Penalties change AGT grid at Hampton Downs

Alvaro Parente and Dominic Storey have been handed penalties following yesterday’s Top 10 Shootout for the Hampton Downs 500.

The pair had qualified second and third respectively for Round 3 of the Australian Endurance Championship, but have been relegated to the rear of the top ten after having their Shootout lap times deleted.

Parente’s lap was deleted after officials deemed he’d exceeded track limits by crossing the blend line at pit entry on his flying lap, which was fast enough to put the YNA Autosport/McElrea Racing entry second.

Storey had his time deleted when it was judged the Eggleston Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 arrived at pit exit too late for its Shootout lap.

Sharing the car with Peter Hackett, Storey banked the third fastest time and became the first driver to better Brad Shiels’ lap at the start of the session.

The penalties drop the pair to the back end of the top ten, promoting Shiels and Andrew Macpherson in the AMAC Motorsport Porsche 991 GT3-R to second place.

Meanwhile, the Jamec Pem Audi of Tim Miles and Jaxon Evans, which was forced to sit out the Shootout following a crash in Qualifying 2, has been repaired and will start today’s race.

The Hampton Downs 500 is scheduled to commence at 10:30 AEDT with a livestream available on Speedcafe.com.

Result: Hampton Downs 500 Qualifying