D’Alberto responds to TCR tribunal result
Whilst Tony D’Alberto lost his appeal on the decision to not award points for the opening TCR race at Tasmania, he hopes it has “forced conversations on how to improve this series.”
When drivers went to bed on the Saturday night of the Race Tasmania event, D’Alberto had the points from his race 1 win next to his name.
But those points were removed the following day after a protest from Garry Rogers Motorsport.
At the time D’Alberto was so angry he refused to race the finale and parked his Wall Racing Honda after the formation lap.
D’Alberto appealed against the allocation of no points for the race, but it was dismissed due to only 10 of the 30 laps being completed.
As a result the 2022 champion sits down in 10th in the championship ahead of this weekend’s Race Phillip Island.
With the matter now settled, D’Alberto took the opportunity to provide some further explanation behind his side of the story.
“Now that the dust has settled on the TCR event in Tasmania last month and a result has come from the tribunal hearing regarding the outcome of that event, I thought it was time to clear the air, from my side,” D’Alberto wrote on social media.
“The outcome from the Motorsport Australia tribunal hearing did not go in our favour, but that’s not to say that the issues that snowballed and turned Tassie into a major headache for myself, my team and other competitors weren’t heard or dismissed.
“The simple facts were that at Symmons Plains, we qualified on pole, won the first Race (which was eventually deemed a non-race because not enough laps were completed – fair enough), and finished Race 2 in a position to warrant starting from pole for the all-important final.
“Of course, none of that actually happened. A protest saw Race 1’s results scrapped and, effectively, the reverse top 10 race set the grid for Race 3 (which we learnt 15 minutes prior)……That is simply not right, so I decided to withdraw.”
D’Alberto continued stating that appealing was not his ideal scenario, and whilst the result did not go his way, he hopes it can spark changes going forward.
“I didn’t want to take this matter to a tribunal. I certainly didn’t want to sit out the last race,” he wrote.
“But the simple facts are, my weekend was turned on its head through a procedure mistake that the tribunal agreed happened and shouldn’t have.
“As competitors we have to abide by the rules that Motorsport Australia outline. This is where the confusion sets in.
“Will we see change in the future? I genuinely hope Motorsport Australia and TCR Australia look at what happened and make changes for a fairer future.
“If by taking the stand achieved nothing but force conversations on how to improve this series, then I see that as a win.
“Lastly…. I received a HUGE amount of support, thank you to the many people who called, messaged, reached out over social media and offered kind words.
“It was nice to see and hear that people care – not just about my results, but the state and future of our sport.”
The full decision document can be found here
TCR begins its SpeedSeries round at Phillip Island with practice at 11.25 today.
Image: Tony D’Alberto Facebook
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