Penalties Reshuffle Order in Second The Bend Race

The results of last weekend’s second GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS race at The Bend Motorsport Park have been finalized following the application of success penalties, which have impacted the finishing order.

Sunday’s results remained provisional as allegations levelled against four Mercedes-AMG competitors meant organizers elected not to apply success penalties based on the top three finishers in the opening race on Saturday, as is usual procedure.

With the allegations thrown out, the penalties were applied in retrospect, and while they did not impact Jayden Ojeda and Paul Lucchitti’s victory in the No. 66 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, the remaining podium finishers, the No. 888 Melbourne Performance Centre Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II and the No. 26 Arise Racing GT Ferrari 296 GT3, each lost a position.

Broc Feeney and Brad Schumacher slipped from second to third once their five-second penalty was added for finishing third in Race 1, while Jaxon Evans and Elliott Schutte had ten seconds added to their race time, dropping to fourth.

It means the No. 88 Melbourne Performance Centre Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Steve Brooks and Ryan Wood was promoted from fourth on the road to second.

With the results finalized, it confirms Evans and Schutte will take a 30-point lead over Feeney and Schumacher into the final round of the season at Hampton Downs.

The allegations that delayed the finishing order being finalized concerned the legality of the front brake calipers of three of Tigani Motorsport’s Mercedes-AMGs, cars No. 47, No. 55 and No. 66, as well as the 111 Racing Mercedes-AMG.

The offence investigated by stewards was “alleged failure to comply with homologation documents, namely by failing to have knockback springs in place in front brake calipers”.

But after a hearing held on Sunday evening, it was determined that neither the homologation documents nor the materials provided to teams by Mercedes-AMG concerning the brakes contained any specific requirement to fit the springs.

RESULTS: Race 2 (revised)