The first round of the 2014 International V8 Supercars Championship in Adelaide was a controversial one to say the least, with many points of contention leaving drivers and fans divided.
One of the two incidents of conjecture was the restart after the Will Davison, James Moffat collision at turn eight, which resulted in the spectacular accident for Jason Bright.
The other was the ‘infamous’ Jamie Whincup pit stop, as it may well be known in years to come.
The restart incident involved the actions of then-leader Shane Van Gisbergen and second-place holder Rick Kelly not sticking to the prescribed speed prior to the start of the acceleration zone, which is 60km.
V8 Supercars General Manager Damien White said in response to this incident, “The data is in. Shane Van Gisbergen – 68km/h, Rick Kelly – 72km/h, Jamie Whincup – 59km/h.
“Like the restart rules or not, they clearly state the maximum permitted speed for the leader prior to the first Acceleration Zone (AZ) sign is 60, and therefore all cars behind have their speed controlled by the leader.
“The drivers knew that if the lead car increased speed beyond 60, the onus would then be on the car second in the line to maintain the speed up to 60. SVG nervously crept above, RK the same, while JW maintained the speed as prescribed.”
White went onto further say, “I concede that my use of the word ‘assume’ in a TV interview when explaining how we knew the #97 and #15 were speeding was a poor choice, given I knew I didn’t have the luxury of time to go into more detail during a live broadcast.
“There is always a lot going on for the V8 Supercars officials in pit lane and I was rushed, and my response left a lot of you wondering how a penalty could possibly be issued on an assumption.”
The last part of that quote pretty much summed up the focus and concentration of all the V8 Supercars officials during race three.
This lack of poise under intense pressure as a collective group may have potentially destroyed one of the greatest era’s in Australian motorsport.
According to the sport’s regulations, both Shane Van Gisbergen and Rick Kelly broke the rules, and deserved the penalties they received.
However, two of the sport’s laws are contradictory to each other, and as racers, when they see cars moving away from them, most of them think “I have to catch them”.
When there is confusion between all competitors, there is the potential for chaos.
Jason Bright and many spectators were undoubtedly lucky to walk away largely uninjured, let alone with their lives, from the massive accident, which has left Brad Jones racing the clock to build him a new car for the non-championship event at the Australian Grand Prix in a week’s time in Melbourne.
Officials and rule-makers have to realise these drivers are doing quite a lot already in the car, and are already thinking about a lot under stressful conditions to say the least.
Which is why you have to keep the rules simple under safety car conditions, and beyond that so that you don’t create further carnage via incompetence from officials and rule-makers.
McLaren driver and 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button weighed in on his Twitter account about the carnage last Sunday:
I think the lead car at a restart in @v8supercars should be able to control the speed from the entry to the last corner…
— Jenson Button (@JensonButton) March 4, 2014
Before that, Button said,
Think the racing in @v8supercars is some of the best but the restart rules need a little bit of work! unnecessary danger & unfair penalties.
— Jenson Button (@JensonButton) March 4, 2014
The unfair penalties dished out last Sunday may extend to the drive-through penalty handed to Jamie Whincup.
It was deemed that Whincup, or more specifically his pit crew, broke rule 12.2.2.4, and received a drive-through penalty. White’s response to this was interesting,
“Do I think they breached the rule? Yes, I do. Do I think Jamie gained an advantage out of it? No, I do not. Do I think he deserved to be penalised for this team error? Yes, I do.
“Why, if no advantage? Every penalty we issue sets a precedent, and while the work on the car by the controller this time was incredibly minor and likely did nothing of real value in the repair, we expose ourselves if we give a lesser penalty.
“To the extent that next time a car controller works on a car, but the work is significant, that team would expect the same, lesser, penalty.
“A breach is a breach. You can’t half break a rule, so you can’t give half a penalty. Besides all that, we cannot afford to compromise safety and the message was sent loud and clear.”
My response is that first of all is that anyone involved in a pit stop is actually ‘working’ on the car, whether they are physically doing so, or passively doing so. That is a fact that you cannot possibly deny!
Secondly, if he has breached the rule, judging by White’s response, I would deem it as a minor violation of the regulation. As such, a minor violation must be met with a minor penalty, such as five or ten second penalty, which could be served at the next pit stop, or alternatively be added to his race time after the race.
Thirdly, saying that a breach is a breach, and that you can’t hand out half a penalty may be true, but was the penalty worthy of the crime? Judging by your response to this, the answer is a clear no!
White went onto say, “At the end of the day, the Stewards gave it some jandal and… well, you know the rest!”
That’s right! A day of utter carnage, destruction and chaos delivered in its vast majority by V8 Supercars officials, led by White, and driving standards observer Jason Bargwanna.
A day the sport was so lucky to avoid tragedy.
This is what Jenson Button is trying to say to all of you at V8 Supercars. To have a much more professional attitude in your jobs, individually and collectively.
V8 Supercars is an ‘international’ category, as deemed by the FIA, being broadcast to an international audience.
So it is time V8 Supercars becomes a more professional category in all aspects.
The New Generation V8 Supercar has taken the car aspect of the sport to a much more professional level, it is now time for the rules and regulations to make the same transition.
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