CAMS decision a 'conspiracy': Rogers
15/5/2002 23:45 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
The decision to overturn Garth Tander’s contentious Adelaide podium result was a conspiracy, team owner Garry Rogers unbelievably claimed today.
An incensed Rogers has threatened legal action against the sport’s governing bodies AVESCO and TEGA, claiming the rules were manipulated and the process obstructed.
Tander was gifted a lap during the first leg of Adelaide’s Clipsal 500 in March after a bungled safety car deployment. But a CAMS investigatory tribunal ruled last week that the awarding of a lap was an over-compensation.
Tander was subsequently relegated to sixth in the race results, falling from third to sixth in the championship standings.
Rogers had until today to give notice of appeal, which he did not.
“The fact that the rules have been manipulated is extremely disappointing,” Rogers said in a statement today.
“It all smells like a conspiracy to me and that is simply not good enough.”
The Tander case has had more twists and turns than a murder mystery novel. Even rival team owner Larry Perkins became entangled in the complex regulatory web, appealing then withdrawing the appeal against an initial decision to abandon an inquiry into the matter.
"Clearly an arrangement was made between Mr. Perkins and CAMS to pervert the usual course,” said Rogers, claiming Perkins was refunded a supposedly non-refundable appeal fee.
But at the heart of the matter, Rogers insists CAMS had no right or jurisdiction to investigate in the first place. Rogers sees this as a breach of the contract between teams and administrators, which states rules will be administered fairly and without discrimination.
“They were following a course that was outside the rules set out in the AVESCO Operations Manual which specifically disadvantaged my team,” he said.
“I am completely at a loss to know why CAMS would do this other than to appease the Race Director Tim Schenken, who had apparently been concerned that he had made a mistake in Adelaide.”
Rogers has called on the body to honour the teams’ agreement and for AVESCO to “disassociate” themselves from the inquiry. Legal action is pending if his demands are not met.
“I have consistently been an advocate of resolving our differences within the rules and without recourse to legal proceedings, however I am totally frustrated and incensed at the ‘keystone cops’ antics adopted by our governing body, some or other of the team owners, and CAMS,” he said.
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