IMSA 2023

First the Daytona tire pressure stink, and now this. It's not IMSA's fault when a team's car can't pass post race inspection, but they end up being the ones that take the heat for DQing the winner.

You also can't say "it's just one MM," and let it side because next time it will be 2mm and then 3mm, so what's the point in even measuring if there is no line in the sand? That line has to be drawn somewhere, and it has to be enforced.

Toyota lost a Silverstone WEC race for the same reason. Since our rules are now the same, we have to follow suit. I hate it that it was 1mm got that them tossed, but it's a black and white infraction. It sucks, but them's the rules.

I'm also sure that BMW didn't want to win like that, and after the race they put in, they deserve better.
 
All that victory lane hullabaloo for nothing. What a let down. I guess we will see
what happens in the appeal protest. That still was a great pass for the lead.

"It means all four marques participating in the new-for-2023 hybrid-electrified GTP class in its debut season have now won in the first five races."
(source)
 
Doc Austin said:
First the Daytona tire pressure stink, and now this. It's not IMSA's fault when a team's car can't pass post race inspection, but they end up being the ones that take the heat for DQing the winner.

You also can't say "it's just one MM," and let it side because next time it will be 2mm and then 3mm, so what's the point in even measuring if there is no line in the sand? That line has to be drawn somewhere, and it has to be enforced.

Toyota lost a Silverstone WEC race for the same reason. Since our rules are now the same, we have to follow suit. I hate it that it was 1mm got that them tossed, but it's a black and white infraction. It sucks, but them's the rules.

I'm also sure that BMW didn't want to win like that, and after the race they put in, they deserve better.
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Before tech was finished an interview was published that the team felt lucky they made it to the finish after a slow pressure loss in one tire towards the end of the race. I wonder if they’re going to argue they had excessive skid wear due to that. Otherwise I can’t imagine how they could feel confident about their protest.

Such a shame the situation is after an otherwise good race.

 
FLRacingFan said:
Such a shame the situation is after an otherwise good race.
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Imagine winning LeMans and then being DQed for a 1mm infraction. Unfortunately the rules are the rules and you either enforce them or you invite utter chaos in post race scrutineering. I hate that this happened, but I would hate it worse if they didn't follow their own rule book. Pretty damm harsh, but what else can you do with a car that doesn't pass tech?

On the other side of the fence, imagine how much hell BMW would have raised if Porsche was allowed to slide. I see there point entirely too. 1mm probably didn't make a difference, unless, that is, you were second. Then it may as well be a mile. Legal, illegal, or black and white. The measurements are there for a reason.

There was a lot of unhappiness over Acura being allowed to keep it's Rolex win, so IMSA could not afford to screw the entire field like that again. Pretty much everyone was put in a bad position, including BMW who are probably too embarrassed to advertise the win.

I just hope those lost points don't determine the championship.
 
Doc Austin said:
It's not IMSA's fault when a team's car can't pass post race inspection, but they end up being the ones that take the heat for DQing the winner.
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Who's giving them heat? IMSA's actions sound legit to me. Penske's following the appeal process, and we'll see where it goes.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Who's giving them heat? IMSA's actions sound legit to me.
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The rulz is the rulz. No questioning the decision.........just disappointment.

The heat is going to come from mostly from internet "experts," and IMSA probably shouldn't care what they think anyway. We don't have too many of those kind here, but at another forum full of "experts," IMSA is getting crucified. Again, IMSA probably shouldn't care what those people think.

I also don't know if a total DQ is appropriate for a 1mm violation. Since that's the rules, that's the result. I have no qualms about it, outside of being disappointed, but I do think they need to look at the rule and maybe make the penalty less severe next time. I don't know what they should do, but it sucked to turn the TV off happy to have seen a great race and then hours later learn the result got spoiled. I guess I should be happy that at least it was fun while it was happening.

However, the precedent was already set when Toyota was DQed from a 1, 2 at Silverstone for the same thing. Since everything is under the convergence banner, my guess is those rules, and that precedent apply here too.

Charlie Spencer said:
Penske's following the appeal process, and we'll see where it goes.
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I'm not even sure what to wish for. DQ is ridiculous, but it would be worse to let a car out of spec win. I'm not angry with the decision. I'm just disappointed that hearing about it ruined the good buzz we all got off a great race.

The good news is Mosport isn't that far away. Hopefully we can have a clean race we can all feel good about.
 
And remember, Monza is not that far away either. We've got enough good sportscar racing on both sides of the pond to make up for this.
 
The biggest complaints I’ve seen stem from the fact that Porsche had all the points and the win taken away altogether, compared to MSR getting last place points and keeping the Rolex win at the start of the season. It seems a lot of those people are forgetting the Rolex results had already been final for quite a long while - a month, IIRC - and the violation wasn’t something that could be detected through standard post-race tech. It wasn’t until HPD’s teardown and software review revealed something that it was reported to the series, and at that point there wasn’t too much that could be done.
 
Considering the time lapse, Shank's penalty was about as harsh as could be made while still being fair. Acura showed some real honesty in pointing out their infraction. They could have stayed quiet, so they probably deserved a little slack.

It was bad enough to see Porsche get the hook a few hours after the race yesterday. Imagine how upset we would be if they bounced Acura a month after that Rolex!

We've got a new set of very complicated rules, and a new set of very complicated cars, so we're probably going to go through this sort of thing again. Race control is a hell of a lot harder than most of us can imagine, and so is scrutineering, especially as complex as these cars are.
 
Might now be a bad idea to bring it to the Petite for a tune up for both the team and the car. By then, BMW might need any points a third car could bring.

racer.com

BMW WEC works partner WRT completes first Hypercar test

Belgian outfit BMW M Team WRT has completed a first test with the M Hybrid V8 at Motorland Aragon in Spain, ahead of its 2024 FIA WEC Hypercar debut. The team, which currently competes in the FIA W…
racer.com racer.com
 
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Screenshot_20230704_092246_Adobe Acrobat.jpg
Screenshot_20230704_092301_Adobe Acrobat.jpg


34 for Mosport.
 
I don’t know if they’ll crack it this weekend but it’s cool to see they’ve already cracked the 200 and 190 MPH barriers at Daytona and Watkins Glen this year and could conceivably hit 190 at two more later in the season. These are some badass card on badass tracks.

 
Doc Austin said:
racer.com

Braun tops CTMP first practice for MSR Acura

Colin Braun pulled out a late flyer to take the top spot in the first practice session for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Braun posted a time of 1m07…
racer.com racer.com
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Until the last red was lifted for a quick sprint with three or four minutes left GTP was covered by about six or seven tenths and all of GTD/GTD Pro by a second. Gonna be a tight weekend.
 
Damn, was that the GTD leader? It looked like a racing deal but I've seen only one replay.

Caution at about halfway. I've seen more entertaining, competitive races here. I hope some of these teams can find something for the class leaders. The only way Acura loses GTP is by their own error.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Damn, was that the GTD leader? It looked like a racing deal but I've seen only one replay.

Caution at about halfway. I've seen more entertaining, competitive races here. I hope some of these teams can find something for the class leaders. The only way Acura loses GTP is by their own error.
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3rd in GTD Pro. Looked like Gounon had a big snap mid-corner. Pretty big crash, glad Gunn seems okay.

MSR get jumped by the 10 and 31 in the pits so I guess we’re in for something now.
 
Tijmen van der Helm is doing a great job holding everyone off in the banana boat. I thought the factory guys would’ve chewed him up and spit him out by now.
 
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