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Raffaele Marciello has taken to social media again, this time to clarify his mid-race tweet after the GruppeM Mercedes-AMG was penalised in the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.
Maro Engel was forced to take a drive-through penalty and cede the lead of the race with less than an hour remaining after he turning the SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG around while passing Jules Gounon for first position at The Chase.
Before the chequered flag had even flown, Marciello tweeted, “However will go I’m disgusted after today.
“I hate that will take time to forget today.
“I stand with my team and my teammates.”
However will go I’m disgusted after today. I hate that will take time to forget today.
I stand with my team and my teammates. pic.twitter.com/4lY9jgz2KE— Raffaele Marciello (@Team_RMarciello) February 5, 2023
The Swiss-Italian then declined to speak in the post-race press conference, which he attended given Engel salvaged a third place for Car #999, in order to avoid “creat[ing] any messy media”.
An obvious interpretation of the Marciello tweet was that he was furious about the penalty, noting that Engel refused to confirm if he agreed with it or not when asked by Speedcafe.com to clarify his position and the car’s other driver, Mikael Grenier, suggested the stewards’ call was a harsh one on the basis of his assertion that Gounon had moved in the braking zone.
However, ‘Lello’ now claims that he was “misunderstood” and that his Sunday afternoon tweet pertained to the data logger issue which put GruppeM in a vulnerable position.
The team was forced to change the modem in Car #999 in its final pit stop given the original unit installed in the car was apparently malfunctioning and hence not transmitting data back to the pits as is required by regulations.
That elongated the dwell during the stop in question and while Engel got out ahead of Matt Campbell in the Manthey EMA Porsche which would eventually finish second, he could not regain the lead when SunEnergy1 took a fuel-only stop one lap later.
The track position gain for Car #75 proved a pivotal development in the motor race.
“I think everyone misunderstood my post,” tweeted Marciello, almost 24 hours after the finish.
“I’m with [Engel] and I’m not against the penalty for the move.
“But I’m not happy and against why we were behind ( the data logger drama) Then we were forced to risk a move and try everything.”
I think everyone misunderstood my post. I’m with @MaroEngel and I’m not against the penalty for the move. But I’m not happy and against why we were behind ( the data logger drama) Then we were forced to risk a move and try everything.
— Raffaele Marciello (@Team_RMarciello) February 6, 2023
