Supercars consulted stewards over Jason Richards Trophy

Ryan Wood appeared set to be a clear-cut winner of the coveted trophy, which was for the first time awarded to the driver with the most points over two New Zealand rounds.

That was until his Toyota ground to a halt seven laps from the finish, after which third-placed Broc Feeney and fifth-placed Brodie Kostecki were poised to end up tied on points.

That had Supercars scouring its rulebook.

“We were tracking it live,” Supercars motorsport boss Tim Edwards told Speedcafe in the aftermath of the race.

“It was very clear [who would win] until Ryan’s car stopped on the track and then next thing we heard from timing was that we had two on the same points.

“Then everyone went, ‘hmm, we don’t mention that one [in the rulebook]’.”

The Supercars operations manual covers tie-breaker scenarios for individual events, the Sprint Cup, Enduro Cup and Finals Series.

Tie-breakers for individual events are based on the highest finisher in the final race. The same policy applies to the Enduro Cup.

However, ties at the end of the Sprint Cup and Finals Series are broken by the most wins and then most second places, etc.

Feeney ‘gutted’ to see arch rival Wood lose JR Trophy

The fact the JR Trophy is now a two-event competition rather than a single event was therefore central to the confusion.

Supercars determined the highest finisher in the final race should be the tie-breaker, which Edwards said is “consistent with what we do already”.

It was a critical call as Feeney sat ahead on the road but Kostecki had won two races across the NZ events, to the Triple Eight driver’s none.

“We consulted with the stewards and they agreed with us,” he explained.

Edwards noted that timing, race control, stewards, TV and motorsport were all involved in discussions about the peculiar scenario.

The TV broadcast played radio communications between Kostecki and engineer George Commins about the issue under the Wood-induced Safety Car.

Commins informed Kostecki that the TV feed showed Feeney would be classified as the winner on current positions.

That meant Kostecki needed to overtake fourth-placed Chaz Mostert to break the tie and win the trophy outright.

A lunge on Mostert into Turn 2 on the penultimate lap looked to have done just that, until Mostert’s retaliation took the Shell Mustang out of the contest.

That left Feeney to cruise home third and a clear JR Trophy winner, oblivious to the earlier tiebreak drama due to a malfunctioning radio.

“Literally at the end, I came across the line and saw the pit board with the Jason Richards Trophy,” said Feeney post-race.

“I knew in probably the last 10 or 15 laps, in my head I was like, ‘am I a chance for this thing?’ And obviously a lot unravelled at the end.”

Asked if the rules will be updated to specifically account for the JR Trophy, Edwards added: “We just need to change the terminology of that particular clause.”

Jason Richards Trophy points standings