Alice Buckley and Tim Slade celebrate their overall victory in the TA2 Tag Team Enduro. Image: Supplied
Buckley stormed to victory in the first of six races that formed the two-driver TA2 enduro round at the Ipswich circuit.
However, her factory-backed Chevrolet Camaro was found to be marginally under the 1250 kilogram minimum during post-race checks.
Underweight cars are generally excluded from results, even if the discrepancy is too low to have been a performance benefit. But in this case Buckley was able to keep her race win and the 60 points that came with it.
That appears to be courtesy of some confusion over the length of the race, with the series itself expecting it to run over 14 laps or 20 minutes, whichever came first.
Instead it ran the full 20 minutes with Buckley completing 16 laps.
“When the [weight] issue was detected at scales, it was reported to the stewards and chief scrutineers,” TA2 category manager Matt MacKelden told Speedcafe.
“The opinion of the chief steward and the scrutineers was that because the race had run long that any issues of that matter would not be heard or they’d be thrown out.”
The Buckley/Slade Camaro on track. Image: Supplied
There was another point of controversy regarding the entry Buckley was sharing with Tim Slade following the second race, with TV pictures showing the rear window caved in.
Rules were tightened around rear window bracing back in 2022 after Garry Rogers Motorsport-run Mustangs were found to be deliberately letting the rear window flex.
In this case, however, it was deemed that a stay failed on the Buckley/Slade car.
The pair went on to claim top honours across the QR weekend, despite a broken oil line costing them a third win of the weekend in Sunday’s two-driver finale.