Shane van Gisbergen received a fine rather than being omitted from the Top 10 Shootout at the Valo Adelaide 500 when he was caught speeding in pit lane after the chequered flag in Qualifying.
The Red Bull driver was referred to the stewards after he was found to have traversed the lane at 47km/h.
That resulted in van Gisbergen receiving a $350 fine, and a delay to the start of the Top 10 Shootout as the incident was deliberated.
“There are prescribed penalties depending on what part of the session it is, and we just followed that procedure,” Race Director James Taylor told Speedcafe.com when asked if a fine was a fair penalty.
“It’s a huge safety concern, and as I said, there is a list of prescribed penalties and the whole judgement was based on what the prescribed penalty is.”
That is why van Gisbergen was fined while Will Brown received a penalty for speeding in yesterday’s Race 33.
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With just 50 minutes between Qualifying and the Shootout, the deliberations over the Champion-elect’s infringement caused several minutes of delay as a decision was reached to allow van Gisbergen, who provisionally qualified fourth, to take part in the one-lap dash.
“The van Gisbergen incident was quite unique due to the fact it happened right at the end, after the chequered flag as he was coming into pit lane,” he added.
“Every driver has a right to appear to a stewards hearing, you don’t have to accept the infringement notice in the first hand.
“Triple Eight chose to go via the stewards, which they’re entitled to.
“By running a process stewards complete due diligence; everyone has a fair and even opportunity to put forward their case.
“We allow for what could be a lengthy time period, and that started too come close to the top 10.”
According to the Stewards decision, van Gisbergen had entered the lane and “believed that he had pushed the button on his steering wheel to activate the limiter but realised when he was in the Pit Lane that the limiter had not activated and he immediately activated it.
“Data from the Timekeeper recorded Car 1 entering Pit Lane at 36kph – under the limit of 40kph.
“According to Supercars telemetry, the Car increased speed slightly as it traversed the Pit Lane momentarily reaching a peak of 47kph approximately one third of the distance between the speed restriction point and the Team’s garages.
“The Driver applied brake. From that point the speed reduced to 41kph and then under 40kph.
“The Team and Driver accepted this evidence.
“The Rule requires the limiter to be activated at all times.
“A mistake by the Driver is not an excuse and the breach is therefore established and admitted by the Driver and Competitor.
“The use of the Pit Lane limiter is an important tool to protect the safety of personnel and officials in the Pit Lane.
“It is also important to prevent Competitors gaining a sporting advantage, particularly during Qualifying or a Race, to traverse the Pit Lane at higher than the speed limit to gain track position or to enable a push Lap when the
time remaining in the Session is limited.
“In this case, the Incident occurred at the end of the Session, after the Chequered Flag. No sporting advantage was possible.
“It is not uncommon for Cars to be recorded as entering Pit Lane at much higher speeds than the maximum speed recorded by Car 1 in the Pit Lane in this case.
“The Penalty for such a breach in a Qualifying Session is a Fine.”
While that process was underway, Jack Le Brocq, who had missed qualifying for the Shootout by 0.006s, placed on standby for promotion should the Kiwi have been disqualified.
The delay came a day after Thomas Randle wasn’t allowed to take part in the Shootout after he missed his slot while repairs were being carried out on his Mustang.
“It’s a different scenario to yesterday where Thomas Randle’s car wasn’t repaired in time – it wasn’t because of a penalty,” Taylor explained.
“[Yesterday] We just dropped a spot because the car didn’t make the compliancy for start time.
“This one, we were possibly withdrawing because of a penalty and that entitled who was 11th to move up to 10th.”
“We had scenarios on place where … we had Jack Le Brocq ready on the hypothetical that if Car #1 was withdrawn we’d have the car to back into it.
“It’s a huge safety concern, and as I said, there is a list of prescribed penalties and the whole judgement was based on what the prescribed penalty is.”
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