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Nathan Herne says a sluggish post-race technical inspection and his own shortsightedness led to him being disqualified from the latest Trans Am race.
Two days after the competition concluded at Queensland Raceway, stewards delivered sanctions for race winner Todd Hazelwood and Herne.
Herne won the weekend opener before Hazelwood swept the remaining three races. It was in the finale that Herne alleged Hazelwood jumped the start.
On Tuesday, it was confirmed Hazelwood received a five-second post-race penalty for going too early.
That would have dropped him to second behind Herne. However, officials pinged Herne for an infringement discovered in parc ferme and he was subsequently disqualified.
That meant Hazelwood kept his win while Jordan Boys was promoted to second and Elliott Cleary moved to third.
Speaking with Speedcafe, a “shattered” Herne explained the factors that led to him being disqualified that included a slower than usual technical inspection, him being last in line to have his Ford Mustang evaluated, and an aggressive car set-up.
“Don’t get me wrong, I made a few mistakes in that whole process as well,” Herne told Speedcafe.
“I had a crew of blokes who had never been to the track before. That was their first time there and they’ve done a sensational job helping me out over the weekend.
“It was unreal to have mechanics from Lismore help me. It’s a very small town and to have two guys who are I’d say world-class, they’ve done a good job.
“We all wanted to enjoy the podium because a small team taking on these big teams, it was pretty cool to get a podium – but it was my mistake.
“I should have sent someone to take the car over to tech and been first in line, but instead we were last in line, so I didn’t actually get to go through tech as quickly as the other guys. I was the last car to go over it.
“There were just a few mistakes on my behalf in terms of the procedure leading up to tech because I was too caught up in my frustrations after the start of race four and we failed tech, so it was a complete oversight. That’s probably why I didn’t argue the tech thing that much. To be completely honest with you.”
Herne said his lower than usual tyre pressures meant he was under the minimum ride height but that was due to the lengthy wait time as his tyres cooled and the pressure dropped.
Per the Trans Am Series rules: “Front ride height is a minimum of 65 mm measured at the Chassis location in accordance with Attachment D. Minimum tyre pressure for ride height measurement is 20 psi (138 kPa). Maximum tyre pressure is the highest tyre pressure recorded in any tyre as fitted to that Automobile at the time of a technical check as conducted by the TD or their delegate. This maximum tyre pressure will be as determined by the TD.”
Herne explained: “They have a 20 psi rule. Your tyres can be 20 psi to go over tech and it has to make it at that point, but if they come in hotter than that which they normally do, these Hoosier tyres after being on track normally come in about 26, 27psi as it is, so I set my car at 25psi to make ride height and it does every time.
“I think I just oversighted all of that, to be honest. All the extra things that could have gone wrong, I didn’t think about it and that’s my mistake and that’s why I didn’t fight it. At the end of the day, the rules are rules. If they enforce it, you’ve got to abide by it and that’s life.
“I got caught out by a mistake, so no complaints on that. I’m frustrated that the procedure was different, but at the end of the day, the other two cars didn’t fail, only I did, so it means I was more aggressive on my setup, and I played a bit more of a risk versus reward game.
“So in saying that, I got caught out, that’s life. I can’t have sour grapes against that. It’s the way the rule book is written and I’ve got to abide by that, so really I didn’t do my job properly there.
“But I don’t appreciate getting slandered for it. I’m a 21-year-old, engineering a car myself, driving it, doing administration work and my dad’s the truck driver for me. We’re a very, very small team taking on the likes of these huge teams with 20 -plus staff.
“I had two blokes who has never seen a Trans Am race car, even a road race car before in their lives, working on the cars. So to be knocking them off all weekend was really good, but I don’t appreciate the slander I copped about the tech breach.”
The disqualification moved James Moffat to fourth, meaning the gap between them narrows from 38 points to 32.
Trans Am takes an extended break before returning with a double-header at the Bathurst International (November 8-10) and the Adelaide 500 (November 14-17).
