TCR Australia champion Tony D’Alberto refused to compete in the final race at Symmons Plains yesterday as controversy broke loose.
D’Alberto had won from pole position in an incident-filled opening TCR race on Saturday, only for it to be belatedly ruled a non-event given just 10 laps were completed.
Not only did that have an impact on the pointscore, but it affected the grid for Race 3 which is usually set based on points accrued across the opening two encounters.
D’Alberto responded by parking his car when Race 3 got underway in what he dubbed “a sad situation”.
The veteran Supercars co-driver clarified that the decision was his and not a directive of his Wall Racing team.
“The team were encouraging me to do the race but I decided to pull the pin on it, because I just think it’s absolutely unprofessional and I don’t want to be part of that,” he said on the broadcast.
“Everyone was talking the same thing. Some weren’t as brave as I was to not do the race, but that’s where I’m at, at the moment. I’m quite frustrated with the whole thing.
“If the championship wants to have myself, Honda and some big sponsors in the category they need to operate at a professional level. And this weekend has clearly been sub-par and there’s been different reasons for that.
“Everyone makes mistakes, we have all made mistakes. But it keeps continuing.
“I’m so disappointed in the whole process.”
D’Alberto has now dropped to 10th in the standings, 63 points behind new leader Zac Soutar.
Soutar is just one point ahead of Garry Rogers Motorsport Peugeot duo Ben Bargwanna and Jordan Cox.
Dylan O’Keeffe and Tom Oliphant won the Sunday races.
Elsewhere in the Shannons SpeedSeries action at Race Tasmania, James Moffat retained the Trico Trans Am series lead despite having a relatively lacklustre weekend by his standards.
Jordan Boys and James Golding won two races apiece to climb up to second and third, respectively, in the championship.
And in National Sports Sedans, Peter Ingram and his Mazda RX7 swept the season-opener.
Round 3 of the 2024 Shannons SpeedSeries will take place at Phillip Island on April 12-14.
