SVG in clear over Le Brocq dooring

Shane van Gisbergen was found to have no case to answer over his contact with Jack Le Brocq which directly preceded a change of position in Race 12 at Symmons Plains.

Van Gisbergen made contact with the left-hand side door of the #34 Truck Assist Camaro as they exited Brambles Hairpin on Lap 22, which appeared to hurt its momentum up the back straight.

A pass ensued at Turn 6 in circumstances similar to multiple moves which the Red Bull Ampol Racing driver made at Symmons Plains last year, which drew praise from fellow Supercars champion and NASCAR Cup Series race winner Marcos Ambrose.

None of those passes attracted a request for investigation and hence were not mentioned in the stewards reports during the 2022 Ned Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint while Cameron Waters, who was on the receiving end on one occasion, endorsed the “hard racing”.

This time around, however, officials were formally asked to look at the matter, with stewards reporting “A Request for Investigation from Matt Stone Racing Pty Ltd into the Incident involving contact at Turn 4 between Car 97 and Car 34 on Lap 22.”

However, “The DRD, in consultation with the DSA, reviewed available footage and determined not to refer the following matters [ie van Gisbergen-Le Brocq incident, among others] to the Stewards as no Driver was wholly or predominately to blame for the Incidents.”

The contact helped van Gisbergen get alongside Le Brocq and he made the pass for an effective fourth position at the other end of the back straight.

That is where the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver would finish also after a late-race battle with Brodie Kostecki for the final place on the podium, while Le Brocq maintained an effective fifth for the balance of the contest.

The only penalty which did arise from Race 12 was a fine of $1500 and loss of 30 teams’ championship points for the Blanchard Racing Team over a pit stop breach, specifically Rule D11.7.3, which reads “Each Car must be completely free of all hoses, tools, Team Members and other equipment at any time whilst the Car is moving”.

The #4/#96 team of Brad Jones Racing was issued the same fine and points penalty for a breach of the same rule earlier in the weekend, in Race 10.

Erebus Motorsport continues to lead the Supercars teams’ championship, with its drivers Kostecki and Will Brown first and second respectively in the drivers’ standings.