Stewards explain Brown Ipswich pit stop penalty

Motorsport Australia stewards have explained why Will Brown copped a penalty over a pit stop breach that dropped the reigning champion from 16th to 23rd in the Ipswich finale.

After being turned around by Ryan Wood on Sunday, Brown came home 16th, with teammate Broc Feeney winning.

During Brown's second pit stop, the rear wheels were captured spinning before the car dropped.

Per D11.8.9, "During any Pit Stop, from the time the Car leaves the ground until the Car has returned to the ground, the brake lock mechanism must be engaged, so as the rear wheels do not rotate without the prior approval of the GMM."

After an investigation, Brown was hit with a 15-second time penalty, dropping him to 23rd. It cost the Triple Eight star second in the standings to Penrite Racing driver Matt Payne.

It comes after Brown avoided penalty in Townsville, with an anomaly causing the rear wheels on the #1 found to have spun despite the linelocker being engaged.

On this occasion, the wheels spun with the brake lock mechanism engaged, but the stewards opted to penalise Brown. Per the report, Triple Eight argued that it was a team breach for "failing to provide the driver with sufficient information and submitted that a fine would be the appropriate penalty."

However, stewards imposed a time penalty to Brown "because a sporting penalty is appropriate as the action of the driver was the primary cause for the wheels to rotate".

The full report reads:

Car and Driver: Car 1 Will Brown

Competitor: Triple Eight Race Engineering Australia Pty Ltd

Date: Sunday, 10 August 2025

Session: Race 25

Fact: During a Pit Stop of Car 1 in Race 25 the rear wheels of the Car were observed to be spinning before the Car returned to the ground.

Rule: D11.8.9 During any Pit Stop, from the time the Car leaves the ground until the Car has returned to the ground, the brake lock mechanism must be engaged, so as the rear wheels do not rotate without the prior approval of the GMM.

Decision: A 15 second post-race Time Penalty for Car 1 in Race 25.

Reason: The Stewards summonsed and heard from the Competitor’s Authorised Representative. The Stewards also heard from the DRD, the GMM and Supercar’s Category Technical Manager.

The fact that the Car’s rear wheels were rotating while the Car before it returned to the ground during the relevant Pit Stop was not in dispute. It was also not in dispute that the brake lock mechanism was engaged, and the rear brake pressure exceeded the prescribed minimum of 20 bar. The question for the Stewards was as to how Rule D11.8.9 operates and what obligations it imposes on the relevant parties.

The issue is whether the obligation on the Competitor and/or Driver was only to engage the brake lock mechanism to a pressure exceeding 20 bar or whether the obligation was to engage the brake lock mechanism to the pressure of at least 20 bar AND in a way to prevent the wheels rotating before the Car returned to the ground.

In the Stewards’ view, the critical words in the Rule are “so as the rear wheels do not rotate without the prior approval of the GMM”. Those words proscribe the way in which the lock mechanism must be engage, or in other words, what the Competitor/Driver must achieve by the engagement of the brake lock mechanism.

Therefore, the obligation on the Competitor/Driver is:

1) To engage the brake lock mechanism;

2) Engage it to a pressure of at least 20 bar; and

3) Engage it such a way that “the rear wheels do not rotate without the prior approval of the GMM”.

Here the Competitor/Driver complied with the first 2 elements but not the third and therefore the breach of the Rule is established.

The Stewards also heard from the DRD and the Competitor’s Authorised Representative in relation to the appropriate penalty to be imposed. The DRD submitted that a time penalty is the appropriate penalty to be imposed. The Competitor’s Authorised Representative submitted that this was a Team breach for failing to provide the Driver with sufficient information and submitted that a fine would be the appropriate penalty.

The Stewards impose a 15 second Time Penalty because a sporting penalty is appropriate as the action of the Driver was the primary cause for the wheels to rotate and consider that a sporting penalty rather than a monetary penalty is the appropriate penalty in the circumstances.

The Competitor is reminded that Decisions and Penalties that may be subject to Appeal are set out in B7.7.2 and the Rights to and process for an Appeal are set out in B5.

It was one of several penalties awarded during or after the race, on what was a dramatic day.

Notably, Cameron Hill was slapped with a drive-through penalty over a series of bumps on wildcard Zach Bates. Nick Percat was also penalised over a clash with Bates two corners later.

Bates, however, was also hit with a time penalty over a later clash with Erebus Motorsport's Cooper Murray. Chaz Mostert and Will Davison also copped time penalties, while Team 18 was twice fined over brake pressure breaches during their drivers' stops.