Stone Brothers to appeal Ingall penalty.
Stone Brothers Racing has lodged an appeal against the penalty handed down by race officials following the incident between Russell Ingall and Mark Skaife in the final round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series in Sydney yesterday.
Ingall and Skaife made contact exiting turn nine on lap 42 at the VIP Pet Foods Main Event at Eastern Creek Raceway, with Skaife being forced out of the event. The clearly annoyed HRT driver then gesticulated at Ingall on the following lap, as the field circulated under the safety car.
Stone Brothers Racing has lodged an appeal against the penalty handed down by race officials following the incident between Russell Ingall and Mark Skaife in the final round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series in Sydney yesterday.
Ingall and Skaife made contact exiting turn nine on lap 42 at the VIP Pet Foods Main Event at Eastern Creek Raceway, with Skaife being forced out of the event. The clearly annoyed HRT driver then gesticulated at Ingall on the following lap, as the field circulated under the safety car.
Ingall's SBR team-mate Marcos Ambrose had already clinched the title in his Pirtek Falcon before the incident, after completing half the scheduled race distance in a rain-soaked event on lap 32. Skaife and fellow Holden runner Greg Murphy had gone into the season finale vying for the title with the Tasmanian.
After an official hearing which lasted late into the night, Skaife was deducted 30 points and Ingall 70 by race stewards for the on-track incident. Ingall was also assessed a $15,000 fine and lost 150 points after being excluded from the race meeting for veering toward Skaife, who had stayed trackside on the following lap. Skaife received a $10,000 and 75-point penalty for brining the sport into disrepute.
Both drivers also received a three-race ban, suspended over twelve months for the incident. Either could now miss three races if they are found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute in the next year.
The decision, however, was not taken lightly at SBR.
"We certainly have appealed the decision, and will follow all the appropriate means at our disposal through the CAMS judicial system," said Stone Brothers Racing's co-owner Ross Stone, "This is the first time that SBR has appealed a stewards' decision and I guess that indicates how strongly we feel about this situation.
"We believe the penalty is unduly harsh and disappointing, because it took the gloss off a fantastic day for our team, and Ford, with Russell's team-mate Marcos Ambrose winning the championship."
Ambrose will be awarded his championship trophy at an end-of-season gala dinner in Sydney tonight.
