Whincup dodges squeegee penalty

KANGAROOS. Flying rocks. Plastic bags. Drivers have had their Bathurst 1000 campaigns ended in unusual ways over the years.

But even by Mount Panorama standards this would have been a head scratcher.

Four-time Bathurst champion Jamie Whincup dodged a potential penalty in yesterday’s 161-lap classic over possession of a humble squeegee.

Eyebrows were raised when the Holden great’s co-driver Paul Dumbrell was captured by his cabin TV camera using a squeegee on a stick to clear the inside of his windscreen – while driving one-handed at 280km/h.

“I can’t see a thing,” Dumbrell could be heard saying on the team radio.

Visibility was so poor in the wet and wild conditions that Dumbrell had stocked the squeegee to clear condensation building inside his cabin.

He would have also been tempted to pack a snorkel.

Officials looked at the incident with speculation the Holden team may receive a safety issue penalty for “having accessories in the car”.

To Whincup’s relief, officials cleared his Red Bull Racing team after it was found the squeegee was attached to the roll cage in the cabin.

“There’s no problem. We cleared it with officials (before racing),” RBR team manager Mark Dutton said. “It is magnetically attached. You can’t knock it off from the roll cage ... so there is no safety issue.”

A penalty would have added to the bizarre ways drivers have found trouble on the mountain.

Kangaroos on the track have been the downfall of many hopefuls, while plastic bags have floated into radiators and cooked them. And who could forget the rock thrown by a spectator in 1980 – certainly not Dick Johnson. But a squeegee? One punter probably summed it up best, tweeting: “$1 million race car and a hand held operated $1 squeegee to clean your windscreen at full chat – very Australian.”