R13 PENALTIES - Mork defends his Planet against Enforcer
22/11/2000 18:12 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) - Motor mouth Russell Ingall’s vocal views on the CAMS licensing system has once again landed the outspoken racer in hot water with race stewards.
The Castrol Perkins operation has been handed the maximum penalty of $10,000 following Ingall’s vicious attack on so-called incompetent Bathurst backmarkers and the system that supposedly allows them to slip through the net.
While many drivers spoke of the need for quality over quantity when it comes to future Bathurst grids, Ingall was particularly stinging in his criticism of the once-a-year drivers in the post-qualifying Press Conference on Friday afternoon.
Ingall labelled the drivers as residents of the “Planet Mork,” among other offensive, derogatory remarks.
“There are servo owners and fruit shop owners out here racing on the track, and I just hope they don’t decide the outcome of the race,” Ingall fumed.
“There are so many out there, and out of all the years I’ve been coming here, I haven’t seen as many idiots,” he declared.
Veteran backmarker Richard Mork leapt to the defence of the drivers in question, lodging an official protest with CAMS officials.
Stewards upheld the protest, citing, “the reasonable inference that can be drawn suggesting that the sport tolerates incompetent drivers; the reasonable inference that the sport is exclusive and not open for people of reasonable competence from all backgrounds and; that the reasonable inference that the category can not regulate itself by the establishment and maintenance of a proper licensing system in the interests of safety of all competitors and the public” as evidence of Ingall’s bringing the sport into disrepute.
Perkins Engineering has appealed the decision. That appeal was due to be heard this evening.
Ingall received a similar reprimand at Queensland Raceway in July, after he attacked the “Kelloggs licensing system” following an on-track outburst against Mike Imrie.
Meanwhile, the man that almost ended the Championship hopes of Mark Skaife, Brit Matt Neal, has defended his actions, claiming the three-way bingle between himself, Mark Skaife and Neil Crompton was not of his doing.
Neal told the press after Sunday’s race that, in fact, Neil Crompton instigated the crash as part of a personal vendetta against Neal’s team-mate, Paul Morris.
"It happened because Neil thought I was Paul (Morris). I think he has got a bit of a thing about Paul from an incident between them earlier on in the year and I think he thought I was Paul at the time. He's got a grudge against Paul," Neal told AAP.
The Big Kev Racing super-sub received a one minute stop/go penalty for the breech in driver conduct following the incident, but was later exonerated by CAMS of further penalty.
Neal also claimed that a member of the Ford-Tickford garage threw an object at the windscreen of the Big Kev car on its return to pitlane, smashing the glass. It is believed this allegation is still under investigation by CAMS officials.
In other incidents over the weekend, the Matthew White Racing outfit received a wrap across the knuckles after a non-licensed team member briefly drove the car onto the circuit during Thursday practice. No fine was given.
Friday saw the Power Racing outfit come under investigation after it was alleged the engine of the team’s Falcon was revving above the legal limit during the previous day’s practice. The charge was upheld, and resulted in the team’s Thursday practice times being disallowed.
The South Pacific Motor Racing team had its Friday times dismissed after using incorrect tyres during the qualifying session.
John Bowe, Matthew White and Geoff Full each received a $500 fine for passing under yellow/red conditions throughout the weekend. Tyler Mecklem’s passing manoeuvre on the OzEmail Falcon during a red flag period on Sunday cost the young Bathurst debutant $250.
Garth Tander and Steven Johnson both copped a $200 penalty for exceeding the 60km/hr pitlane speed limit during Saturday’s Top Ten Shootout.
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