Supercars drivers were reminded on Sunday morning that they face fines of up to 250,000 euro ($444,000 AUD), and race bans should they manipulate the Finals Series.
The message was delivered by Driving Standards Advisor Craig Baird via a WhatsApp group involving officials and four driver representatives, and then copied to all 24 drivers.
“This is to serve as a reminder of how serious the penalties can be for deliberate misconduct or race manipulations,” read the message from Baird to the drivers.
“There are fines up to 250,000 euro and also license suspensions. Just be mindful of this.”
Baird and other Motorsport Australia officials are believed to have expressed concerns before the Finals Series began over the potential for manipulation tactics.
Supercars, however, preferred to take a “wait and see” approach, rather than issue any formal warnings to drivers or teams before the action began.
Waters, though, raised alarm bells among the driver group when he said on Saturday night that he’d “come out swinging tomorrow, take some cars out, do whatever we need to do”.
The Tickford Racing driver had fallen below the elimination line with a poor Saturday result, bumped out of the top four by Will Brown’s charge to second place in the 250km race.
Although the comments were essentially “banter”, Baird was subsequently urged by drivers including Brown to issue a warning in the WhatsApp group of the potential consequences.
“I had multiple drivers come to me concerned with comments from Cam Waters saying he was going to take people out,” Baird told Speedcafe.
“Will Brown was the main one who came to my office and said, ‘what happens if someone comes and takes me out?’
“I explained that the consequences are dire. The International Sporting Code allows a fine of up to 250,000 euro and you could get a race suspension into next year.
“He urged me to put it on the drivers’ app. I discussed it with the stewards to say, ‘are you guys comfortable with this? There’s a bit of a pattern emerging that a few drivers are concerned’.
“Cam saying he was prepared to take drivers out, it was a bit of banter, I didn’t think he was seriously going to do that.
“But Will and a few others were concerned they were going to get taken out, so I was more than happy to be proactive and send the message.”
As it so happened, Waters and Brown did clash in the Sunday race – the Red Bull Camaro firing off at Turn 2 after a touch from the Monster Mustang.
Waters copped a five-second penalty for his actions, which Brown later said may not have been warranted as he’d chosen to head for the grass after the initial bump.
While Brown escaped his clash with Waters, a later battle between the Tickford driver and Grove Racing’s Matt Payne took the latter out of the Finals Series.
Driver conduct will again be in the spotlight in Adelaide, where Triple Eight duo Brown and Broc Feeney, Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert and Grove’s Kai Allen will fight for the title.
Baird said teams can have both cars scrubbed from the results if a breach is deemed serious enough – a key point should any interference tactics be played.
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