McLaughlin keeps Bathurst win, Coulthard put last, DJRTP docked points and fined $250k

DJR Team Penske’s #17 entry has kept its Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 win but its second car has been relegated to last finisher due to a breach of the FIA International Sporting Code.

Additionally, the Ford squad has been docked 300 teams’ championship points, which means its tally has dropped a total of 420 points due to Fabian Coulthard’s latest penalty.

It has also been fined $250,000, of which $100,000 is suspended until 31 December 2021, on the condition that the team commits no further breach of Appendix B of the ISC and no breach of any of Rules B6.5.4,(Conduct Prejudicial) or D24 (Team Orders) of the Supercars Operations Manual prior to that date.

The release of the stewards decision confirms that the charge of a breach of Appendix B of the ISC was additionally laid on the team due to the “ambiguous terms” contained with Rule D24 of the Supercars Operations Manual, under which DJRTP was initially charged.

It also states that, “We are prepared to assume that there was no intention to advantage Car #17,” in the instructions given to Coulthard to slow down under the Safety Car in question.

The charge is specified as follows:

The Charge

After conferring with the Stewards, the DRD subsequently laid a charge on DJRTP alleging, in lieu of a breach of Rule D24, given its ambiguous terms, a breach of Appendix B to the 2019 ISC (Code of Good Conduct), in particular the Obligation of Fairness.

The Obligation of Fairness in Appendix B to the ISC is in the following terms:

“All FIA Licence-holders and all Participants in International Competitions must not, in any way whatsoever, infringe the principles of fairness in competition, behave in an unsportsmanlike manner or attempt to influence the result of a Competition in a way that is contrary to sporting ethics, in particular within the context of betting on the Competitions registered on the International Sporting Calendar.”

DJRTP is, by virtue of the definition in the ISC, a Participant in an FIA International Competition. A breach of Appendix B to the ISC committed by a Participant is liable to a Penalty applied by the Stewards by virtue of Articles 12.2.1 and 12.2.2 of the ISC.

The stewards decision document advises that the team admitted to the breach of the ISC, reporting that: “DJRTP has admitted that in giving the direction to Car #12 to slow down after the Safety Car intervention was announced on Lap 134, it breached the Obligation of Fairness in Appendix B to the ISC.”

Stewards consider Coulthard’s penalty to be fair as he was deemed to be somewhat complicit in the breach, given that it should have become apparent to him that there was no debris on the race track in his vicinity.

They also concluded that his engineer’s mispronunciation of the word ‘debris’ in radio communications was evidence of him speaking to a ‘script’. However, stewards do not attribute the message to the actions of the engineer alone and surmise that he was a ‘conduit’ for the instruction from a more senior member of the team.

According to the decision document, the team’s authorised representative, which is managing director Ryan Story, did not give the direction and had no knowledge of it being given, which the stewards accepted.

Ultimately, a maiden Bathurst 1000 victory for Scott McLaughlin, Alexandre Premat, and indeed DJRTP in its current guise, does stand, and they do retain the 300 drivers’ championship points which they each earned.

Coulthard, however, drops from a provisional third to fourth in the championship due to he and co-driver Tony D’Alberto receiving only 84 points as a result of being classified 21st instead of their original sixth position, and promotion of Chaz Mostert from 16th to 15th.

It is noteworthy that stewards do not have the authority to impose a fine exceeding EUR250,000, and under Supercars regulations cannot penalise a team by more than 300 points.

The penalties are officially noted in the decision document as follows:

Penalty

We impose a Penalty in the following terms:

1. Fine in the sum of AUD$250,000 , $100,000 of which is suspended until 31 December 2021 on condition that DJRTP commits no breach of Appendix B of the ISC or any breach of Rule B6.5.4 (Conduct Prejudicial) or D24 (Team Orders) of the Manual prior to that date; and
2. Car #12 is demoted to finishing position 21 in the classification for Race 25; and
3. The Loss of 300 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Team’s Championship Points.

CLICK HERE to read the evidence which stewards considered in full.

Results: Race 25, Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Updated

Note: Car #12 relegated to 21st position

Drivers’ championship Updated

Teams’ championship Updated