Tickford fined for mistake in Darwin pit

The No. 6 Ford Mustang was retired and as a result Waters attempted to leave the pits with a rattle gun still connected to his right front wheel.

He quickly stopped and avoided a larger incident, but stewards determined a violation of the Supercars Operations Manual and thus a $500 fine, half of which is suspended until the end of the year as long as no similar offense is committed.

Tickford had tried to argue that he was not breaking rule D11.7.3, which states: “Each car must be completely free of all pipes, tools, crew members and other equipment at all times while the car is moving,” on the basis that the gun was disconnected from the nut when Waters started to leave.

However, the stewards decided that proximity, if indeed that was the case, did not constitute “totally gratuitous”, hence the violation.

Half of the fine was suspended due to the “swift and appropriate action” to prevent the incident from escalating.

The fact is stated in the stewards’ report: “During the session, car 6 was dropped into its pit with a wheel gun still connected to the right front wheel and the car left with the wheel gun still not completely free and the controller of the car had to order the driver to stop the car and it was pushed back towards its pit.

The official reason for the sanction was as follows:

“Although disputed by the competitor, the stewards are satisfied that the available video evidence showed the wheel gun connected to the right front wheel when the car fell. The competitor claimed that the wheel gun was disconnected from the wheel nut when the car left its stopping position. Although the evidence for a direct connection between the wheel gun and the nut after the wagon began moving is less clear, there is no doubt that it was at least nearby. The stewards are convinced that, regardless of any doubt about the fact of a continuous connection, it cannot be said that the car was completely free of the wheel gun when it started to move. The Stewards consider that the word “completely” when used in the Rule means that the equipment must be at least a safe distance from the car. This was not the case in this case.

“The competitor admitted that the wheel nut was not tightened when the tire pick operator dropped the car and this explained why, when the car started, the wheel gun operator put his hand on the hood of the car to warn the driver to stop (which was immediately obeyed). dropped on the circuit with a loose wheel The incident was a consequence of the aerial picker’s decision to pull the pick and drop the car while a wheel gun was still connected to the right front wheel because. the attendant had not yet finished securing this wheel. For all these reasons, the stewards are convinced that the rule was violated and decided to impose a fine of $500 on the competitor.

“As this was a practice session, no other cars were affected and the car only moved a short distance before being stopped, the stewards consider this to be of an infraction of this type less serious than those, for example, where equipment is dragged behind a car. The stewards also noted the quick and appropriate action of the team to stop the car before it could occur. “has traveled a significant distance. For these reasons, the commissioners decide to suspend $250 of the fine until December 31, 2024.”

Meanwhile, Aaron Love of the Blanchard Racing team was fined $500 after violating the speed limit in the pit lane during Practice 1.