Eggleston Motorsport has been fined $3000 after Kai Allen’s VE Commodore shed a wheel during a Dunlop Super2 Series practice session at Bathurst.
The right-front wheel parted company from the Super3 Series leader’s vehicle around 25 minutes into Practice 1 as he negotiated Forrest’s Elbow.
Allen was able to stay off the walls and bring Car #26 to a halt at the exit of that left-hander although the stray wheel continued on its way down Conrod Straight for a considerable distance before finally coming to rest on the grass on drivers’ right.
Half of the fine is suspended until the end of the year.
“Following an admission by the Team, Eggleston Motorsport Australia Pty Ltd, for failing to fully secure the front right wheel of Car 26 before releasing the car to the circuit, the Stewards imposed a fine of $3000 of which $1500 is suspended until 31/12/2022 on condition that the team commits no further breach of Rule B6.5.6.1 (a) prior to this date,” read the stewards report.
That rule in the Supercars Operations Manual reads, “A person must not perform any act or makes any omission which … Having regard to all the circumstances is negligent.”
Fellow Super3 driver Gary Collins was fined $500 for failing to immediately proceed to his pit bay when a red flag was shown in the same session.
Eggleston’s Matt McLean set the pace in Super2 on the opening day of Round 5 with a 2:07.1031s in Practice 2 while Anderson Motorsport’s Brad Vaughan was quickest in the Super3 class on a 2:10.5089s, 0.0620s up on Allen.
Qualifying for Race 1 of the weekend starts tomorrow at 09:20 local time/AEDT.