The complete fall-out from the clash between Craig Lowndes and Mark Winterbottom in Race 32 at Phillip Island won’t become clear until Sunday morning.
The pair collided while disputing the lead on the final lap of the opening segment of the 60/60 Super Sprint.
Winterbottom attempted an inside pass on his Holden rival into the final corner after gaining superior drive out of the MG hairpin.
The pair made several bouts of contact after Lowndes turned in, with the final bump enough to send Lowndes through the gravel.
Winterbottom scrambled to the flag in fourth with Lowndes 15th, which eventually turned into fifth and eighth by the end of the second leg.
V8 Supercars’ Investigating Officer Cameron McConville declared after a post-race stewards hearing that no breach of the rules had been established and that no penalty should be given.
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Winterbottom quickly praised the ruling on social media, which had lit up with fan comment on who was at fault in the incident.
Red Bull team owner Roland Dane subsequently confirmed to Speedcafe.com that his squad has lodged a protest.
The hearing is not set to take place until Sunday morning.
The incident effectively cost Lowndes the points lead to his team-mate Jamie Whincup. Winterbottom, however, was making no apologies.
“All three of us (Wintebottom, Lowndes and Whincup) are racing hard and if we see an opportunity we are going to take it,” he said.
“I gave Lowndes room onto the straight, but we both ended up back.
“That is championship racing. I am going to do what ever I can to win.”
Lowndes was clearly displeased that Winterbottom had not been able to complete the move cleanly.
“Its one of those things; we thought we could go through the final corner two-wide with Frosty but we can’t,” he said.
“Its proven you can go through the corner two abreast as I followed Chaz Mostert and Shane van Gisbergen doing that.
“It’s frustrating because it was the last lap and there are no points up for grabs on that particular leg.
“We will hit the restart button for Sunday but the beauty is the car was fast. We knew its good so we have just got to stay out of trouble.”
Lowndes is now 14 points adrift of Whincup with four races remaining, while Winterbottom is a further 74 in arrears.
A clash in the opening segment between Shane van Gisbergen and Chaz Mostert was also investigated post-race, with no breach of the rules established.
The contact saw Mostert sent spearing through the gravel at the exit of the high-speed Hayshed corner before rejoining undamaged.
