Baird defends McLaughlin penalties

The man responsible for handing out the penalties that ruined Scott McLaughlin's Supercars finale and any chance he had of winning the championship has spoken out to set the record straight.

Respected veteran Kiwi racer Craig Baird is the driving standards advisor for Supercars. He has been heavily criticised by fans on social media this week for enforcing the rule book but has methodically explained why he handed out the penalties to McLaughlin and corrected some mistruths around how he came to a verdict.

McLaughlin was issued with a pit lane penalty for speeding in the lane during his first stop while leading Sunday's final race. He then turned around Simona de Silvestro as he made his way back through the field, was involved in an incidentthat damaged his Ford at a safety car re-start and was caught up in a last lap incident that saw Craig Lowndes crash into the wall.

Baird is confident the three penalties given to McLaughlin were black and white.

"He was in a position where he had to roll through Sunday," Baird told the Herald. "He had basically won the championship and no one thought [title rival Jamie Whincup] had any sort of chance of fighting back.

"The first thing he did, which put him in a vulnerable position for the rest of the race, was speeding in pit lane.

Craig Baird (R) drove with David Reynolds last year but is the Supercars driving standards advisor. Photo / Getty Images

"People will say there is a volunteer on a radar gun, [Shane] van