MSR penalised over fuel churn incident

Matt Stone Racing has been penalised over the fuel churn incident that delayed Cameron Hill in Sunday's Thrifty Sydney 500 - Opening Round finale.

Hill's second pit stop in Sunday's Race 3 went pear-shaped when the Canberran left his pit box with the fuel churn still attached to the car.

The #4 Supaglass Chevrolet Camaro drove down the pit lane until Hill was ordered to stop at pit exit by his team, before a Triple Eight Race Engineering crew member retrieved the churn.

Once detached, Hill returned to the race, and finished 21st.

It was a bitter pill to swallow on what was a tough weekend for MSR, which left Sydney anchored to the bottom of the teams' championship standings.

After a post-race investigation, MSR has been docked 30 teams' championship points and fined $3000 over the incident.

It was the first such incident involving the fuel churns, which have been introduced in 2025 and will be used at all Repco Sprint Cup rounds.

Hill is 14th in the championship ahead of experienced teammate Nick Percat, who sits 18th.

Hill brought home finishes of 13th, 13th and 21st, with Percat 12th, 21st and 15th. The 2011 Bathurst winner was also penalised over a clash with Jaxon Evans and James Golding at the beginning of Saturday's race.

The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Melbourne SuperSprint, which will feature at the Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix 2025 on March 13-16.

MSR returned to victory lane at last year's Grand Prix, when Percat won the finale.