CRAIG Lowndes is a man who has earned both respect from his rivals and legion of fans during his motor sport career, so when the Supercars star labels something against "the spirit of the rules", people listen.
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The seven-times Bathurst 1000 winner who placed fourth in this year's Great Race alongside Jamie Whincup, was one of those who criticised the go-slow tactics which DJR Team Penske driver Fabian Coulthard employed during a safety car period.
It was an incident which saw Coulthard relegated from sixth to 21st while DJR Team Penske was handed a $250,000 fine and docked 300 points from their teams' championship tally.
The fine, of which $100,000 was suspended until the end of 2021, was the largest ever imposed in the history of the Supercars series.
"That the fine has been the biggest that the category has ever put on any race team, so I think that sort of speaks volumes about obviously what went on," Lowndes said.
"Me, personally, I don't think it was in the spirit of the rules or the race.
"Everyone wanted to see a hard and fast race towards the end, and we didn't get to see that. It wasn't in the spirit of racing and not what we would've done."
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Lowndes said he felt the incident also took away from the efforts Scott McLaughlin and Alex Premat who won the Bathurst 1000 in the other DJR Team Penske car.
"I think that people will remember Bathurst for what it was now, not for the win. I think that's the down side of it," he said.
"Bathurst is all about the Peter Brock Trophy and having a hard and fast race to the finish. Scotty, yes he had one of the fastest cars there that weekend, and he stands on the top step, but as I said in the spirit of the race it wasn't what I wanted to see."
