Brown escapes penalty after investigation

Will Brown will keep his extended points lead, with the reigning champion escaping penalty after a post-race investigation.

The Triple Eight Race Engineering star was placed under investigation following Sunday’s final race at the ITM Taupō Super 440 over alleged pit lane speeding.

Late in the race, Race Control advised that Brown had been noted over pit lane speed, with the potential breach then referred to a post-race investigation.

Brown finished the race in eighth place and opened up a 34-point championship lead over Cam Waters, who finished 12th.

That lead remained provisional amid the investigation, with Triple Eight confirming to Supercars.com that no penalty had been issued.

Results remained preliminary and were later updated to provisional, and then final at the time of publication.

According to a Motorsport Australia stewards report, Brown was alleged to have disengaged his pit lane speed limiter while still in pit lane. Per Rule C14.3.3, the limiter must be activated at all times while a car is moving in pit lane.

Per the report, according to to a still photograph from Brown’s judicial in-car camera, the light indicator for the pit lane speed limiter was not illuminated and the derestriction line for the end of pit lane was visible.

The Deputy Race Director submitted that this was evidence that the pit lane speed limiter had been disengaged while the car was still within the pit lane.

Per the report, Triple Eight Team Manager Mark Dutton contested that a conclusion could be drawn from the photograph, while Supercars technical staff stationed at pit exit witnessed Brown exiting the lane and believed he had deactivated his limiter prior to crossing the line.

Dutton also submitted that Brown was accelerating in any event because it was the last pit bay in the pit lane, it was "difficult for any person to accurately judge exactly where a car is positioned at any specific time," and in the case, technical could have been mistaken to where the car was when the limiter was deactivated.

Stewards ultimately found that a rule breach had not been established on the evidence presented, and decided to take no further action.

The report reads:

The Stewards, having received a report from the DRD, summonsed and heard from the Competitor’s Authorised Representative, determine the following:

Competitor: Car 1 Triple Eight Race Engineering (Australia) Pty Ltd

Car and Driver: Car 1 Will Brown

Date: Sunday, 13 April 2025

Session: Race 10

Time: 1625hrs

Fact: Car 1 was alleged to have disengaged its Pit Lane Speed Limiter while still in Pit Lane.

Rule: C14.3.3 - The Limiter must be activated at all times while a Car is moving in Pit Lane

Decision: No further action.

Reason: The Stewards received a report from the DRD which was accompanied by video footage from Car 1’s judicial in-car camera. A still photograph had been taken from that video footage which shows the light indicator (blue) for the pit lane speed limiter was not illuminated and the derestriction line for the end of Pit Lane is visible. The DRD submitted that this was evidence that the pit lane speed limiter had been disengaged while the Car was still within the Pit Lane.

The Competitor’s Authorised Representative, Mr Mark Dutton, contested that conclusion can be drawn from the photograph. He stated that the camera’s wide-angle lens does not accurately reflect the position of the Car and the status of the light for the pit lane speed limiter (whether it is illuminated or not) at that particular time. Further he indicated that from testing conducting in conjunction with Supercars previously demonstrated that there is not an accurate alignment of inputs into the MOTEC system between the auxiliary inputs for signals such as the pit lane speed limiter activation together with the high-definition vision from the camera, such that it is not reflective of the accurate situation.

At the request of the Stewards, the DRD called [a member of] Supercars Technical, by phone to ask about the accuracy of Mr Dutton’s submission. [The member] indicated that [they were] not working at Supercars at the time those tests were undertaken and so could not comment about that. The Stewards asked [the member] whether the MOTEC data could verify the position of the Car when the pit lane speed limiter was deactivated. [That member] responded that [they] could not with confidence state the position of the car as the beam in operation at the event was not that accurate. [They] indicated that a [second] Supercars official was stationed at Pit Exit and witnessed the incident and reported it to [then] and that [the member] was available if we wished to speak with [them]. [They] handed her phone to [the second member].

[The second member] stated that he was stationed at Pit Exit and witnessed Car 1 exiting the Pit Lane and believed that it deactivated its pit lane speed limiter prior to crossing the derestriction line for Pit Exit. He indicated the position of the Car was still 1 to 1.5 metres inside the Pit Lane when this happened. He indicated that he heard the pitch of the engine change, and the Car accelerate to a speed greater than other cars exiting pit lane during the race.

Mr Dutton questioned [the second member] as to whether he could see the external speed limiter light at the time that he said he observed the car to accelerate. [The second member] stated he could not see the external light where he was standing as he was on the opposite of the Car. Mr Dutton submitted to the Stewards that the Car was accelerating in any event because it was the last Pit Bay in the Pit Lane and at that speed (11 metres per second at 40kp/m) it is difficult for any person to accurately judge exactly where a car is positioned at any specific time. He submitted that in the case, [the second member] could have been mistaken where Car 1 was when the limiter was deactivated.

Having considered the matter extensively; the Stewards find that the breach of the Rule has not been established on the evidence presented and decide to take no further action.

The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Snowy River Caravans Tasmania Super 440 on May 9-11. Tickets are on sale now.