The breach occurred during the first leg of the New Zealand double-header in Taupo, starting with Aaron Cameron’s Mustang sustaining damage in the opening Saturday race.
The car took part in the second Saturday race, however it has since been discovered that it was carrying undisclosed damage to its roll over protection structure.
That contravened the regulations, with stewards taking the significant step of fining the team $50,000 (half suspended) and docking BRT/Cameron of the 44 points scored for both the teams’ and drivers’ championship in the second race.
Here is the full statement from the stewards.
Fact
Car 3 was submitted to start Race 9 with damage to its ROPS which had not been disclosed by the competitor to the GMM (GM of Motorsport).
Infringement
Rule B6.5.16.1 of the Repco Supercars Championship Operations Manual – A Competitor must not submit an ineligible car, nor breach the provisions of Division ‘C’ and/or ‘G’ and ‘H’, of these rules.
Decision
Loss of 44 teams’ championship points for the competitor;
Loss of 44 drivers championship points for the driver of car 3;
A fine of $50,000 is imposed on the competitor of which $25,000 is suspended until 31 December 2026 on condition that the competitor does not commit a similar infringement before that date.
Reason
The stewards summoned and heard from the competitor’s Authorised Representative, the DRD (Deputy Race Director) and the GMM. Also in attendance at the hearing were the competitor’s chief mechanic, the DRD, the MOM (Manager of Motorsport) and the CTM (Category Technical Manager). The stewards also reviewed and considered:
– broadcast vision from Races 8 and 9;
– broadcast vision of the release of car 3 from its garage prior to the start of Race 9;
– broadcast vision of car 3 on the grid before the commencement of the formation lap for Race 9;
– photographs depicting damage to the ROPS of car 3 discovered after Race 9;
– Engineering CAD drawings for proposed repairs to car 3 ROPS;
– SMS exchanges between the competitor’s chief mechanic and a representative of an Australian engineering firm.
Early in Race 8, following contact between car 26 and car 3 which unsettled car 3, car 9 made made heavy contact with the passenger door area on car 3 at Turn 11 causing clearly visible damage to the passenger side of the car. Car 3 continued in and finished the race.
Later, the same day, car 9 was released from its garage to start the reconnaissance lap for Race 9. Broadcast footage of Car 3 in its garage immediately before it was released showed that repairs had been undertaken to the car including the replacement of the front and rear bars.
Footage of car 3 on the grid before Race 9 showed the CTM in conversation with the Authorised Representative in the vicinity of the passenger door window. The CTM told the stewards that he had noticed tape all along the rear edge of the door apparently securing it to the rear panel and asked the Authorised Representative why it was there. He was told that the door had sustained damage during the previous race and they were concerned the door might pop open. The CTM instructed the team to remove the tape and the team complied.
Car 3 participated in Race 9 and was classified 15th as a result of which the team was awarded 44 teams’ championship points and the driver was awarded 44 drivers’ championship points.
Because competition on Sunday 12 April 2026 was cancelled due to predicted cyclonic conditions, following Race 9 car 3 was loaded into the team’s sea freight container to be transported to Ruapuna Raceway for the next event the following weekend.
Following the container’s arrival at Ruapuna Raceway on Tuesday 14 April 2026, car 3 was removed and taken by the team to an offsite facility. The removal of the car from the Ruapuna Circuit precincts was not a breach of any regulation. However, when the car was noticed to be absent on the morning of Wednesday 15 April 2026, a Supercars representative asked a representative of the team where the car was and was told that it
was at an offsite PR activation.
Later that afternoon the Authorised Representative disclosed to the GMM that car 3 was offsite undergoing damage repairs. In response to a request by the GMM for details of the nature of the damage and when it had been sustained, the team’s chief mechanic emailed the GMM disclosing the location of car 3 and explaining that it was receiving chassis rail and side intrusion repairs. Attached to the email were a photograph of the damage to the side intrusion members of the ROPS and a proposed methodology prepared by an Australian engineering firm for the required repairs to the ROPS. The photograph of the damage showed deformation of the top and middle horizontal side intrusion members and very significant distortion of the lower horizontal member.
Supercars Technical personnel attended at the disclosed location of car 3 and impounded the damaged section of the ROPS which had already been cut out for replacement. A representative of the Australian engineering firm flew to Christchurch and welded in replacement ROPS members. That work was inspected by the CTM and found to be satisfactory.
Subsequently, a representative of Supercars made enquiries of the Australian engineering firm commissioned by the team to design the methodology for and to carry out the repairs to the ROPS. They were told that the team had first enquired of the engineering firm about the damage and repairs required on Monday 13 April 2026.
During the hearing, the team’s representatives confirmed each of the facts set out above. They said that car 3 sustained damage to a number of areas of the Car in Race 8 as a result of a number of collisions, including the incident involving Car 9. They accepted that the damage to the ROPS had been caused by that incident.
They explained that, given the limited time available between Race 8 and Race 9, the team focussed on replacing aerodynamic performance components. They said that they did not replace the passenger side sill nor the door. They said that they were unaware of the damage to the ROPS. They did not see it. They said that they could not get the passenger door open so they left it jammed shut. Had they opened that door, the damage to the ROPS would have been obvious. When asked why they had not noticed the damage when looking from the driver’s side they said that they noticed no deformation of the top and middle bars and their view of the lower bar was obscured by the cool suit box. They agreed that the cooling medium in that box had been replaced by a team member before Race 9 and that had that mechanic inspected the side intrusion bars, the damage would have been apparent.
The stewards were also told that one of the team’s mechanics had mentioned to the chief mechanic that he had noticed distortion of the passenger side floor. On questioning, the chief mechanic accepted that the distortion of the floor must have been a sign of distortion of the chassis and therefore likely distortion of the ROPS but he said he was so focussed on getting the broken performance components of the car repaired or replaced, the significance of the floor damage did not occur to him at the time.
He said that he only realised there might be a significant issue with the structural integrity of the car when he looked under the sill on the passenger side after Race 9 when car 3 was being hoisted up into the shipping container for transport to Christchurch. He said he noticed significant damage to the sill which in his experience very likely indicated that the ROPS was damaged. For that reason, he messaged a representative of the Australian engineering firm to forewarn them that he might require their assistance.
He explained that immediately after car 3 was unloaded from its container in Christchurch, the team forced open the passenger door which revealed for the first time the nature and extent of the ROPS damage. He said that he arranged for the car to be taken to a local facility at which repairs could be carried out. It was there that he photographed the damage and sent it to the Australian engineering firm who told him that the entire side intrusion section would need to be cut out and replaced.
The team agreed that the damage to the ROPS sustained in Race 8 but only later discovered rendered car 3 unsafe and ineligible to compete in Race 9. The team acknowledged that had the damage been reported to the GMM before Race 9, car 3 would not have been permitted to participate in Race 9.
The team also acknowledged during the hearing that the fact that the passenger door could not be opened prejudiced the ability of the driver of car 3 to extricate or be extricated through that door had there been a need for him to do so in Race 9. For that reason, car 3 was not in a safe condition to participate in Race 9.
The team also admitted that the initial explanation given to Supercars as to the reason why car 3 had been removed from the Ruapuna Circuit precincts was untrue. They suggested that they had told their team members to say that the car was at a PR activation to avoid drawing attention to the problem. They agreed that this ought not to have occurred and they ought immediately to have reported the then known ROPS damage to the GMM.
Article A4.3 of the Operations Manual provides:
4.3.2 Each competitor must ensure that their car complies with the rules throughout the event.
4.3.3 Each competitor, their Authorised Representative, in confirming their attendance at the Authorised Representatives briefing will also make a declaration of conformity in the following form:
4.3.3.1 I being the Authorised Representative of the car described on the Supercars Entry Registration Form and legally authorised to enter the car described on this form, hereby declare and undertake to Supercars Australia and Motorsport Australia that the car and all related equipment and components necessary for participation in this event will be presented, at all times and in every respect, in a condition suitable for use in this activity, and that I have caused the car to be inspected according to a maintenance schedule which I have developed and that it is free from mechanical defects, be they of preparation or structural integrity, that may render the car unsafe for the proposed activity.
Further, I acknowledge and agree that where any aspect of the car or related equipment and components is found:
• to be in breach of the rules and/or the regulations of the event, or;
• in the opinion of the Head of Motorsport, to be subject to a serious mechanical defect, it will render me in breach of the rules, and that I may be subject to penalties in
accordance with the rules. [emphasis added]
Rule C3.6 of the Operations Manual provides:
3.6.1 If at any time after the commencement of an event, a car has been dismantled or modified in any way which may affect the safety of the car or which raises any question about its eligibility, or which is involved in an incident which has similar results, it must be re-presented to the GMM for scrutineering approval prior to being permitted back on the circuit. [emphasis added]
And Rule C3.7 provides:
3.7.1 Any car may be prohibited by the GMM from participating in any competition for safety reasons.
The contact between car 9 and car 3 during Race 8 was an incident within the meaning of the rules. It was noted by the DRD during the race and the stewards determined that no further investigation was necessary. Be that as it may, if the incident had the result they it may have affected the safety of the car, the team was obliged to re-present car 3 to the GMM for scrutineering approval before it could be permitted to participate in Race 9.
The Stewards are satisfied from the photographic evidence of the damage to the ROPS that the incident affected the safety of car 3. So much was frankly acknowledged by the team. The GMM said that he would have exercised his authority under Rule C3.7 to prohibit car 3 from participating in Race 9 had the damage to the ROPS been disclosed to him. Car 3 should not have participated in Race 9 and the team acknowledged this in the hearing.
It is concerning that despite the identification of floor distortion before Race 9 which was a ‘red flag’ indicator of likely structural damage, and despite a member of the team having been in the area of the passenger side intrusion bars when the cool suit medium was replenished, what was later revealed to be significant damage to the ROPS was not detected before the car was released to start Race 9. Equally concerning is that the non-detection of the damage was, on the team’s account, attributable to the non-functioning passenger door which was ignored beyond taping it up, not disclosed to the GMM and which of itself prejudiced the safety of the driver of car 3.
Compromising the safety of a driver is a serious infringement and the numerous successive failures and non-disclosures in this case demands a significant financial penalty to deter all competitors from failing to exercise appropriate diligence to ensure the safety of their drivers and others and from failing to report promptly and candidly to the GMM issues which a reasonable competitor would recognise to be of significance.
The stewards therefore determine that the competitor breached Rule B6.5.16.1 by reason of a breach of Rule C3.6. The stewards consider it inappropriate that the team and the driver of car 3 retain the points awarded as a result of car 3’s finishing position in Race 9 – a race which car 3 ought never to have participated in. For that reason, the stewards impose a penalty of the loss of each of the 44 teams’ championship and drivers’
championship points awarded for car 3 in race 9 and impose a fine on the competitor of $50,000 of which $25,000 is suspended until 31 December 2026 on condition that the competitor does not commit a similar infringement before that date.
The stewards determine to suspend part of the fine in recognition that the non-disclosure of the ROPS damage to the GMM before Race 9 was due to a lack of diligence rather than a deliberate concealment and in recognition that this infringement is the first of its kind committed by this competitor.
Discussion about this post