Shane Van Gisbergen has been stripped of his race one victory in last night’s sixth round of the BP All Star Eseries after a post-race investigation deemed the Red Bull driver at fault for avoidable contact with Penrite Racing’s Anton de Pasquale.
De Pasquale managed to get alongside leader van Gisbergen on the exit of the Bus Stop chicane on the final lap before the No.97 Commodore tipped his rival into the outside wall.
Van Gisbergen crossed the line in first pace, fending off a last corner lunge from Cameron Waters and Scott McLaughlin. But the incident was immediately put under review with results standing as provisional.
Van Gisbergen’s penalty relegates him from first to fifth while de Pasquale is reinstated his fourth-place finish. Consequently, victory is handed over to title protagonist Scott McLaughlin.
“It was very clear that car #99 had the opportunity to make a clean pass on the outside of car #97,” explained driving standards observer Craig Baird.
“At that point, car #99 was given no racing room. When they went back to the left, car #99 left racing room for the #97 Red Bull Holden.
“Car #97 had racing room on the right and chose not to use it, causing avoidable contact.
“At the time of the incident there was only one camera angle available to use for the review, we knew a penalty was most likely, but we had to review it thoroughly which we now have.
“Had Shane been penalised immediately after Race 15 he would’ve started in a better position in the reverse grid race.
“The black flag Car #99 received for too many in-race penalties in Race 15 has now been overturned, as the final penalty was linked to going off circuit due to the incident with van Gisbergen.
“De Pasquale’s provisional finishing position of 19th has been reversed and he will be awarded the fourth place finishing position, with van Gisbergen awarded 5th place.
“As is always the case in motorsport, we cannot award a driver a race win because they were tussling for the lead at the time of an incident. It must be based on the position a driver is in when they officially cross the finish line.”
Despite his race one penalty, Van Gisbergen maintains the round victory while fellow kiwi compatriot Scott McLaughlin will leave the half-way point in the virtual series with a 59 point lead atop of the driver standings
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