Hong Kong driver Leung Tsz Wa was declared the winner of this year’s Macau Roadsport Challenge just hours after the race ended Sunday. This outcome resulted from stewards imposing post-race penalties on seven racers, including the top three finishers (Lou Cheok In, Jerónimo Badaraco, and Cheung Chun Yuen).
The issue involved a breach of Safety Car procedures during the race restart after several incidents led to the Safety Car being deployed.
As the Safety Car pulled into the pit lane, Damon Chan hit the barrier at the end of R Bend,
causing several competitors to slow down behind him.
This situation gave other racers an opportunity to move to the front of the race by unlawfully overtaking the slow-moving frontrunners, as the rules state that the race is only officially restarted after the first competitor crosses the line.
After receiving a formal complaint, the Stewards’ panel analyzed footage of the moments before the race restart, deciding that Lou, Badaraco, and Cheung, among others, had overtaken competitors ahead of the pack before these cars had crossed the start/finish line, thereby gaining an unfair advantage.
A 30-second penalty was then assigned to seven racers, which moved the win to Leung, who had crossed the line in fourth. Similarly, Adrian Chung was promoted to second, and Tsang Pak Yin to third.
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