Shane van Gisbergen has been docked 25 points, but allowed to keep his podium finish, following a late clash with Fabian Coulthard in Race 35.
The Tekno Autosports driver ducked underneath his fellow Kiwi at Turn 8 on the penultimate lap, with the resulting contact sending Coulthard into the barriers.
Van Gisbergen went on to finish third behind team-mate Jonathon Webb and race winner Jamie Whincup.
Stewards later deemed that Van Gisbergen had driven carelessly, despite the Clipsal 500 winner feeling that it was his corner.
“Fabian was struggling out of Turn 7 up to 8. I put it up the inside, he tried to cover, but I was committed and he kept pinching me,” he said.
“At the point of the corner where we made the contact I think I was far enough up.
“I wanted it pretty bad and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to make the passes.
“They were aggressive moves but I thought that both times I was up the inside and it was fair enough from my side.”
Qualifying fourth, Van Gisbergen was shuffled back to fifth at the first corner after coming off worst from a Jamie Whincup dive-bomb.
With Tekno electing against following the Red Bull and Ford Performance Racing plan of pitting one car early, Van Gisbergen was forced to stack behind team-mate Webb when a Safety Car appeared on Lap 11.
That shuffled Van Gisbergen from third to 11th, necessitating the aggressive fight back through the field.
The 24-year-old’s race also included a hip-and-shoulder on Tim Blanchard that left the Dick Johnson Racing Ford in the Turn 1 wall, causing one of the race’s four Safety Cars.
Van Gisbergen hopes that a cleaner run at the front on Sunday will allow him to see whether the seemingly invincable Whincup can be beaten.
“I’m not sure (if we could have beaten him today), he may have been cruising out front, we’ll see,” he said of Whincup.
“Hopefully tomorrow we can get a clear run at him, but today I’m stoked for Jonathon to get a result.
“All weekend he’s been on fire and the cars have been great as well.”
Despite his penalty, Van Gisbergen has overtaken Garth Tander for sixth in points; the same position in which he finished last year’s championship with Stone Brothers Racing.
