Supercars will take no further action over a controversial restart in last night’s race at Sydney Motorsport Park, that saw a penalty applied and then withdrawn.
Championship leader Shane van Gisbergen was assessed a pit lane penalty for overtaking Anton de Pasquale before the start/finish line, as the field resumed racing after a safety car period.
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Under the rules, no passing is permitted before the drivers reach the line.
The Holden ace claimed he only passed de Pasquale because the Dick Johnson Racing driver lifted off the throttle as he approached the line, which in itself would normally be against the rules.
As van Gisbergen swept by, he immediately speared off the track at Turn One, dropping to the back of the field in the treacherous conditions.
When informed by his pit crew of the penalty, the New Zealand driver immediately complained that de Pasquale had lifted. Race control subsequently rescinded the penalty.
“That’s where the rules are really hard to administer,” former champion Mark Skaife said on Fox Sports.
“The penalty has got to fit the crime.
“At the point where Shane goes by Anton, Anton has come out of the throttle, we do know that the throttle percentage went back to 40 or 45 per cent for 1.2 seconds.
“That permitted Shane to go by, and at that point, he has breached the rules.”
Skaife admitted that having a penalty overturned is almost unheard of, noting that at least one driver broke the rules.
“To rescind that penalty is very unusual, and then for them not to penalise Anton for reducing speed is also unusual,” he said.
“There’s going to be more playing out this week, and there’s going to be plenty of head scratching because everyone in the industry will want to get to the bottom of it.”
Complicating matters was the difficult conditions, with standing water on the track.
Speaking immediately after the race, de Pasquale denied he intentionally lifted to force van Gisbergen to break the rules.
“I missed the start, I didn’t see the green flag and they all took off and I was sort of left napping,” he explained.
“He got next to me and then straight off at Turn 1, I don’t know where he ended up but he went in pretty deep. He was a lot more ambitious than I was into there.”
Despite eventually being classified 23rd, van Gisbergen retains a comfortable 337 point lead in the championship.
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