After Richard Bradley of the No. 47 Oreca 05 Nissan of KCMG was initially ruled to be at fault by Race Stewards for the controversial late-race incident between he and G-Drive Racing's Gustavo Yacaman in last weekend's 6 Hours of Fuji, a new twist was brought to the situation as their original decision had been suspended shortly after as new evidence was presented.
Original ruling: Bradley brakes early
Video evidence and data saw the Race Stewards come to the conclusion that Bradley braked 37 meters (121 feet) earlier ahead of the corner than on any other lap, allowing Yacaman to make contact with the KCMG car, sending it into the wall and sliding into the runoff area of the coming corner.
“The Stewards consider that the fact to brake so early even in defending his position was potentially dangerous for other drivers as for himself,” said the Stewards' statement.
Because of this original ruling, Yacaman, of the No. 28 Ligier JS P2 Nissan-powered entry of G-Drive Racing, was said to be not responsible, contrary to the strong belief of those who watched the crash take place as well as the on-track events between the two cars that led to it. Additionally, no change was made to the race results for the LMP2 category.
The KCMG car left Fuji having earned zero points which aided the sister No. 26 Ligier of G-Drive, driven by Sam Bird, Roman Rusinov and Julien Canal to not only take the class victory but also the points lead entering the upcoming 6 Hours of Shanghai.
The incident:
Plot change: Bradley under full throttle
The KCMG crew brought new evidence to the Stewards' attention, stating that Bradley was under full throttle when Yacaman made contact with their Nissan-powered Oreca 05 entry.
The initial ruling that Bradley was at fault was suspended, and new evidence will be analyzed in the run up to the Shanghai round, prior to which a final ruling is expected to be announced.