Stewards have handed down the punishments after the team submitted car #3 to start the second Taupo race with undisclosed damage to its roll over protection structure (ROPS).
The damage was sustained in an incident involving BRT driver Aaron Cameron, Kai Allen and Jobe Stewart in the opening Taupo encounter (Race 8).
BRT and Cameron have been stripped of the 44 points achieved towards the respective team and drivers’ championship standings in Race 9.
Stewards also suspended half the fine through December 31 on the basis that the non-disclosure was due to “a lack of diligence rather than a deliberate concealment”.
BRT submitted to the stewards that it had focused on replacing damaged bodywork between the Taupo races and had not observed the ROPS had been compromised until after Race 9.
The car was loaded into its container and delivered to Ruapuna as scheduled, after which the car taken to an offsite repair facility.
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When a Supercars representative enquired about the location of the car on Wednesday morning of the Ruapuna event, the team falsely reported it was at a PR activation.
Only that afternoon did the team disclose that it was undergoing offsite repairs, with subsequent communication outlining the damage to the side intrusion bars.
“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,” noted the stewards.
The team flew over a representative from Australia to undertake the repairs and Supercars impounded the damaged section.
“The stewards are satisfied from the photographic evidence of the damage to the ROPS that the incident affected the safety of Car 3,” noted the report.
“So much was frankly acknowledged by the team.
“The GMM [general manager of motorsport] 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.”
Stewards determined BRT’s conduct breached Rule B6.5.16.1 of the Repco Supercars Championship Operations Manual.
The rule covers general technical eligibility, stating: “A Competitor must not submit an ineligible Car, nor breach the provisions of Division “C” and/or “G” and “H’, of these Rules.”
The breach was described as a “serious infringement”.
“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,” it read.
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