The HMO Customer Racing driver was fighting over seventh place when he tangled with Garry Rogers Motorsport driver Ben Bargwanna.
With teammate Aaron Cameron on the outside, they went three-wide through turn three.
Broadcast coverage showed Oliphant dropped his right side wheels onto the grass before hitting Bargwanna who then collided with Cameron.
Cameron came out worst off in the incident as he was forced to go onto the chute between turn three and turn six.
He suffered a puncture as a result of the clash and wound up finishing two laps down after a pit stop.
For the incident, Oliphant was given a drive-through penalty and ultimately finished 12th ahead of Bargwanna and Cameron.
Buy tickets
“It’s an absolute joke,” Oliphant told Greg Rust on Seven’s coverage.
🍿👀 @TCRAustralia‘s Tom Oliphant, more like Tom Oliph-FUMIN’ 😤#SpeedSeriesAU #SCAutoTCR #RaceQLD #7Motorsport pic.twitter.com/1rECR37sjK
— Shannons SpeedSeries (@SpeedSeriesAU) August 4, 2024
“I don’t even know what I’ve been done for. Apparently, it’s turn three when Cameron went to the outside of Bargwanna.
“Bargwanna had already locked all of his brakes and was out of control because he was trying to defend the position because he went off the track at [turn] two.
“Bargs went wide, that pushed Cameron wide, I went up the inside, I had two wheels on the grass, gave Bargs all the racing room.
“I think we must have touched once and I don’t know… Cameron, something must have happened to him. I don’t understand how that is my fault.
“To get a drive-through penalty that they can’t take back is an absolute joke and the fact that no one will show me or tell me what I’ve been done for is just disrespectful to me.
“Us as drivers create this championship and we put on an amazing show and we take all the risks, we spend all the money, and at the end of the day they have complete control with no explanation.”
Oliphant said he sought to speak with officials post-race. He said a clerk of the course was not interested in discussing the penalty and said officials would “deal with it in their own time”.
Oliphant also appeared to take issue with another incident shortly after the first in which there was contact between he and Wall Racing driver Will Harris coming out of the final turn.
“This could have been easily dealt with if they had just referred us to the stewards afterwards and we’d had a discussion and we could talk through as adults about the onboard cameras, which they don’t have access to mid-race and the TV coverage,” said Oliphant of the Bargwanna/Cameron clash.
“But they decided to ruin my race meeting where I should be starting P2 for something I had absolutely nothing to do with. It’s a joke.
“I’ve been the quickest car all weekend, I put it on pole, I had to take a penalty because of some misfortune last time (Oliphant was penalised for an engine change between events), and I’m racing clean, I give everyone racing room.
“Somebody tries to put me in the pit wall for no reason, people are bashing me on the start for no reason, I haven’t pushed anyone off this weekend, I feel pretty hard done too and as racing drivers we deserve better.”
Tony D’Alberto dominated the weekend with two race wins split by Ryan Casha’s triumph in the reverse top 10.
The TCR Australia Series resumes on October 18-20 at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Discussion about this post