SHANE van Gisbergen has offered his view on the controversial incident which has left him unable to contend for pole position at the Repco Bathurst 1000.
Van Gisbergen tangled with Macauley Jones late in qualifying this afternoon, leaving the #96 Brad Jones Racing crew with a lengthy repair job.
The stewards reacted by deeming the incident to be a case of “careless driving”, subsequently issuing van Gisbergen a three-place grid penalty to be applied after the Top 10 Shootout.
Van Gisbergen will still take part in the Shootout, having finished qualifying in fourth behind Cameron Waters, Lee Holdsworth and Chaz Mostert.
“Bizzare ending to Quali making contact with the 96 car, from my end I saw him make a big mistake at T1 and go wide so knew his lap was ruined,” the Red Bull Ampol Racing star wrote on social media.
“At skyline he braked super early and out of the line so I thought he was letting me past, once I committed over skyline that was it.”
Asked for his take via Pit Lane Live, Jones tonight confirmed he was unaware that van Gisbergen had been behind him.
“We were not having the fastest car at the time, we were hanging onto the rear a fair bit,” he said.
“I could see that he was catching me, but I was a tenth down on my fastest lap.
“I was pushing for what I had. It was very unexpected.”
