Bullish appeal gets no favour
SUPERCARS boss James Warburton last night slammed the protest that could have robbed Will Davison and Jonathan Webb of this year’s Bathurst 1000 as “un-Australian”.
The Confederation of Australian Motorsport officially crowned the pair Mount Panorama kings after Red Bull Racing Australia’s appeal was dismissed.
Hitting out at Red Bull Racing Australia (RBRA) after the team failed to have Jamie Whincup’s 15-second penalty overturned, Warburton declared the team had “threatened the integrity of the sport” by attempting to win Australia’s greatest race in a courtroom.
“Races are won on the racetrack,” Warburton said.
“And we can’t set a precedent that encourages these appeals and protests. A Cinderella story would have been taken away (had the appeal been successful). For us this was about defending the integrity of our sport.”
RBRA’s appeal to deliver Whincup his fifth Mount Panorama win was shot down yesterday when their Bathurst case was dismissed because of prior “admissions of guilt”.
“Immediately following Sunday’s race, Triple Eight appealed the severity of the 15second penalty handed to car 88 as a result of Jamie Whin- cup’s failed pass on car 33 of Scott McLaughlin,” a Supercars statement said.
“On these grounds the appeal could only seek to downgrade the penalty from a grade two to a grade one which carries a 10-second penalty and could not have the incident reinvestigated or the charge dropped.
“Subsequently, Triple Eight applied to the court to amend its appeal to instead claim that the failed pass was not a breach of the driving standards at all, despite numerous prior admissions by Triple Eight that the failed pass was a breach.
“Triple Eight’s attempt to amend their appeal was today rejected by the court.”
In another twist, RBRA last night submitted a new challenge to the severity of the fine.
The team is now arguing the 15sec penalty should be reduced to 10sec in an appeal that could mean Whincup finishes in eighth place.
RBRA’s amended appeal will be heard in a closed court early next week.