Race reversal sees Jason Bright retain slim Championship chance
29/11/2004 19:13 (Press Release) -
PWR Racing and driver Jason Bright have welcomed a CAMS decision to reverse the results from the third race at Symmons Plains a week ago which sees Bright promoted from 20th to 2nd placing for the race, promoting him to 3rd place in championship standings and keeping his slender title hopes alive.
CAMS announced it would reinstate Besnard, Bright and Skaife in 1st, 2nd and 3rd places respectively, a result which did not affect the round placings but gave Bright a timely boost in the lead-up to the final round at Eastern Creek.
Bright said the amended result was a victory for common sense. “A lot of people might look at this result and think an injustice has been done, but really, there was an injustice done to the guys who really didn’t do anything wrong,” he said.
Bright was among a group of four drivers – the others being David Besnard, Mark Skaife and Anthony Tratt – who were strategically able to take advantage of a Safety Car period to complete their compulsory pitstops.
The four cars were inadvertently instructed by race officials to join the rear of the field, in doing so completing an extra lap which saw them maintain their position at the top of the timing sheet.
As other teams protested, race officials – believing there had been an error in the electronic timing system – adjusted the results to add an extra lap to the rest of the field.
However, at the conclusion of the race, after Greg Murphy had been declared the race winner and Besnard, Bright and Skaife had been allocated placings 18th, 20th and 21st respectively, team data sheets showed the trio had completed an extra lap and a protest was lodged.
“We had a championship on the line so we really had to fight for this, and it definitely gives us a shot in the arm going to Eastern Creek,” Bright said.
“There was a fair bit of confusion about what was going on – we didn’t really know if we were racing lapped cars or racing for position.
“There was certainly a bit of lobbying going on afterwards to see how we were all going to handle it, and fortunately the right result has come out of it.”
The decision leaves Bright just 10 points behind 2nd-placed Greg Murphy in championship standings but an almost insurmountable 166 points behind leader Marcos Ambrose.
“The main thing for us at Eastern Creek is to concentrate on finishing all three races, and we’ll see where that leaves us,” Bright said. “If Marcos finishes well in just one race it’s pretty much all over.
“The last couple of rounds have been pretty tough for us, we’ve probably gone the wrong way on our setup a few times and that’s hurt us.
“We know what’s worked for us in the dry at Eastern Creek earlier this year. If it stays dry, hopefully we can see some of the champagne that we haven’t seen in the last couple of rounds!”
Release Date: 22/11/2004
PWR Racing
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