PREMIAIR Racing’s disastrous hometown round has suffered one last blow, with James Golding picking up a 27-second post-race penalty.
The number 27 is deemed the equivalent of a pitlane drive-through at the Gold Coast circuit, with a breach of Safety Car procedure the cause for punishment.
Specifically, Golding did not follow protocol as a lapped runner to reposition himself at the rear of the order by driving through the pitlane upon the end of a Safety Car period.
That differs from Bathurst where the lucky dog system is in effect, which allows lapped cars to unlap themselves.
“The Stewards received a report from the Timekeeper stating that Car 31 was 1 lap behind the leading Car at the end of the SC deployment and that it had failed to enter the Pit Lane at the SC restart,” the stewards report reads.
“The Stewards summonsed and heard from the Competitor’s Authorised Representative.
“The Authorised Representative made a full admission and acknowledged the breach.
“He explained that the Driver had asked his engineer whether he should drive through the Pit Lane at the end of the SC deployment, but the engineer indicated there was no need to.
“The Authorised Representative mentioned he was not on the radio at the time and so was unaware of that instruction from the engineer and did not have the opportunity to correct it.”
All told, the penalty only has a minor impact, dropping Golding from 17th to 18th behind Cameron Hill.
It adds to a treacherous end to the weekend, Richie Stanaway having suffered a race-ending suspension failure in the closing stages today after displaying excellent one-lap pace earlier in the day.
Golding and Stanaway finished 12th and 19th respectively yesterday in a race where they made contact with one another.
PremiAir remains 10th in the teams’ championship with two rounds remaining.