Erebus Motorsport has announced its intention to appeal the 15-second penalty handed out to Will Brown in the final stages of the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.
With three laps to go, Brown made contact with Scott Pye, who sent the Team 18 Holden ZB Commodore into the tire barriers on the outside of the final turn.
Pye, who also received a 15-second penalty for breaching the Safety Car restart rules, was running eighth before the incident, which dropped him to 12th, while Anton DePasquale’s disqualification moved him up to 11th, behind Brown.
Will Brown came in behind Scott Pye, knocking the 18 Holden team off the course. Image: Fox Sports
Before the 71st lap Safety Car featuring Thomas Randle’s stock Ford Mustang, it looked like the race was coming to a quiet close, but a break brought it back to life.
The pack was grouped together for the run to the checkered flag, with Pye and Brown positioned at the back of a field of cars that ran from Brody Kostecki in fifth and his Erebus Motorsport teammate in ninth.
As the cars collided in the final corner braking zone after a well-executed move by Mark Winterbottom on his former Tickford team-mate Cam Waters in sixth place, Brown spun Pye.
It didn’t take long for the stewards to slap a penalty on Brown, who finished 8th on the road but slipped out of the top 10 to 11th overall after 15 seconds were applied.
According to the Operations Manual, an appeal must be made “within 92 hours of being notified of the stewards’ decision against which the appellant wishes to appeal”, meaning the team has until Thursday to submit their application.
Scott Pye was sent sideways at the final corner by Will Brown during the demise of Race 32 on Sunday. Photo: Fox Sports
If Erebus succeeds on appeal, Brown will regain the 18 points he lost from the penalty.
He currently sits 12th in the standings, 109 points off the top 10, while Erebus Motorsport sit sixth in the teams’ championship, which was completed by Red Bull Ampol Racing after Shane van Gisbergen became the second driver in history to win the championship. round on the Gold Coast.
After yesterday’s race, De Pasquale was disqualified after the car’s rear left tire was found to be below the minimum pressure of 17 psi.
The stewards imposed a “recommended minimum penalty” of disqualification from race 32, where De Pasquale crossed the line in 11th place.
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https://autoaction.com.au/2022/10/31/erebus-may-appeal-late-race-brown-penalty
