Tribunal has its say on controversial Trans Am race

An independent tribunal established by Motorsport Australia has released its findings into Race 2 of the Trans Am Series at Race Tasmania, declaring the race a non-event after an extended deliberation period. Josh Nevett reports…

The tribunal, consisting of Roland Dane (Chair), Greg Crick and Steven Richards, determined that the minimum number of laps were not completed before red flags were first shown on March 1 at Symmons Plains Raceway.

As such, the official race result has been amended and the tribunal also made several recommendations which Motorsport Australia will now consider.

The controversy initially erupted shortly after a huge crash on lap 11 of Race 2.

James Simpson ploughed into Ben Grice’s slow-moving machine coming out of the final corner as the latter attempted to limp to the pits with a mechanical issue, which sent Simpson airborne and into a roll.

Grice had been leading at the time, but James Moffat was deemed the winner when he was led to the finish line by the Safety Car, while Grice and Simpson were DNFs.

However, red flags were shown by some officials at the track.

The tribunal did not investigate the cause of the crash that led to the race stoppage, but it did scrutinise the actions of officials in the aftermath which led to confusion surrounding the result.

Motorsport Australia CEO Eugene Arocca was grateful for the efforts of the tribunal members, and endeavoured to consider recommendations made by the tribunal surrounding the training of officials and race day protocols.

“We have received the tribunal’s findings and will now carefully consider their recommendations and any further changes or initiatives that may be required both in the short and long term,” Arocca said.

“It is now confirmed the official race result has been declared, meaning no points will be awarded from the category’s second race of the event as it did not meet the minimum race distance.”

The full Tribunal report can be found here.

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