R10 PENALTIES – Perkins and Bowe come under fire
22/8/2000 15:44 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - John Bowe and Larry Perkins kept CAMS stewards busy over the weekend at Calder Park, with both suffering the consequences for their unsportsman-like behaviour.
Following an inquiry into the Todd Kelly/John Bowe incident in Race 1 - which saw Kelly take a high-speed detour through the Calder infield on the main straight - stewards deemed Bowe breached anti-blocking rules in leaving Kelly with no racing room.
Bowe was relegated to the rear of the grid for the second race, creating quite a storm in the Calder Park paddock.
Bowe was quoted in the CAT Racing Team's post-race press material as saying HRT Manager Jeff Grech acted like, "an excited father at a mini-league game – plenty of abuse" following the incident in the first race.
Speaking to us yesterday, HRT's Paul Weissel defend the actions of Team Manager Grech.
"HRT is very protective of its drivers and very concerned should an older, more experienced person appear to run its youngest driver off the circuit," Weissel said. "HRT is more than willing to support its people."
Larry Perkins also came under fire from stewards after it was alleged he verbally and physically assaulted a senior official on qualifying morning.
Stewards found Perkins used "indecent language" in addressing the official before using "some degree of physical violence" in forcibly removing the official from the race control room
After various witnesses were called, Perkins was deemed to have breeched a little-known physical violence regulation and distracting the official from their duties.
Perkins was handed a $5000 fine, suspended until December 31 on the condition that further breaches won't be made.
It was a costly weekend all-round for Perkins, who was also docked 20 Championship points following an incident with Neil Crompton in Race 3.
Despite apologising to Crompton after the incident – which saw the two make contact and Crompton spun around – Perkins was found guilty of breaching regulations.
In other matters, Brad Jones was imposed with a $250 fine for not driving with due care with a passenger in his car. Jones lost control of his Falcon during the sponsor rides session on Friday.
Comings-together involving Todd Kelly and Rodney Forbes, Forbes and Cameron McLean, and John Faulkner and Larry Perkins, were each cleared and deemed to warrant no further investigation.
However, Rodney Forbes did receive a $5000 fine for careless driving following an investigation into a Race 2 incident involving himself, Anthony Tratt and Brad Jones. The fine, like Perkins', is suspended until December 31.
Brad Jones, Todd Kelly and Steven Johnson were each fined $200 for exceeding the pit lane speed limit over the weekend.
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