Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia
Breaking news

Tarquini, Bjork among drivers hit with Suzuka grid penalties

Three Hyundai WTCR drivers plus all three Munnich Motorsport Honda runners have received grid penalties for the opening Suzuka race after an incident in Friday's first qualifying.

Gabriele Tarquini, BRC Racing Team Hyundai i30 N TCR

Gabriele Tarquini, BRC Racing Team Hyundai i30 N TCR

WTCR

All six drivers - YMRs Thed Bjork and BRC drivers Norbert Michelisz and Gabriele Tarquini, plus Munnich Honda drivers Yann Ehrlacher, Esteban Guerrieri and Timo Scheider - were running in close company in the closing stages of qualifying.

Title contender Bjork was at the front of the train, which ran in formation until other cars caught the pack.

Stewards considered the matter after a report from the race director, and in their verdict said the group had been "driving unnecessarily slowly on the track" exiting the Turn 11 hairpin, reporting that the "slowest speed between T11 and T12 was 25-32km/h".

The stewards said this created "a potentially dangerous situation", and the drivers were deemed to have contravened article 2 e) of Appendix L, chapter five of the International Sporting Code.

This states: "It is not permitted to drive any car unnecessarily slowly,erratically or in a manner deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers at any time."

All six drivers will therefore drop three places on the grid.

In explaining the decision to award the penalties, a statement from the stewards said: "Each driver drove unnecessarily slowly which created a potential danger."

But the stewards deemed "no driver was considered any more or less to blame than the others", and therefore gave all six drivers three-place penalties for Saturday's opening race.

Guerrieri was the highest qualifier of the six, having been third-fastest in the first session, while Ehrlacher and Tarquini were originally due to start race one from fourth and fifth.

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Suzuka WTCR: Ceccon, Comte top qualifying sessions
Next article Suzuka WTCR: Ceccon delivers Alfa Romeo's first win

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia