No problem with pit lane tap

TEKNO’s Will Davison said he had no issue with a tap out of the way from Shane van Gisbergen in the pit lane chaos of Sunday’s race in Darwin.

An early Safety Car meant the field pulled into the lane to complete pit stops and the congestion made it difficult for cars to get in and out of their bays.

Davison was stacked and waiting for Craig Lowndes (who he shares a boom with) and blocked the path of eventual winner van Gisbergen, who nudged the Commodore out of the way so he could squeeze through to the Red Bull bay.

While it was questioned whether this is acceptable on Inside Supercars, Davison didn’t have a problem with it.

“It is a bit grey, we’re not meant to be making any form of contact in pit lane – but I’m alright with it,” Davison, who finished fourth, said on the panel.

“There’s a bit of damage on the car, I’m sure the boys would rather not fix it, but at the end of the day there’s a gap nearly there.”

There was very little room for those stacking, and Davison said he had done his best to stay out of the way of those needing to drive through.

“I was alright – at that moment, I’m watching Craig in our bay, I’m watching Frosty next to me. I couldn’t get over further right because Frosty’s tyres were out maybe than they needed to be,” Davison said.

“I kept creeping forward trying to let him on, but I didn’t want to block Frosty’s exit.

“It is a strange one and it’s just Shane saying I should’ve got out of the way better, I just couldn’t do anything.”

The time could’ve been crucial to van Gisbergen’s victory, given Lowndes was already in his bay being serviced and was the key competitor the Kiwi had his eye on.

“Pit lane was crazy – Will didn’t do very well at getting out of the way,” he said.

“I don’t know if he had enough room or what he could’ve done – I felt bad beating up on my old car.”

Front to rear contact is often deemed acceptable in the pit lane, as long as it is safe.

It wasn’t the only issue in the run of pit stops, with front-runner Todd Kelly unable to get back out once he was serviced.

Cameron Waters suffered front-corner damage after contact in the lane.