DJRTP to review McLaughlin speeding penalty 

DJR Team Penske plans to meet with Supercars technical staff to review a pit lane speeding penalty issued to Scott McLaughlin at the Coates Hire Newcastle 500 finale.

McLaughlin was issued a drive-through penalty for speeding in pit lane early in Race 26, which has been heavily disputed by both the team and fans in the wake of the incident.

The team wishes to understand why the penalty was given after data it has retrieved from the car claims McLaughlin did not breach the 40km/h pit lane speed limit.

Last week Supercars DSA Craig Baird told Speedcafe.com that McLaughlin was 10 percent over the 40km/h tolerance when explaining why penalties were issued to car #17.

DJR Team Penske will meet with Supercars staff on Monday to review the decision at the squad’s workshop.

The operation accepts the outcome of the championship cannot be altered but wishes to seek clarity over the decision.

The penalty was one of three issued to McLaughlin during the race alongside a 15 second time penalty for turning around Simona de Silvestro and a 25 second time penalty for a penultimate lap crash with Craig Lowndes.

Accumulated sanctions contributed to McLaughlin losing the championship and handing the title to Jamie Whincup.

“Although the results of the Championship and the final race of the 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship are official, DJR Team Penske is still working to understand why a penalty was issued to Scott McLaughlin at the Newcastle 500 for exceeding the pit lane speed limit during his first pit stop in Race 26, on Sunday November 26,” read a statement issued by DJR Team Penske.

“According to the team’s analysis of multiple different data/video feeds, Scott didn’t exceed the 40 km/h speed limit at any point in pit lane.

“Members of Supercars technical staff have agreed to attend a meeting at the DJR Team Penske workshop on Monday, 11 December to review the incident with the team’s technical staff.

“Data retrieved from the car aligned to television footage of the car entering pit lane and the footage from the MoTeC VCS Judicial Camera (note: Judicial Camera footage cannot be publicly released without Supercars permission) has been analysed.

“Each analysis demonstrates McLaughlin’s car never exceeded the speed limit. In fact, when McLaughlin released the brake pedal prior to the pit entry line, the car was travelling at 33.5 km/h. Following entry, the car’s pit speed limiter brought the vehicle speed up to a steady 38.2 km/h without ever exceeding the prescribed 40 km/h limit.

“The data reviewed includes both front and rear wheel speed (as supplied by Supercars), throttle position, brake pressure, GPS speed and longitudinal G-force (note: see below illustrations).

“DJR Team Penske accepts that the outcome of the Championship cannot be altered, but the team feels it has a responsibility to seek clarity and to ensure the methods used to enforce pit lane speed limits going forward are as accurate as possible for all competitors.”

McLaughlin was one of three cars issued a pit lane speeding penalty during the race after team-mate Fabian Coulthard and Erebus Motorsport’s Dale Wood suffered a similar fate.