In a post-race investigation, both of the Dempsey–Proton Racing LM GTE Am cars have been handed time penalties, altering the final result of the FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Fuji.
The penalties come to the Porsche-running Am team after it was revealed by the stewards that both cars had breached the minimum fuelling time during their pit stops. The #77 was hit with a 31 second time penalty, whilst the sister car was given a more severe 76 seconds. This sees the on-track second place finisher drop to fifth in class in the revised result.
Penalties could be far from over for the Dempsey-Proton team, as two further steward decisions stated that the fuelling log on both cars were found to be sending signals that appeared to be “intentionally modified” before the data was received by the FIA. The team have denied having any knowledge that tampering with their equipment had occurred, so the stewards have opened a further investigation.
The investigation will be resolved before the next round at Shanghai.
With the shuffle in class order, the #90 TF Sport, that lost second place with half hour to go, moves up one step of the podium, whilst the #98 Aston Martin Racing makes it a double podium for the British manufacturer.