Jack Goff penalised for FP1 tangle

Jack Goff has been handed a reprimand and two points on his race license for his altercation with Hunter Abbott in FP1.

The MG driver went careering in to the back of Abbott’s Audi A4 in first practice after misjudging his braking point, resulting in Abbott missing out on FP2 and just making it out in time for qualifying.

“I still don’t agree with the decision,” said Goff. “We are told in the drivers briefing that if a car has his lights on then keep an eye in your mirrors and pull out of the way if you are warming your tyres up. I was on a quick lap and I believe Hunter was bedding in his tyres at the time so I was presumed he would stay out of the lap and let me past.

“He admitted to seeing me, but still pulled onto the racing line and slowed the car down. If it was me I would have backed out of the throttle on the back straight. You have to respect the decision of stewards, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept it.”

“I can’t thank Jack Goff at all for what he did in practice to my car,” offered Abbott. “But I also can’t thank my team enough for getting me on track in qualifying. We just thought there would be no way and what they’ve done is miraculous.

“It ain’t pretty and it’s probably still a bit crooked from the impact it took – the steering wasn’t quite bang-on straight and I had quite a bit of oversteer on turn-in – but I know they will work on the car tonight and it will be as good as it possibly can be for tomorrow’s races. I’m still definitely aiming for decent points in all three.”

Goff is now one reprimand away from reaching six penalty points and having to start his next race from the back of the grid.