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Bathurst 2019 is run & done now, winner declared, end of story.
DJRTP have copped penalties for what they did, IMHO they got off lightly but I struggle with the idea of taking the win away and if that had happened, would have felt wrong.
To me, the biggest issue with what DJRTP did was that four lapped cars were denied the opportunity to get their laps back at that stage plus leading into that SC period, with different fuel loads etc, there was a handful of cars that might win or get on the podium, depending on the luck of the draw with further SC periods etc. With the gap put into the field, all those possibilities went out the window, meaning that we were effectively robbed of a pretty wild last 25-26 laps.
17 would still have been in contention and may have still won it but it just felt a bit flat I guess. Certainly no-one can say that another car would definitely have won were it not for the gap in the field.
One thing that I think is almost certain is that there'll be some new rule structure in place next year to prevent this type of situation again. Won't be easy to write as these things are often a question of degree on what is considered "fair enough". Back in the day, there WAS a rule in the book that I think would have covered this situation but it was removed when the current "team orders" rule was put in place after the 2006 season ender - it's clear that it may be needed again.
There will always be an asterisk against Rick Kelly's season title due to what happened at Phillip Island that year and I think that DJRTP have done Mr McLaughlin & Mr Premat a great disservice by potentially causing a similar asterisk to sit next to this year's Bathurst victory.
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