Corvette driver Dani Juncadella has been hit with a €5,000 fine for showing his middle finger to BMW rival Augusto Farfus during the World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain.
Juncadella and Farfus were locked in a prolonged fight over fifth place in the LMGT3 category, with the pair making contact at Turn 10 as Juncadella attempted to overtake.
The Spaniard eventually completed the pass at Turn 11 late in the seventh hour, but made it clear that he was unimpressed with Farfus’ robust defence by gesturing towards the BMW driver.
However, his action was judged «inappropriate» by race stewards, issuing a €1,000 immediate fine and a further €4,000 suspended fine, contingent on no further breaches of Article 12.2.1.l of the International Sporting Code.
In their judgement, the stewards noted: “Having reviewed the video evidence, the stewards determined that, while exiting Turn 11, the driver of Car 33 made an inappropriate hand gesture (middle finger) towards the driver of Car 31.
“Considering the matter extensively, the stewards concluded that such behaviour is rude, disrespectful, and wholly inappropriate in motorsport. The stewards therefore decided to impose the penalty described above.”
The incident drew parallels to January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, when Farfus earned the wrath of another Corvette driver, Tommy Milner, for his antics.
Juncadella, who will step up to Hypercar next year with Genesis, finished the race in sixth place in the #33 Corvette Z06 GT3.R he shared with Jonny Edgar and Ben Keating.
In a separate ruling, Juncadella was reprimanded for causing contact with Farfus at Turn 10, with the stewards noting that “Car 33 was never fully alongside Car 31 during the manoeuvre. However, Car 33 did not gain any lasting advantage.”
Farfus, Yasser Shahin and Timur Boguslavskiy wound up seventh in the #31 WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo.
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