gone from company already, and the motorsport division is curated by different people, and always have been (correct me if im wrong here), and they are trying their best now to get past that scandal and resurrect their public image. But the whole fact is people percepting Audi like it's a single person, seems very funny to me.

 

[Roman1987]

What I don't understand about the Dieselgate argument is that since they cheated once they should let every other cheating slide under the table? I think because they cheated once they are now extra careful with anything that involves cheating to not disturb their public image

You are right, thats not an argument however one of the best statements about this all in a german newspaper called sueddeutsche was (translated to english might not be 100% accurate): "

Audi's message can also be understood as follows: buying out for a dishonesty might work with a million dollar cheat like the exhaust gas scandal. But please not with e-sports!"

For me what Audi did looks like a typical mafia example for me. The sacrificed one of their own as pawn sacrifice in order to show their new honest company values, so all others can see how good they are now and what hard consequences it can have to go against these rules. But this is ingoring the fact that till today they (VAG) have done not much in clearing up their own scandal where they cheated on thousands of customers in order to gain more revenue/profit.

Looks like double standards to me.

 

[Atom1kk]

just image, what if leclerc made this instead of abt? I think nothing would happen. Ferrari doesnt care about this virtual world and leclerc is too important. In the case of abt it is very easy. it is clear that audi just whants to get rid of him, and the uses this bullshit with transparency only for excuse.... such a moron company... as already said dieselgate and the DTM race in austria... its such a shame how the VAG are trying to improve their reputation (and fail i say only the new golf commercial ( for me there was nohing but the stupid internet society had to roast it, its like every idiot has to give his opinion on the social platttforms).

 

[ltcars]

You are right, that's not an argument however one of the best statements about this all in a German newspaper called sueddeutsche was (translated to English might not be 100% accurate): "

Audi's message can also be understood as follows: buying out for a dishonesty might work with a million dollar cheat like the exhaust gas scandal. But please not with e-sports!"

For me what Audi did looks like a typical mafia example for me. The sacrificed one of their own as pawn sacrifice in order to show their new honest company values, so all others can see how good they are now and what hard consequences it can have to go against these rules. But this is ignoring the fact that till today they (VAG) have done not much in clearing up their own scandal where they cheated on thousands of customers in order to gain more revenue/profit.

Looks like double standards to me.

I think the decision was at least heavily influenced by the public lynching from nearly every newspaper. But I think the argument that they wanted to replace him with someone from DTM is believable.

 

[Chris]

No clue if it was the right decision. Yes it is just a game, but if it's an officially sanctioned event put on by the real world series then you should probably be smart enough to know that cheating isn't something that's going to be laughed off.

That said, I can totally see why other drivers are stopping their twitch streaming as a result of this. Why risk potentially losing sponsors, being fined or losing your real life ride over this? I would do the exact same thing. It's an insurance policy by not streaming.

I don't see it as them supporting cheating, but rather being opposed to a virtual race having real life consequences.

I love competitive Sim racing as much as the next enthusiast, but at the end of the day, it's just a game and there are far more important things in life.

 

[Terry Rock]

If you are asked...and paid to represent your team and sponsors, then that is what you do. It does not matter what the Volkswagen Group did in the past...that's irrelevent. They paid a hefty price for their transgression and so too is he. Cheating is cheating. Losing the ride is a bit extreme but certainly a bigger monetary fine was in order. Didn't he have the option to say...I'm not interested?

 

[DrRob]

Didn't he have the option to say...I'm not interested?

Good shout, but I don't think so. Remember that Audi axed their DTM factory involvement in favour of Formula E.
So all focus for factory motorsports is now on this brand.

And when you are sitting on the hotseat for the next year (obviously DAs contract with Audi ends this year), you shouldn't behave like that. And DA knew that lot of capable Audi works drivers are standing in line for the cockpit (Rast, Frijns, Mueller,..)
Except you want out. Maybe there is the answer.

 

[DrRob]

I am just reminded of "schieb ihn raus", which cost one motorsport director his job at Audi.

 

[tr1v1um]

If you are asked...and paid to represent your team and sponsors, then that is what you do. It does not matter what the Volkswagen Group did in the past...that's irrelevent. They paid a hefty price for their transgression and so too is he. Cheating is cheating. Losing the ride is a bit extreme but certainly a bigger monetary fine was in order. Didn't he have the option to say...I'm not interested?

Exactly. This isn't about dieselgate as some people make it sound like, this is about a an adult behaving like a child in a charity event. Those drivers get so much money (I feel earning is the wrong word here) that they should be able to cope with the sim stuff for a few hours even if they don't like it. There are millions of people doing really shitty jobs during this pandemic situation who really have to suffer while presenting their brand and who would be glad to get the money that Mr. Abt get's while playing some freaking videogames. If anything is out of proportion in this debate, it's the selfunderstanding of some of those drivers. When an over 80 years old Mario Andretti can deal with it, then Daniel should be for sure.

Also going back to the points of Austin and the typical PRC blablabla: just because NASCAR is too dumb to sue intentional wrecking more seriously and offer a stricter ruleset for this kind of behaviour doesn't mean that other organisations and brands should follow the same idiocy. Audi did the right thing for once and now people are looking to make this a problem of Audi rather than Daniel Abt himself, wich I find pretty interesting to say the least.

Another point: who came up with the idea that sim racing isn't serious. The brands opening up for lisencing deals and getting really involved in stuff like the virtual 24 hours clearly shows a different way that teams are going. Alot of those racing teams and manufacturers have their own esports teams, drivers and departements. I don't know what Williams would do if people like Kuba Brzezinski started cheating and treated those events like some fun gimmick. The next time you start your sim of choice that offers a car with four rings you should ask yourself how serious this all is.

 

[Koen Verlinde]

While Abt is trying to hand out explanations, his actions tell another story. Instead of telling the truth he's creating a heartwarming fairy-tale.

"the fans are most important" , "these events are for the fans", and then "these events are not important" are quotes from the video-statement. Pretty contradictory.

He was there as a representative for the sport and his brand not as a private person. Fans wouldnt watch these events, if it was just normal non-reallife-racers.

His last resort: the prank story. Well, you can only reveal a prank and get the laughs on your side while you are still doing it. Everything else will be called a deception, scam, fraud.

If every realworld-driver would have acted like Abt in all these beautiful simracing events of the past weeks why should anybody watch ?

Abt suspended for not respecting the fans and being the all-time-faker he always was, thats how i write it in my book.

Final question after all this: Is your next car going to be an Audi ?

Well said, and I'd rather have an illness than sit in an Audi, let alone drive in one.

 

[randomcallsign]

"Toys out of the pram" is totally uncalled for.

 

[tonydean2]

Reality check. Cheating is cheating period. Also this is no longer sim racing. Due to the global lock down all race teams are struggling financially, Sponsors aren't getting the exposure the pay so much for. Drivers can't pose in their expensive motor homes and convince themselves how important they are. Something needs to be done. Hold on I've ad an idea. This sim racing looks like fun, let's hijack it, get our races on prime TV, Teams are happy they can race without risking their oh so expensive equipment, drivers get to pose in public and sponsors get their product across to millions of people who are only watching because there's no real racing. So starts realisation, sim racing isn't as easy as they thought. The E Sports drivers and even the not so serious sim racers are kicking their butts. IndyCar and NASCAR join forces and ban sim racers from their events to save face, Then along come V8 Supercars, they made no secret that their events were only for licenced competitors. They at least have put on a serious and professional series, clear rules and standards from the start and drivers who are taking it seriously. Formula E Race at Home has been a joke from the start. From what I've seen none of the drivers have taken it seriously, example race 1. Bottom line Abt should have known better, no matter the chequered past of his employers (Audi) he was participating as a representative of Audi and as such should have behaved appropriately. Add in that this was a charity event makes his conduct even more questionable. Whether the punishment is appropriate or not is for others to judge, As my late Grandmother always said "Cheats never prosper"

 

[AyrtJ97]

If the whole thing was really supposed to be a joke, why not attend the post race interview and let everyone know what was going on? He could then praise the skills of the hired sim racer and admit he was not up to the task. His video sounded like a big excuse by someone caught on the act

^^ Exactly this. I've been asking this the whole time. But it is easier to rely on "it's just a game and it was a joke".

 

[Peevee88]

I agree 100% with Paul
its a travesty. When they simming and winning its a sport, when they are bust cheating or getting whipped then its a game...
In Abt's case if he spent the time setting up the ringer cheat scam on a sim, he might have done some decent laps.
And the pro-simmer, he shoulda known better. Ban him for life.

 

[zenasy]

Another point: who came up with the idea that sim racing isn't serious. The brands opening up for lisencing deals and getting really involved in stuff like the virtual 24 hours clearly shows a different way that teams are going. Alot of those racing teams and manufacturers have their own esports teams, drivers and departements. I don't know what Williams would do if people like Kuba Brzezinski started cheating and treated those events like some fun gimmick. The next time you start your sim of choice that offers a car with four rings you should ask yourself how serious this all is.

Saying simracing is serious cause brands allow their cars to be represented is like saying Forza, GT, and games alike are serious. It's not the manufacturers that treat simracing more seriously than it really is, it's the people within the community. To the manufacturers, getting their stuff in a sim is ijust another PR move to get people into their respective brands.

 

[Salvatore Sirignano]

From my point of view Audi did the right thing. Not only did it reflect badly on Audi, but it was a massive two fingers up to us the fans, the 99% of us who weren´t born with a silver spoon up our posteriors, whose only cost-friendly outlet for our competitive driving passion is through simulators. That passion also takes fans through the turnstiles and ultimately pays whatever wages the fortunate 1% (who are lucky enough to be racing in real life) earn.

Saying it´s just a game etc etc and has no merit as a competition is incorrect in my opinion. Take football for example - the best players earn stupendous amounts of money, but taking into account the fact that practically anybody in the world can emerge from the poorest village in Africa or the roughest slum in South America and make it as a pro solely due to talent and application means pro footballers are truly the creme de la creme, and the competition is amongst the best players out of the billions that have had the opportunity to display some talent at the sport.
Contrast that with professional motorsport, what percentage of the world population have a similar opportunity and the wealth to take it all the way? 0.00001%?

And sim racing - well anybody who has a wheel pedals and computer can play if they are so inclined, which would mean most people in developed countries have the means to pursue it if they want. RD has around a million members IIRC, the sims have tens of thousands of active users between them, so which is more of a feat in terms of intense competition? To prevail against at most 20 real life drivers in a spec series, or rise to top simracing ranks against tens of thousands?

If Abt didn´t have his father in a prominent role in motorsport, would he even have had a drive to lose? I´m quite frankly surprised by how brainless and out of touch privileged people can be, it´s a reminder that the ´elite´ people look up to are just as capable of being complete twerps.

 

[Dirkster]

"Push him out Timo", that was a scandal. What did Ullrich and Scheider get? Audi is a joke