The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) has announced that Robby Gordon’s competition visa to race in future Australian events will be blocked. The announcement came a day after Gordon’s SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks competed at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway and following Gordon’s activity later in the day.
The series ran three races at Darwin, with Gordon finishing 2nd, 3rd and 2nd, respectively. The night following a race, Gordon brought Matt Brabham’s #83 truck to a local entertainment district, where he performed burnouts before exiting the area. The truck was subsequently impounded and Gordon was ordered to appear in court, where he plead guilty to four traffic charges and was fined $4,150 Australian for violating the city’s anti-hooning laws.
Gordon defended the incident, declaring that he was a professional racer and was aware of what he was doing. However, judge Richard Coates stated otherwise.
“I wish it was within my capacity to take away your professional driver’s license because I think you should be punished by the organization which permits you to drive on a race track,” he said.
“I asked [the security guards], ‘Hey, think I can whip a couple of doughies?’ and they said, ‘Hey, I don’t care’,” Gordon responded after the case. “I spun two donuts and put it on the trailer.”
“I have to be honest, I’ve done stuff like this probably 200 or 300 times over my career. Some cities promote it, but unfortunately, here in the Northern Territory, they frown on it.”
“If we come back next year, obviously, no donuts on Mitchell St.”
With the license ban, it’s unlikely that SST would be returning to Darwin, let alone Australia. The Virgin Australia Supercars, for whom SST races alongside as a support event, also falls under CAMS sanction, and while Gordon could still send the trucks to the country, it is doubtful that he would be willing to.
“With CAMS actively engaging more than ever with local communities, government, and corporate Australia to grow and promote our sport, so-called hoon behavior on public roads is not reflective of our values nor our member base and will not be tolerated,” said CAMS CEO Eugene Arocca.
“It is unfortunate that such actions have taken place after an otherwise professional and well organized event at Hidden Valley Raceway, and such behavior is not reflective of the organizing committee of that event or Supercars.”
The suspension of Gordon’s visa was not the first time that he and CAMS had been tangled. During March’s race weekend in Adelaide, Gordon was fined more than $1,800 by CAMS after the sanctioning body found four safety violations; two months later, at Perth, the two parties argued over adding a jump due to safety concerns.
The series does not have any more races in Australia scheduled for the remainder of the 2017 season. Its next race will take place in China at the FB Life Festival on October 6–7.
Featured image courtesy of @SSuperTrucks
