A crash off the start line appeared to trigger certain posts to display yellow flags and Safety Car boards, despite the Safety Car not actually having been called.
That led to chaotic scenes as drivers backed off and then resumed racing.
Among the biggest losers was Broc Feeney, who said radio issues left him flying blind as the situation unfolded.
“We’ve had so many dramas with this new radio system, my radio was latched for the first half of the lap, so I couldn’t even talk to anyone,” he told Speedcafe.
“Everyone was obviously just really confused. Heaps of people started passing us, but then no one really knew what to do.
“The first time my radio unlatched was when I was at about Turn 6 and Marty (engineer Martin Short) said, ‘they’ve said nothing about a Safety Car’.
“By that point, I’m three-wide and got passed by about five or six cars.”
Polesitter Matt Payne was among other high profile losers from the situation.
Having lost the lead to Brodie Kostecki off the start, Payne was overtaken by Ryan Wood and eventual winner Kai Allen.
“The fact I was seeing the boards was signalling to me that obviously we were not racing anymore,” Payne told Speedcafe.
“At no point have I ever seen a Safety Car board and then started racing the next corner. It’s not in our nature to do that.
“It’s just disappointing for us, obviously, because we lost two positions, but ultimately we just didn’t quite have pace.
“It didn’t change our race a lot. I think we would have struggled. We probably might have been on the podium, but we were on the back foot.”
Wood noted the potential consequences of having some drivers racing and others thinking they were under Safety Car conditions.
“That could have been a really, really bad accident if people weren’t aware and we’re just glad that didn’t happen,” he said.
“After seeing the race start I understand why they were out, but at the same time, I’m sure Motorsport Australia and Motorsport New Zealand will look into that.”
Kostecki also moved to defend officials in the aftermath of the race.
“It was a pretty awkward situation and probably very lucky we didn’t end up with cars getting damaged from an error there somewhere,” said Kostecki.
“Motorsport Australia, like Motorsport New Zealand, obviously, do a great job and it’s very unlike them to make mistake. But they do happen.”
Motorsport Australia immediately launched an investigation into the scenario and is expected to communicate its findings later this evening.
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