DJR penalised for unsafe Brodie Kostecki pit release
Ford squad hit with points penalty, fine over Race 26 incident
Brodie Kostecki drove through Team 18 pit bay en route to win
The Shell V-Power Racing Team has been hit with a fine and points penalty over an incident during Saturday’s Ipswich opener.
Dick Johnson Racing would end up celebrating yet another victory for Brodie Kostecki in Race 26, but there was a scary moment in pit lane.
After Kostecki was serviced, he drove through Team 18’s pit bay as he rejoined the race. Team 18, though, was setting up to service Anton De Pasquale.
Team 18 car controller Mitch Croke jumped out of the way of Kostecki, before leading his team’s stop on De Pasquale’s car.
It emerged that there was no clear agreement between the two teams, and after an investigation, DJR was handed a $3000 fine — of which $1500 is suspended until December 31 — and docked 30 teams’ championship points.
Team 18 and DJR are embroiled in a tight teams' points battle, with the penalty to open up the margin to 66 points heading into Sunday.
The Motorsport Australia stewards report reads: "The Stewards summoned and heard from the Authorised Representative of Racing Team (Aust) Pty Ltd, the Authorised Representative of WFL Racing Pty Ltd (Team 18) and the DRD. The Stewards viewed broadcast vision of Car 17’s pit stop, in-car vision from Car 17 and vision from Team 18’s pit boom camera. The vision showed Car 17 driving through the pit box of Team 18 as that team was setting up for a pit stop.
"The Authorised Representative for Car 17 stated that he decided to send Car 17 through Team 18’s pit box and thought he had got the attention of all Team 18 pit personnel about his intention. He acknowledged that in hindsight he had not alerted Team 18 to Car 17’s intention and that Car 17 driving through Team 18’s pit box created a potentially dangerous situation.
"Both Authorised Representatives stated that as they have occupied adjacent pit garages for some time this year, they have a good working relationship and communicate their pit stop intentions to each other. In this case, a clear misunderstanding occurred.
"The Stewards consider a breach of the Rules and impose a penalty consistent with previous breaches of a similar nature."
Kostecki and De Pasquale came home first and 13th in the race, and finished second and 10th in the day’s second race.
Jayden Ojeda and Jobe Stewart were both penalised over incidents in the second race, as were Ryan Wood and David Reynolds, whilst Kai Allen and Declan Fraser were penalised in the first race.
