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Stewards have confirmed the reason for the $3000 fine which Triple Eight Race Engineering incurred during Race 16 at the BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown.
Race Control gave notification of the fine and 30 teams’ championship points penalty shortly after Shane van Gisbergen had been in and out of pit lane for his second compulsory pit stop.
Race Director Tim Schenken advised over the race management channel that the sanction was for a breach of the event supplementary regulations, which suggested that the #97 Red Bull HRT car had suffered a line locker failure during the pit stop.
Stewards have confirmed that was indeed the issue, which attracted the standard team penalty given that there was no sporting advantage to the driver.
“Following a report to the Supercar Technical Department and a subsequent submission from the Deputy Race Director, the Stewards imposed the Penalties of a Fine in the sum of $3,000 and the Loss of Thirty (30) 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Teams Championship Points on Triple Eight Race Engineering (Aust) Pty Ltd Car #97, for a breach of the Article 5.11.2 of the Event Supplementary Regulations – brake lock mechanism not engaged at all times during Pit Stop before Car was returned to the ground,” read the stewards summary.
Two on-track clashes during the 200km race were investigated after requests from Kelly Racing but neither was deemed to be worthy of penalty due to no driver being found wholly or predominately to blame.
They were reported by stewards to be an incident between Simona De Silvestro and Brad Jones Racing’s Nick Percat at Turn 1 on Lap 3 and another between Rick Kelly and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s James Courtney at the same corner on Lap 30.
Triple Eight Race Engineering remains second in the teams’ championship but is now 814 points behind Shell V-Power Racing, with a maximum 576 on offer for teams at each Virgin Australia Supercars Championship event.
