THE stewards have explained why David Reynolds was penalised for a matter which left the 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner bemused.
Reynolds tangled with Broc Feeney at Turn 18 on the penultimate lap at The Bend as they battled over ninth position.
The result saw Feeney spin off into the gravel trap and drop to last, while Reynolds was swiftly handed a 15-second penalty which would relegate him to 20th.
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Reynolds expressed his view on the incident via the Fox Sports broadcast.
“I’m down into (Turn) 17, I have sort of got alongside Broc and then we were running up to the last corner and we sort of bumped wheels a fair few times and then he turned in so hard at the last minute, it actually made me oversteer,” he said.
“So I sort of four-wheel slid into him and that’s what made him spin around.
“It’s really unfortunate, but if he didn’t turn in so hard and aggressive and made me oversteer, we would have just drove side-by-side and duelled it out down to Turn 1.
“I don’t know why I got a rather large penalty, I’ve done way worse things than that and got away with it. I don’t want to roll out a Jamie Whincup-style comment, but I’m thinking about it.”
The stewards agreed that Reynolds had “sufficient overlap” but pointed to a lock-up as being why blame fell to him.
“A 15 Second Time Penalty on Car 26 (Reynolds) for Careless Driving following an Incident at turn 18 on Lap 19,” read the stewards report.
“Car 26 was attempting to overtake Car 88, Broc Feeney, on the inside at turn 18.
“Car 26 had sufficient overlap on Car 88 and Car 88 left racing room for Car 26 on the inside.
“However, Car 26 locked rear brakes and oversteered into the side of Car 88 and Car 88 left the track into the gravel trap and lost positions.”
Reynolds wasn’t the only driver hit with a 15-second penalty in Race 3 of the OTR SuperSprint, Bryce Fullwood having been pinged for speeding in pitlane (clocked at 45km/h at entry).
Triple Eight meanwhile was docked 30 teams’ championship points and fined $1500 for a pitstop infringement involving Shane van Gisbergen.
