KEY evidence from the controversial case which saw James Courtney lose his Albert Park Race 2 podium has come to light.
Courtney took the chequered flag second behind Brodie Kostecki but was demoted post-race to 22nd by virtue of a 30-second post-race penalty.
That was applied after Courtney was deemed to have caused a first-corner melee; the start of which had not been caught clearly by television cameras.
A post-race investigation confirmed Courtney had made contact with the rear of Tickford Racing teammate Cam Waters’ car, which then careered into David Reynolds.
Mark Winterbottom was also caught up in the mess.
In the aftermath of the penalty, Tickford released a statement last night condemning the development.
“While we understand the decision of the stewards, Tickford Racing is disappointed that the outcome of Race 4 has been determined in this way,” it read.
“Fans want to see competitiveness on the track and today’s race, while short, delivered an intensity that everyone wants to see injected into our sport.”
Asked by V8 Sleuth directly after the race about the prospect of a penalty, Courtney had also been bullish, said: “It’s racing mate, it’s not called following.
“Do you want me to drive around behind people, which everyone complains about, or do you want us to race?”
Vision obtained by V8 Sleuth from the judicial camera onboard Courtney’s Mustang however showed clear contributing front-to-rear contact.
Per the image at the top of the story, Courtney made contact with Waters at 180km/h, with enough impact to see the left-rear of the Monster Mustang crumple.
The image below then shows the result, with Waters and co escorted off.
Courtney’s penalty promoted Broc Feeney to third place, meaning Triple Eight and Erebus Motorsport drivers have accounted for every podium placing to date at the Melbourne SuperSprint.
Those two teams continued their form in qualifying this morning, with Kostecki and Feeney securing pole for Races 3 and 4 of the round, respectively.
