#888 Mercedes stung by pit penalty
The #888 Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG’s Bathurst 12 Hour hopes have been dented by a penalty over a pit infringement.
Shane van Gisbergen handed over to Maximilian Gotz from effective seventh in the ninth hour.
However, the team was penalised to the tune of a drive-through penalty for a pit stop infringement.
Replays showed a crew member using equipment to adjust the rear wing during the stop.
Such a change is only permitted to be done once the car has been pushed into the garage.
“We knew it just before, unfortunately,” Triple Eight’s Mark Dutton said on the broadcast.
“It’s definitely on us, we put our hand up, we misread the rules.
“We got a bit excited on working out the best way to tune the car and service it, and forgot you can’t have those tools doing any work in pit lane.
“You can see on the TV we adjusted the [rear] wing. To do that the proper way is to bring the car into the garage.
“We did it outside, and served that penalty.”
Gotz was lapped by leader Luca Stolz (#75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG) prior to serving the penalty.
The #888 started on the front row following Broc Feeney’s standout qualifying performance on Saturday.
Van Gisbergen led the race through three hours before the #75 worked its way into the lead thanks to cunning strategy.
When asked if the #888 is still a chance, Dutton responded: “Anything can happen, but really disappointed in myself for that one."
In an ironic twist, Triple Eight helped SunEnergy1 to the 2022 win, with the latter in the box seat to win on Sunday.
