Percat keeps podium, BJR loses team points

Nick Percat will keep his podium in Race 12 of the Repco Supercars Championship but Brad Jones Racing has lost the corresponding teams’ championship points over the tyre pressure breach.

Percat drove the #8 R&J Batteries ZB Commodore to third in the opening race of the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown, but came under scrutiny during the encounter for allegedly going under the minimum mandated tyre pressure.

The matter was ultimately sent to a post-race investigation, which is said to have lasted two hours, before the findings were handing down.

Stewards opted to issue the following penalty: “Loss of all 2021 Repco Supercars Championship Teams Points for Car #8 in Race 12.”

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The penalty therefore amounts to 86 teams’ championship points, given that is the figure for finishing third in each race at Hidden Valley this weekend.

BJR’s #8 and #14 cars, which are paired for the purpose of that title, nevertheless remain eighth in the standings, on a reduced 1128 points.

As previously reported, the issue was an unusual one given the breach of the minimum 17 psi tyre pressure occurred before the race had started.

However, such is the relevant rule in the Operations Manual, a breach can also be committed while a car is on the grid waiting for the race.

Stewards accounted for a number of mitigating factors, including that Car #8’s tyres were all above 17 psi at pit exit on the way to the grid, and that the rule in question is officially a sporting rule (Division D of Operations Manual) rather than a technical rule (Division C).

According to the stewards decision document, the drop in pressure on the grid was noticed by Percat’s engineer, Andrew Edwards, who brought the issue to the attention of Supercars head of motorsport Adrian Burgess.

Two tyres were found to have fallen under 17 psi, both on the right-hand side, which was in the shade rather than the sunlight shining on those on the left-hand side.

Given the suspicion also of a puncture or other fault, Burgess granted permission to change the right-hand side tyres, but would take the tyres which had been replaced.

Furthermore, BJR would be reported to stewards if those suspect tyres were found to have no puncture or other fault, and that was indeed the case.

It should be noted, however, that the pressures on the tyres used during the race itself remained above 17 psi, and Percat was in fact disadvantaged when the pressures on the new right-hand side tyres increased given they had not been bled on the grid.

Stewards found that BJR had “erred” in running pressures so low on the way to the grid, but acknowledged that the team identified the error and complied during the race itself.

“This is an unusual set of circumstances,” reads the stewards’ list of reasons for the decision, in part.

“Because Car #8 complied with the Rules throughout the race (even though it did not comply before the race started), we are satisfied that a Penalty of Disqualification would be disproportionate.

“However, a Penalty is required.

“The Rule was breached and the breach would have resulted in Disqualification had the Team not disclosed the non-compliance to the HoM [head of motorsport] and it was detected during the race or had the HoM refused permission to change the non-complying Control Tyres.”

One post-race penalty has been made official on the timesheet, however, namely the five-second slap to Tickford Racing’s James Courtney for a restart infringement which sends Car #44 from fourth to 10th.

Erebus Motorsport’s Will Brown is the main beneficiary of that sanction, with Car #9 officially classified fourth having crossed the finish line in sixth.

Brown had already gained one position due to the five-second penalty against team-mate Brodie Kostecki, who was fourth at the chequered flag, for driving through the infield after late contact with Courtney sent him spinning at Turn 5.

CLICK HERE for full stewards report

Results: Race 12, Merlin Darwin Triple Crown Updated

Pos	Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Car	Laps	Race time
1	25	Mobil 1 Appliances Online	Chaz Mostert	Holden Commodore ZB	38	48:28.5327
2	6	Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	38	48:40.9228
3	8	R&J Batteries	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	38	48:43.8940
4	9	Erebus Motorsport	William Brown	Holden Commodore ZB	38	48:51.8477
5	34	UNIT Racing	Jake Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	38	48:53.2959
6	27	Walkinshaw Andretti United	Kurt Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	38	48:53.7768
7	3	CoolDrive Racing	Tim Slade	Ford Mustang GT	38	48:54.1931
8	99	Erebus Boost Mobile Racing	Brodie Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	38	48:54.2629
9	55	Castrol Racing	Thomas Randle	Ford Mustang GT	38	48:54.5168
10	44	Boost Mobile Racing	James Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	38	48:54.9544
11	2	Mobil 1 Middy’s Racing	Bryce Fullwood	Holden Commodore ZB	38	48:55.0299
12	88	Red Bull Ampol Racing Team	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	38	48:55.2368
13	97	Red Bull Ampol Racing Team	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	38	48:57.0425
14	17	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	38	48:57.7729
15	7	NED Whisky Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Ford Mustang GT	38	48:58.6221
16	35	Yellow Cover Racing	Zane Goddard	Holden Commodore ZB	38	49:03.8820
17	96	Coca-Cola Racing	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	38	49:05.4570
18	22	Team SYDNEY	Garry Jacobson	Holden Commodore ZB	38	49:05.6505
19	26	Penrite Racing	David Reynolds	Ford Mustang GT	38	49:06.0000
20	5	Truck Assist Racing	Jack Le Brocq	Ford Mustang GT	38	49:08.1555
21	20	DEWALT Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	36	48:38.2738
22	18	IRWIN Racing	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	29	48:36.8255
NC	11	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Anton De Pasquale	Ford Mustang GT
NC	14	Pizza Hut	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore ZB
NC	19	Local Legends	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore ZB
NC	4	SCT Logistics	Jack Smith	Holden Commodore ZB

Fastest lap (bonus): Shane van Gisbergen 1:06.9399s, Lap 12

Drivers’ championship Updated

Pos	Driver	Pts
1	Shane van Gisbergen	1161
2	Jamie Whincup	968
3	Chaz Mostert	966
4	Cameron Waters	940
5	Will Davison	903
6	Mark Winterbottom	723
7	Nick Percat	703
8	Andre Heimgartner	686
9	Brodie Kostecki	675
10	Anton De Pasquale	648
11	William Brown	624
12	James Courtney	618
13	Scott Pye	608
14	David Reynolds	578
15	Bryce Fullwood	575
16	Jack Le Brocq	546
17	Todd Hazelwood	511
18	Jake Kostecki	506
19	Zane Goddard	480
20	Tim Slade	474
21	Fabian Coulthard	334
22	Jack Smith	330
23	Garry Jacobson	319
24	Macauley Jones	318
25	Thomas Randle	192
26	Kurt Kostecki	162

Teams’ championship Updated

Pos	Car(s)			Team	Pts
1	88	97		Triple Eight Race Engineering	2129
2	6	44		Tickford Racing	1558
3	11	17	100	Dick Johnson Racing	1551
4	2	25		Walkinshaw Andretti United	1541
5	18	20		Team 18	1331
6	9	99		Erebus Motorsport	1299
7	7	26		Kelly Grove Racing	1264
8	8	14		Brad Jones Racing	1128
9	34	35		Matt Stone Racing	986
10	19	22		Team Sydney	653
11	4	96		Brad Jones Racing	648
12	5			Tickford Racing	546
13	3			Blanchard Racing Team	474
14	55			Tickford Racing	192
15	27			Walkinshaw Andretti United	162