Supercars: Red Bulls disqualified from dual front-row finish

Red Bull Ampol Racing stars Shane van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney have been sensationally disqualified from their Supercars season-opening 1-2 triumph in Newcastle with David Reynolds securing pole position for the weekend’s final race. Motorsport Australia officials announced the disqualifications on Sunday after convening following protests by rival teams Tickford Racing and Walkinshaw Andretti United over the driver cooling systems in the Red Bull team’s Camaros following Saturday’s race. They upheld the protests, finding the cars were in breach of rule C16.2.1.1, with the driver cooling systems not correctly placed within the car cockpit. “The Head of Motorsport’s clear determination is that the systems in issue do not comply with the rules,” the decision read. Both Red Bull cars had their cooling systems to the right of the driver and packed with dry ice, instead of the passenger side where the rules stipulate. Their cooling boxes were placed in the correct area for Sunday’s qualifying and top-10 shootout, where van Gisbergen qualified fifth fastest and Feeney seventh. Red Bull Ampol said they would appeal the findings. “The team has sought permission from the Supercars head of motorsport prior to race 1 of the Supercars championship, which was granted, and we acted upon this permission,” Red Bull Ampol said in an Instagram post. “This was not a performance enhancement method, but a driver safety tool. “Our team ethos is to race hard and fair every time we hit the track, and our full focus is on today’s race in Newcastle.” Due to the disqualification, Monster Energy Racing’s Cam Waters was promoted to be the race one winner, with Chaz Mostert second and Brodie Kostecki third. Red Bull have 72 hours to lodge their appeal, with proceedings then going to a three-person tribunal at a later date. Reynolds registered his 16th career pole after dominating both sessions of Sunday’s qualifying for Penrite Racing. He will start on the front row alongside Mostert, with James Golding third and Waters fourth. Reynolds was the final car out in Sunday’s shootout and secured pole by just five one thousandths of a second. James Courtney became Supercars’ first casualty of the weekend when he shunted his car in sector two of the shootout leaving his team in a tight race to be race-ready for the 3.20pm AEDT start.