Supercars Townsville II

Shootout controversy could prompt Supercars rule change

Shane van Gisbergen's compromised Top 10 Shootout lap in Townsville last weekend could prompt a rule change for future single-lap dashes.

Andrew van Leeuwen

Edited: Jul 22, 2021, 8:49 AM

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Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden

The Kiwi was unimpressed with officials following his Shootout lap last Saturday after his warm-up was compromised by a crash on the previous lap.

Zane Goddard missed his brake pedal on the way into the final corner on his timed lap before spinning and hitting the fence.

He did manage to get going and back into pitlane under his own steam, but by that point van Gisbergen had been told by his team to abort his run.

Triple Eight was then instructed by race control that van Gisbergen had to start his timed lap after all, which was compromised by a lack of tyre temperature.

He ended up sixth on the grid.

"It was shit," said van Gisbergen at the time. "The guy crashed and there was no info from race control. I got told to pit, and then had no tyre temp, and got told to go. That's pretty confusing and not very good."

According to Motorsport Australia the procedure was in accordance with the current rules, however the incident has highlighted that a change in the regulations may be needed.

"As part of Saturday’s Top Ten Shootout, Shane van Gisbergen’s out-lap was impacted by an incident on the final corner involving Zane Goddard’s car prior to van Gisbergen commencing his timed lap," read a statement from Motorsport Australia.

"Van Gisbergen was required to complete his timed lap once the track was cleared. While this decision was made late in car 97’s out-lap, the correct procedure was followed by race control as the rules are currently written.

"Given this situation, Motorsport Australia will now work closely with Supercars and the Supercars Commission to determine the best process to be implemented for future Top 10 Shootouts to minimise a driver's timed lap being compromised by a similar incident."

There's already been one change to the Top 10 Shootout regulations this year after Cam Waters stirred up controversy by dragging dirt onto the road on his in-lap at the Mount Panorama 500. Supercars responded by amending the corner cutting rules to include cool-down laps in non-race sessions.

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