Motorsport Australia confirms Triple Eight appeal hearing date

Motorsport Australia has announced a hearing date after Triple Eight Race Engineering submitted its appeal over its Newcastle disqualifications.

The Red Bull Ampol Racing Camaros came to dominate Race 1 of the Repco Supercars Championship, with Shane van Gisbergen winning by more than 14 seconds and team-mate Broc Feeney taking the chequered flag in second place.

However, both Cars #97 (van Gisbergen) and #88 (Feeney) were disqualified when it was found that they were in breach of a technical regulation concerning the mounting location of driver cooling systems.

Triple Eight’s position, as stated by Team Manager Mark Dutton and Team Principal Jamie Whincup, is that they were given verbal approval by Supercars Head of Motorsport Adrian Burgess on the day immediately prior to the start of track activity in Newcastle.

Upon confirmation of the sanction, it quickly announced it would appeal, with a formal Notice of Intention to Appeal needing to be lodged within one hour, and the appeal itself (formally, the Notice of Appeal) within 92 hours, a timeline which expired earlier this morning.

Motorsport Australia has now confirmed that an appeal has been lodged, with the hearing to be held at its own headquarters on Wednesday, March 22.

A statement from the governing body reads, in full, “Motorsport Australia can confirm it has received Triple Eight Race Engineering’s full appeal submission.

“Stewards handed down their decision on Sunday morning of the Thrifty Newcastle 500, with cars 97 and 88 disqualified from race one for a technical breach.

“As was confirmed at the event, Triple Eight Race Engineering lodged a Notice of Appeal and has since provided its submission, requiring the Supercars Court of Appeal to proceed to a hearing of the matter.

“A three-person panel has been convened to hear the appeal. The three members are Walter Sofronoff KC, Steve Chopping and Ross Jackson.

“The hearing will be held at Motorsport Australia House in Melbourne on Wednesday, 22 March in the evening.

“The hearing is closed to the public, with a full decision paper to be published on the Motorsport Australia website when available.”

Should the appeal be successful, van Gisbergen would be restored to the top of the drivers’ championship given he went on to win Race 2 at the Newcastle East Street Circuit, while Feeney would occupy third after finishing fifth that Sunday.

As it stands, van Gisbergen is 11th and Feeney 18th.