EREBUS MAY APPEAL LATE-RACE BROWN PENALTY

UPDATE: Erebus Motorsport has withdrawn its intent to appeal

Erebus Motorsport has lodged an intent to appeal the 15-second time penalty handed to Will Brown in the dying stages of the final race of the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.

With just three laps to go Brown made contact with Scott Pye, which sent the Team 18 Holden ZB Commodore towards the tyre barriers on the outside of the final turn.

Pye, who also had carried a 15-second time penalty for a Safety Car restart infringement, was racing eighth before the incident, which dropped him back to 12th on the road, while Anton DePasquale’s disqualification vaulted him up to 11th, one place behind Brown.

Will Brown made contact with the rear of Scott Pye, sending the Team 18 Holden off course. Image: Fox Sports

Prior to the lap 71 Safety Car called for the standard Ford Mustang of Thomas Randle, the race had appeared to be drifting off to a quiet conclusion, but the interruption brought it back to life.

The pack was bunched up for the run to the chequered flag and Pye and Brown were positioned at the rear of a train of cars which spread from Brodie Kostecki in fifth and his Erebus Motorsport teammate in ninth.

As the pack of cars concertinaed in the braking area of the final turn following Mark Winterbottom’s well-executed move on his former Tickford teammate Cam Waters for sixth, Brown spun Pye.

The stewards did not take long to impose the penalty on Brown, who finished P8 on the road, but slipped out of the top 10 to P11 on the overall classification once the 15 seconds were applied.

According to the Operations Manual, an appeal must be lodged “within 92 hours of being advised of the Stewards’ decision against which an Appellant seeks to Appeal” which means the team has until Thursday to make its submission.

Scott Pye was sent sideways at the final corner by Will Brown at the death of race 32 on Sunday. image: Fox Sports

If Erebus does follow through with the appeal and is successful, Brown will regain the 18 points he lost from the penalty.

He currently sits 12th in the standings, 109 points away from the top 10, while Erebus Motorsport is sixth in the teams championship, which was wrapped up by Red Bull Ampol Racing after Shane van Gisbergen became just the second driver ever to clean sweep a championship round at the Gold Coast.

After yesterday’s race De Pasquale was disqualified after it was discovered the incoming rear left tyre on the car was found to be below the minimum pressure of 17psi when fitted.

The Stewards imposed the “recommended minimum penalty” of disqualification from Race 32 where De Pasquale crossed the line in 11th place.

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