Webb fined for Hazelwood hit

Tekno Autosports’ Jonathon Webb has been slugged with a $15,000 fine for contact that triggered a frightening crash at the Wilson Security Sandown 500.

Stewards have confirmed this morning that Webb has admitted to reckless driving in the Turn 6 accident during the co-drivers sprint race.

Tucked up behind David Russell’s Nissan, Webb locked a right-front wheel at the 260km/h approach to the sweeper, running wide and tagging Todd Hazelwood.

Hazelwood’s car spun and hit the fence backwards before flipping into the air, while Webb’s Commodore also ended up in the tyre wall.

“Following a DRD investigation and an admission of Reckless Driving by Car #19, Jonathon Webb (making contact with Car #4, Todd Hazelwood at Turn 6), the Stewards imposed a penalty of a fine of $15,000 ($7,500 suspended until 31 December 2017) on Jonathon Webb,” read a stewards’ report.

The car that Webb shares with Will Davison has been repaired for today’s race, while Hazelwood and his primary driver Tim Blanchard are on the sidelines.

Webb, who has not raced since the Gold Coast last October and only confirmed his place on the grid earlier this week, said he accepts the penalty applied. 

“I thought they were pretty fair and reasonable,” he said of the stewards.

“I was in a catch-22. As a driver I wanted as little (a penalty) as possible but from a team owner’s point of view having consistency is what we’ve been working on with the stewards.

“Obviously no one loves a penalty but I can see their logic and see the consistency with what they’ve done in the year. It’s going to be what it’s going to be I guess.”

The repaired Tekno Holden had a solid run in the warm-up this morning, ending the session 11th

“The car’s better than yesterday which is always nice,” said Webb.

“Unfortunately it was a big night for the girls and boys this morning. It was about 2am by the time they got out of here, so a huge thanks to them.”