Stewards: Why drivers avoided penalty over dramatic clash

A stewards report has revealed why drivers avoided penalty over the early-race clash that saw David Reynolds and Ryan Wood spear off the track in Sydney.

A bold Matt Payne overtake on Wood and Nick Percat led to a dramatic sequence of events, after Wood and Percat disputed seventh place.

Payne powered past Wood and Percat into Turn 1, bringing Tim Slade, Reynolds and Brodie Kostecki into play.

Percat was escorted wide at Turn 4, with Slade getting past and into eighth. Reynolds hit Wood at Turn 5, and they ran line astern through Turn 6.

However, they made side to side contact into Turn 7, with Wood and Reynolds both spearing off the track with Kostecki and Percat just behind.

Payne finished fourth, Kostecki seventh, Percat eighth, Slade 12th, Wood 16th and Reynolds 17th.

"Getting boxed in that battle early on set us back, but it was a lot of fun rubbing doors with those guys,” Wood said.

Reynolds added: "I got involved in a few accidents. It was a really hard fought race out there.”

Hard fought was how the incident waa adjudicated, with the side to side contact between Wood and Reynolds leading to Reynolds slowing, leaving Kostecki and Percat with nowhere to go.

The stewards report reads: "The available evidence indicated that the incident occurred after side to side contact occurred between Car 2 and Car 20 which slowed Car 20. As a consequence of Car 20 slowing, Car 1, Brodie Kostecki, and Car 10, Nick Percat, which were behind Car 20, both contacted the rear of Car 20. There was no evidence which could establish that any Driver was predominantly to blame for Car 20 leaving the edge of the track.”

Richie Stanaway also avoided penalty an investigation into an incident in the pit lane, where the rear axles were "seen to be rotating when the Car was lifted preventing the mechanics from fitting the rear wheels.”

According to the report, Stanaway had "attempted to activate the brake lock mechanism but a report from Supercars Technical confirmed that the mechanism did not activate.”

The report continues: "This would have represented a breach of Rule C11.4.2. However, because Supercars Technical’s investigation established that the non-activation of the mechanism was due to a malfunction of a control part to which neither the Driver nor the Team contributed, the Stewards took no further action."