The Grove team protested both Tickford Racing entries – which finished first and second – and Dick Johnson Racing’s #17 car following the Saturday race.

All three were found to have breached rules stipulating that wheels must be placed between the axle centre lines of the car during pitstops.

A further investigation by Motorsport Australia and Supercars revealed DJR’s #11 and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s #2 and #25 cars were also guilty of the same breach.

The three Ford teams were ultimately docked $1500 and 30 teams’ championship points per car, allowing Grove Racing to overtake DJR for fourth in the teams’ standings.

While the penalties were relatively small, it’s believed Grove Racing’s protest unsuccessfully argued that the breaches resulted in a sporting advantage and should have earned a time penalty.

That would have meant Tickford Racing losing its one-two result and handing the victory to the third-placed finishing Chevrolet Camaro of Broc Feeney.

It’s understood that this did not go down well at Ford, with its global motorsport boss Mark Rushbrook among those frustrated by a Blue Oval team taking such action.

Grove’s Matt Payne finished fourth in the race and therefore could have moved onto the podium had significant time penalties applied.

Asked about the protest on the TV broadcast following Sunday’s race, Cauchi stated firmly: “Rules are rules, we’ve all got to play by the rules.

“They all impact performance. It’s so tight as you can see, we’re all fighting for the smallest marginal gains.

“Unfortunately, Supercars didn’t really act after they’d seen it, so it left us with no choice but to act on it.”

Coincidentally, there was friendly fire between the Ford teams on the opening lap of the Sunday race.

A dive from Grove Racing’s Richie Stanaway on DJR’s Anton De Pasquale at Turn 11 resulted in the latter making contact with WAU’s Ryan Wood.

Blanchard Racing Team driver James Courtney then collected De Pasquale, spinning the Shell Ford into the concrete wall in an incident that ultimately involved more than half the field.

Clashes between Ford drivers earlier this season – most notably Tickford’s Cam Waters and Grove’s Matt Payne – resulted in intervention by Blue Oval bosses, urging its stars to work together.

Four of the five Ford squads run second through fifth in the teams’ championship ahead of next month’s season finale in Adelaide.

Tickford Racing (4076 points) holds a healthy advantage over WAU (3739 points), Grove Racing (3310 points) and DJR (3166 points) in a championship already secured by Triple Eight (5334 points).