GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA (December 5, 2017) – Although the results of the Championship and the final race of the 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship are official, DJR Team Penske is still working to understand why a penalty was issued to Scott McLaughlin at the Newcastle 500 for exceeding the pit lane speed limit during his first pit stop in Race 26, on Sunday November 26.
According to the team's analysis of multiple different data/video feeds, Scott didn't exceed the 40 km/h speed limit at any point in pit lane. Members of Supercars technical staff have agreed to attend a meeting at the DJR Team Penske workshop on Monday, 11 December to review the incident with the team's technical staff.
Data retrieved from the car aligned to television footage of the car entering pit lane and the footage from the MoTeC VCS Judicial Camera (note: Judicial Camera footage cannot be publicly released without Supercars permission) has been analysed. Each analysis demonstrates McLaughlin's car never exceeded the speed limit. In fact, when McLaughlin released the brake pedal prior to the pit entry line, the car was travelling at 33.5 km/h. Following entry, the car's pit speed limiter brought the vehicle speed up to a steady 38.2 km/h without ever exceeding the prescribed 40 km/h limit.
The data reviewed includes both front and rear wheel speed (as supplied by Supercars), throttle position, brake pressure, GPS speed and longitudinal G-force (note: see below illustrations).
DJR Team Penske accepts that the outcome of the Championship cannot be altered, but the team feels it has a responsibility to seek clarity and to ensure the methods used to enforce pit lane speed limits going forward are as accurate as possible for all competitors.