» V8s: Whincup, Courtney docked points

While both celebrated victory during last weekend’s season-opening Clipsal 500 races, James Courtney and Jamie Whincup were both slapped with 25-point penalties after being found guilty of careless driving in Races 2 and 3 respectively.

Having claimed victory and a third place in Saturday’s two races, Whincup looked set to win Sunday’s 250-kilometre feature race until he was hit with a pit lane drive-through penalty after his car controller had touched the car during his final pit stop.

The breach broke the rule governing the number of team personnel who can service a car during a pit stop, and – despite vocal protests from the Red Bull Racing team – he was hauled into the pit lane for a drive-through penalty, dropping him well down the order.

While trying to recover lost ground, Whincup collided with Michael Caruso’s Nissan at the Turn 9 hairpin, which resulted in race-ending suspension damage for both. That later led to a visit to the stewards’ office, where newly-appointed Driving Standards Observer Jason Bargwanna decided that a 25-point deduction to Whincup’s championship tally was appropriate.

Courtney was the beneficiary from Whincup’s penalty and ultimately went on to win Race 3, but he was also deducted 25 points from his championship tally following an incident in Saturday’s second race.

Courtney tried a rather ambitious passing move on both Lee Holdsworth’s Erebus AMG and Scott Pye’s Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon at Turn 3.

But his attempts to squeeze between the pair resulted in rather predictable contact for both, with Courtney coming off worse after his passenger door was ripped off his HRT Holden.

Courtney’s Walkinshaw Racing stablemate Nick Percat was also hit with a 25-point penalty for colliding with Michael Caruso in Race 1.

The points deductions for both Whincup and Courtney saw them drop positions in the current Drivers’ Championship standings, with Courtney dropping from fourth to fifth overall, while Whincup dropped two spots and now lies seventh.

Whincup’s teammate Craig Lowndes – who claimed one win and two second-placed finishes over the weekend – leads the Drivers’ Championship standings on 282 points, 52 points clear of Brad Jones Racing’s Fabian Coulthard.

The current (adjusted) championship standings are as follows:

	Driver	Team / Entry	Points
1.	Craig Lowndes	Triple Eight Holden	282
2.	Fabian Coulthard	Brad Jones Racing Holden	230
3.	Shane van Gisbergen	Tekno Autosports Holden	221
4.	Rick Kelly	Nissan Motorsport	198
5.	James Courtney	TWR Holden	192
6.	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Performance Racing	189
7.	Jamie Whincup	Triple Eight Holden	174
8.	Tim Slade	TWR Holden	163
9.	Garth Tander	TWR Holden	150
10.	James Moffat	Nissan Motorsport	140
11.	Michael Caruso	Nissan Motorsport	133
12.	Russell Ingall	Lucas Dumbrell Holden	121
13.	David Wall	Dick Johnson Racing Ford	121
14.	David Reynolds	Ford Performance Racing	120
15.	Scott McLaughlin	Volvo Polestar Racing	117
16.	Jack Perkins	Ford Performance Racing	115
17.	Dale Wood	Brad Jones Racing Holden	112
18.	Lee Holdsworth	Erebus Motorsport AMG	111
19.	Will Davison	Erebus Motorsport AMG	72
20.	Todd Kelly	Nissan Motorsport	70
21.	Jason Bright	Brad Jones Racing Holden	66
22.	Scott Pye	Dick Johnson Racing Ford	61
23.	Chaz Mostert	Ford Performance Racing	51
24.	Robert Dahlgren	Volvo Polestar Racing	39
25.	Nick Percat	TWR Holden	24