Jarrad Filsell has failed to overturn a 15 second time penalty from Wednesday’s Spa-Francorchamps Sprint through a post race appeal process.
Filsell was handed a 15 second penalty for a racing infringement involving Trans Tasman Racing driver Brady Meyers on lap 2 of the 39 lap Spa-Francorchamps event. Contact between the two was made exiting the Kemmel Straight heading into Les Combes, sending Brady Meyers off the circuit, plummeting the #22 Trans Tasman Racing Commodore down outside the top 20.
Racing Stewards deemed defending champion Jarrad Filsell at fault for the incident, enforcing a 15 second penalty which wasn’t served under racing conditions, but later applied to the post race results, shuffling the #1 of Filsell from 1st to 8th position at the conclusion of the Spa-Francorchamps event. James Scott would be promoted up a position once penalty’s where applied, Marking his maiden victory in the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup.
Filsell was quick to speak with race control post race, taking the opportunity to hear Stewards accounts of the incident before choosing to go ahead with filing the official protest late on Wednesday evening.
"Filsell was handed a 15 second penalty for a racing infringement"
Peter Baxter (Head Steward) outlined the grounds at which Jarrad Filsell was penalised, stating car #1 (J.Filsell) failed to meet requirements regarding rule 3.9.5 at the turn in point for Les Combes.
The protest hearing was held on Monday the 15th of May, with all race Stewards & involved parties in attendance. Driving Standards Observer Thomas Randle would make the final decision on the night.
Given the opportunity, Filsell, with evidence provided, failed to prove the grounds of his appeal, stating that car #22 (Brady Meyers) turned in for the corner earlier than normal, and earlier than multiple other laps.
According to Peter Baxter, Stewards went on to present Filsell with an analysis of the penalty showing the point of reasonable overlap (defined as half car length) had only been achieved at a distance after the turn in points used for both cars #1 & #22 in qualifying and the first 10 laps of the race.
With both parties given the opportunity to present their arguments regarding the penalty handed to car #1, the decision ultimately was upheld, confirming James Scott as the offical Spa-Francorchamps winner.
Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup reporters reached out to Peter Baxter for confirmation post hearing regarding the the outcome.
"the decision ultimately was upheld, confirming James Scott as the offical Spa-Francorchamps winner"
“The Stewards decision was upheld on the basis that it was correctly applied according to the racing rules of the series. Filsell’s Protest was dismissed and 100 championship points will be deducted from his tally.
Following the hearing, the DSO and Stewards met with members of the League admin group, including driver representatives. One of the subjects discussed was rule 3.9.5 on the basis that independent feedback on the incident from Supercar insiders has suggested that Filsell had “enough” overlap and the penalty was considered harsh. Driver representatives also raised concerns that the application of the rule may stop overtaking attempts now that people are understanding it’s application in detail.
A minor adjustment to rule 3.9.5 was proposed and accepted to give more leniency to the overtaking car. The adjustment is that the point of reasonable overlap has been reduced to (headlights in front of the rear tyre) at the point of turn in. This adjustment will put more responsibility on a driving being overtaken (normally the outside driver) to avoid causing contact with a car attempting an overtake. This adjustment will be applied from round 4 onwards and reviewed after three rounds”. - Peter Baxter.
Jarrad Filsell was also contacted in regards to the outcome of Monday nights appeal, but was unavailable for comment at the time.
