De Pasquale, Brown propose bigger penalties amid Hill fallout
Cameron Hill hit with drive-through over "deliberate" hits on Zach Bates
Supercars champion Will Brown suggests Hill be benched for Bend practice
Anton De Pasquale proposes additional points penalties for drivers
Anton De Pasquale and Will Brown believe harsher penalties could be awarded for dangerous driving amid the fallout from the controversial Cameron Hill/Zach Bates clash in Ipswich.
Matt Stone Racing driver Hill received a drive-through penalty in the Ipswich finale after making repeated side-to-side contact with rookie Bates on the main straight.
Hill’s actions were deemed as dangerous driving, which per the Code of Driving Conduct, is "any intentional action by a Driver which creates serious risk to others.”
The stewards report on the Hill/Bates incident states: "The Stewards find that the second collision was the result of a deliberate intention of the driver of Car 4 to collide with Car 888. The Stewards find that the driving was dangerous and caused a potentially serious risk of injury to others." Additionally, the penalty was deemed consistent with that imposed for similar breaches in the past.
Speaking on his Lucky Dogs podcast, which featured Bates as a special guest, Supercars champion Brown suggested more could have been done, proposing Hill be benched for opening practice at the next round.
The Hill/Bates clash came just laps before Ryan Wood was penalised to the tune of 15 seconds over a collision with Brown, with officials deeming Wood’s actions as careless driving.
“I’m torn because I think something more should be done than just a drive-through,” Brown said.
“What Woody did on me, somebody accidentally takes someone out, I find that just an accidental head-high in rugby, but if someone does what Cam did, I look at that as like a spear tackle.
“He literally ran you from the full left side, hit you three times, and then didn’t even stop when he knew there wasn’t a car width left, he actually put you off the road. I think it was fully intentional and they actually should do something more about it."
On further punishment, Brown said: “I think sit out first practice at Tailem Bend or something like that; that’s not too bad that it ruins everything, or you miss a round, but it’s bad enough."
Bates finished 20th after a collision with Hill’s teammate Nick Percat two corners later, with Percat awarded a 15-second penalty. Hill was classified 24th, denting his Finals hopes. Heading to Ipswich, he is 108 points behind 10th.
De Pasquale believes additional points penalties could be in order, which would be a deterrent for drivers in their quest to make The Finals. De Pasquale cited his rookie campaign in 2018 — when he was docked 95 points over three separate incidents — as to how drivers would truly feel the effect of their actions.
“Something that's blatantly intentional and to a point where you'd call reckless, the question is: is a drive-through enough?” De Pasquale told Supercars.com.
"It doesn't really do anything else than send you to the back. Obviously if it's a racing incident, or contact saw someone spin out, that's very different to swerving down the straight.
"I'm sure they're having conversations about it, because a drive-through doesn't really punish you too far beyond the moment.
"I remember in my rookie season, I was getting points penalties for normal things you'd get 15 seconds for now. Points penalties were used a lot back then.
“That's probably a good option in a situation like this. We're all fighting to get in The Finals, and you want to be in the 10, so you can't afford to lose 30 points for no reason.
“That'd probably be an easy solution and a deterrent for that sort of driving.”
Motorsport Australia Driving Standards Advisor Craig Baird suggested further punishment could have been awarded had the outcome been worse, but insisted the penalty fit the crime.
“If it had ended up in something more serious, then you could recommend to send him to the stewards,” Baird told Supercars.com.
"It's a bit of a tough one because yes, it was a low act, but it was penalised reasonably severely as far as what happened. It didn't result in an accident, and he got put to the rear of the field.
"I just didn't like it. Just high-end, which is a drive-through from my point of view. You’ve got an action that didn't result in a major accident, but it could have.
"On the outcome, had there been a huge accident, maybe further penalties could have been a consideration. It's outcome-based — everything's got an outcome, and that's what you penalise on.
“It was the right outcome for the action, the right penalty for the action. He took a couple of sideswipes, the car ran wide, there was no accident.
“I thought about it afterwards and I thought, should there have been more? But the consequences of benching or sending a driver to a behavioural judiciary with Motorsport Australia would be severe. So, I think what he got was reasonably severe.
"I can guarantee you if it had gone to a judicial meeting — let's just say he had his license suspended for a meeting or more or whatever — imagine the outcry.
“You get the other half saying, ‘How ridiculous'. So, it's a tough one, but what I can tell you is it wasn't looked upon very favourably, and he certainly wouldn't want to go down that path again.”
