Photo: Bruce Jenkins / Toyota Racing Series
Toyota Racing Series championship challenger Arjun Maini has been stripped of his victory in race one of the penultimate round at Taupo.
Maini has been adjudged to have made a false start and receives an additional ten seconds, which demotes him to 12th in the classification.
He wasn’t the only one whose getaway was deemed to quick, with a similar punishment befalling Nikita Mazepin, who loses what would be his second top-ten finish in the championship.
The win, therefore, is inherited by Sam MacLeod, who picks up his second consecutive victory after a maiden triumph at Hampton Downs.
This isn’t the first time this season that Maini has lost a win post-race as he was previously denied at Teretonga with a penalty for restart procedures.
The news means that championship leader Lance Stroll moves up to third in the race one classification, while teammate Brandon Maisano takes over the reverse-grid pole in sixth.
Stroll now leads Maini by 87 points with six races left.