13 different cars involved in incidents that attracted a penalty
Scott Pye, Matt Payne penalised twice in Sunday's race
All cars affected missed the podium in final classification
Sunday’s AirTouch 500 at The Bend was action-packed from start to finish, and featured no less than 13 different penalties across the race, keeping Driving Standards Advisor Craig Baird busy.
Of the 13 penalties, nine were driving infringements. Of 26 cars in the race, 13 were involved in incidents that attracted a penalty. Unsurprisingly, of those 13 cars, none finished on the podium.
There were four other penalties that played a role in the final outcome: Todd Hazelwood (15 seconds for pit speed), Macauley Jones (five seconds for unsafe release) and the dual Blanchard Racing Team disqualifications for drive time.
Supercars.com breaks down the cars affected, what it meant for the championship.
Will Brown/Scott Pye (4th)
Scott Pye was penalised twice, attracting 15-second penalties for hitting James Courtney on lap 1, and spinning Reuben Goodall on lap 55. Brown finished 44.4s from the win, but only 25.9s behind the second-placed Kai Allen car. Brown was rapid at the end of the race, and even made a mistake. What could have been.
Jayden Ojeda/David Russell (5th)
The #31 PremiAir Camaro was in the fight for fourth late on, with Jayden Ojeda fighting Matt Payne and Will Brown. In the closing laps, Payne clattered into Ojeda, who was passed by Brown. Payne received a penalty, with Ojeda reclassified in fifth.
Matt Payne/Will Davison (6th)
The #19 Penrite Ford couldn’t stay away from trouble. Will Davison was spun by Mark Winterbottom on the very first lap. Davison was down to 21st on lap 1, but was — somehow — back up to fifth on lap 24. He even passed Winterbottom for sixth on lap 18. Payne, though, was on the march — ironically, he spun Cam Waters, before being hit with another penalty over the Jayden Ojeda clash.
Anton De Pasquale/Lee Holdsworth (7th)
Lee Holdsworth tipped Nick Percat out in the opening laps, and was hit with a 15-second penalty. He also spun onto the grass. Anton De Pasquale took the reins of the #18 DEWALT Camaro, and crossed the line eighth, which became seventh with the #7 Ford’s exclusion.
Andre Heimgartner/Bryce Fullwood (8th)
The #8 R&J Batteries Toyota charged from 19th to ninth, which became eighth with the #7 being scratched from the results. The race could have been even better had Bryce Fullwood not been pinged for turning Craig Lowndes around in the early laps.
Thomas Randle/Reuben Goodall (11th)
The Thomas Randle/Reuben Goodall car looked good early, with Goodall acquitting himself well despite running off at Turn 1 in the rain. However, a clash with Scott Pye sent the #55 Castrol Ford back into the pack, and it was tough going from there. Randle did spin late, chasing Jack Le Brocq.
Craig Lowndes/Bayley Hall (12th)
Craig Lowndes had himself a day, running off the road a number of times. A hit from Bryce Fullwood in the early laps didn’t help, Lowndes dumped from 18th to 24th on lap 4. The #15 Supercheap Auto Camaro came home 14th, and benefited from the #7’s DSQ and Zach Bates’s post-race penalty to be classified 12th.
Cam Waters/Mark Winterbottom (13th)
Winterbottom was slapped with a 15-second penalty over his lap 1, Turn 1 clash with Will Davison, which sent the Matt Payne Penrite Ford tumbling down the order. Tickford CEO Simon Brookhouse later claimed that penalty was “50/50.” Remarkably, Payne sent Waters into a spin on lap 65, attracting a penalty for Payne and dumping Waters down the order.
Zach Bates/Aaron Seton (16th)
The #10 Bendix Camaro finished 12th, but a post-race penalty was applied after Zach Bates tipped out Ben Gomersall’s Tickford Mustang. Oddly, Matt Stone Racing escaped with a warning for failing to have a fully functional forward-facing judicial camera in the car. Stewards applied a penalty, given Bates couldn’t back up his own evidence.
Ben Gomersall/Campbell Logan (21st)
The Tickford wildcard Mustang was turfed by Zach Bates, with Ben Gomersall spinning onto the wet grass. It was investigated after the race, and Bates was penalised. Gomersall dropped from 17th to 20th, and finished 21st.
David Reynolds/James Courtney (22nd)
The David Reynolds/James Courtney car was wiped out immediately after Courtney was hit by Scott Pye. The #20 Snowy River Caravans Camaro lost several laps, and couldn’t fire a shot, despite wave-by.
Broc Feeney/Nick Percat (23rd)
The biggest scalp of the race, when looking at the championship, was the #88 Red Bull Ampol Ford. Nick Percat was a punching bag, first turned around by Lee Holdsworth, before Zak Best finished him off. Feeney’s hopes were done before he even got into the car.
Aaron Cameron/Zak Best (DSQ)
While the drive time disqualification put a full stop on the day, the Aaron Cameron/Zak Best Ford was smashed by a drive-through penalty after Best hit Nick Percat. Per the stewards, Best "locked rear brakes at the entry to Turn 3 and slid into the rear right of Car 88 causing suspension damage to Car 88 as a result of which Car 88 had to slow and enter the Pit Lane to have the damage repaired. As a consequence, Car 88 lost multiple positions."
