A host of drivers did not make it to the control line in time to start a second run before the chequered flag fell on the 12-minute session.
Walkinshaw TWG driver Ryan Wood was the worst affected by the late-session congestion as a gearbox issue had kept him in pit lane during the first runs.
Wood was therefore out of sync with the field and trying to complete a flying lap when he came across a gaggle of cars in the final corners, forcing him to abandon his effort.
Dane, whose PremiAir team is second-to-last in the pit lane order and missed a second run with both drivers, was seen venting to Supercars head of motorsport Tim Edwards after the session.
“The second half of the field was severely compromised,” Dane explained on the TV broadcast.
“You have to push out more or less in order, you’ve got no option. It’s the longest pit lane that we go to, all past the F1 pits you’re at 40 kays an hour.
“We’ve got a long lap – the thick end of two minutes here – plus the whole sequence of cars coming out, the lead cars have got a huge advantage on that out-lap.
“You’re waiting for everyone to stream out onto the track before you can go, so it culminates to you’re touch-and-go on the time to do two runs.
“The people in the second half of the field were almost totally screwed but the first half of the field get away with it because they’re up the front of the grid.
“I’ve lived at the front of the grid longer than anyone in the championship and I know how it works. Living down here I can tell you is not brilliant from that point of view.
“It was extended by two minutes which serves well at every circuit probably other than this, but it’s a failure to recognise the special circumstances of this circuit.
“So those second runs should not have been counted, because it has to be fair on everyone. Everyone has to have a fair crack and they didn’t.”
TV commentator Garth Tander pushed back on Dane’s point, noting drivers had not been pushing to the line as they tried to create gaps.
“You cannot doubt Roland Dane’s passion for the sport,” said Tander.
“The only counter to that might be that we got a 12-minute session in on Thursday and everyone got two runs.
“Cam Waters actually did two push laps on the first run of this session, got back to pit lane and got a set of tyres and got out and got his second run in.
“Granted, Tickford are teams’ championship leaders and up the pointy end of pit lane…
“I understand he is absolutely aggrieved, but there was a whole lot of dawdling going on during that warm-up lap, it didn’t look like those cars were hustling to get to the line.
“Maybe tune up the stop watches in the future.”
Wood was meanwhile left to rue the early mechanical issue – which left his Toyota stuck in first gear – and the way the session was managed.
“I think it just comes with common sense at the end of the day,” he said of missing out on setting a time, resigning him to starting last in this evening’s race.
“The brains trust behind us is who we trust the most and they’re the ones managing the sessions and unfortunately 11 cars didn’t have their brains trust managing their session very well, by the looks.
“I’m sure they’re gutted as well because it’s not their intention. I’m not frustrated that I missed a run, I’m just frustrated that we didn’t get to execute what should have been a pretty decent lap.”
This article first appeared on Speedcafe.com, a sister site to MotorRacing.com.
