Disgraced Formula-E driver, Daniel Abt, has been dropped by Audi following heavy criticism after he secretly arranged for a professional simulator driver to race for him in the fifth round of the Formula-E online racing series.
Abt enlisted the help of 18-year old Lorenzo Hoerzing, a competitor in Formula E’s simulator racer section, for the most recent round of the competition where his car finished third.
Following accusations from fellow drivers, Abt was left red faced after organisers of the event were reportedly able to confirm that he had not taken part in the event through identifying Hoerzing’s IP address.
Abt was initially handed a $16,000 fine and stripped of his points from the race as punishment for his actions but Audi has followed up with the decision to axe him.
It is not known whether Abt's father, Hans-Jurgen Abt, heads Abt Sportsline, the company which runs the Audi Formula-E team, had a say in the decision.
The punishment sees Formula E lose one of its orginial class with Abt a common sight in the series being only one of four drivers to have competed in every race of the competition since it was launched in 2014.
Abt took to Youtube to issue an apology in which he insisted that the stunt was merely a prank which he was intending to film and reveal to the public later.
“We wanted to document it and create a funny story for the fans with it.” Abt said.
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