Controversial Trans Am result overturned

The second race of the opening National Trans Am Series round was cut short when leader Ben Grice clashed with a slowing James Simpson at the Symmons Plains circuit.

The contact pitched Simpson's car into a spectacular roll, both drivers lucky to emerge unscathed from the frightening incident.

While the incidence itself was subject to any interjection from the governing body, its outcomes, and the procedures of race officials, were.

The race was initially declared to have finished under Safety Car with James Moffat crowned the victor.

However there were reports that the red flag was shown at some marshal points before the safety car was deployed.

An investigatory tribunal chaired by Roland Dane and consisting of Greg Crick and Steven Richards was formed by Motorsport Australia to look into the matter, with the findings now official.

The primary outcome is that the race is now declared at the first sighting of a red flag, with there effectively no result due to how early it was in the race.

The investigation also found that while an immediate red flag was the right decision, the call was made by an unauthorised person.

The call for the red flags came from Senior Channel Radio Operator Kevin Knight rather than Race Director Nigel Faull or Clerk of Course David Mori.

Faull and Mori then called for the red flags to be withdrawn and replacement by safety car boards and flags.

The report also found that, 'the time spent by Mr Mori and Mr Faull addressing the replacement of the red flags with safety car boards and flags detracted from the attention that should have been given to ensuring the drivers of cars #03 and #782 were attended to as quickly as possible."

Among the recommendations from the tribunal was an intensive training programme for all officials operating in race control and the periphery at state and national level.

“We have received the tribunal’s findings and will now carefully consider their recommendations and any further changes or initiatives that may be required both in the short and long term,” said Motorsport Australia CEO Eugene Arocca.

“It is now confirmed the official race result has been declared, meaning no points will be awarded from the category’s second race of the event as it did not meet the minimum race distance.”