Cadillac Racing’s Johnny O’Connell has been handed a 2.1-second penalty for “avoidable contact” following his collision with Patrick Long at Turn 5 while battling for the lead on the final lap of yesterday’s race, handing Parente his sixth win of the season.
The incident effectively ended Long’s hopes of winning the title, dropping him from second to fifth after running through the gravel on the outside while O’Connell continued and crossed the line first. Long needed to finish ahead of K-PAX Racing’s Alvaro Parente in the race to win the title, Parente was running third at the time of the incident.
“The penalty was accessed to Johnny O’Connell for avoidable contact entering turn five on the final lap of today’s GT/GTA/GT Cup Round 20,” said Greg Gill, CEO and president of WC Vision. “The stewards looked at various angles of the incident and determined that Johnny had two wheels off the track and came back onto the track, making contact with Patrick.
“This contact knocked Patrick off the track in Turn 5. And the penalty was determined this evening after hours of review.”
