Walkinshaw TWG Racing cops teams' championship points penalty

Walkinshaw TWG Racing commenced Race 2 in Sydney on zero teams' championship points after a post-Boost Mobile Qualifying penalty.

The team was found to have been in breach of Rule D11.8.3, which states: "It is compulsory to use solid, incompressible components capable of supporting the Car in the event of a jacking failure."

The breach was triggered on Ryan Wood's #2 Mobil 1 Truck Assist Toyota.

The end result was a loss of 30 teams' championship points and a fine of $3000. With the team scoring 30 points between its two cars on Friday night, the team was sent back to zero.

Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood finished 15th and 21st in Race 1.

The full stewards report reads:

The Stewards were sent photos taken by the CTM after the end of Part 1 of Qualifying for Race 2 which showed a Team member working on the rear right hub area of Car 2. The Team member’s head was under the wheel arch. The photographs showed an incompressible jack under the left rear of the Car but no incompressible jack under the right rear.

The Team acknowledged the breach. They explained that the Driver had reported vibration in the rear right which the Team suspected might have been caused by coal depositing on the rear right rotor. The Team was focussed on investigating that unexpected issue and an oversight was made. They acknowledged that the circumstances do not excuse the oversight.

The Stewards are not satisfied that the Team’s explanation is any way mitigatory. The Rule requiring the use of incompressible jack is very long standing and is of critical importance in managing a significant safety risk to personnel working under a Car, especially when it is lifted on air jacks. This incident represents a significant safety breach and demands a penalty which sends a clear message to all Teams that under no circumstances can the safety of personnel be compromised.

Saturday's race commenced at 7:35pm local time. Wood and Mostert started from fourth and 22nd.