IMSA 2023

So....10 4th place finishes, ex., is equal to 8 wins and 2 DNFs. For a guy who grew up with F1 doing 9 6 4 3 2 1, do you feel there's 'a lot on the line'? You may say 'yes', it just doesn't seem there's ample reward for winning to me.
Combine that with 20 minute yellow flags(Road America...do other tracks vary?), it can hardly be called racing. You may again disagree....but I'd appreciate knowing why.
Cheers!

 

the single biggest change IMSA could make to improve their racing is change their yellow flag procedures. they take 20 minutes pretty much everywhere. ruins the show on the sprint races.

 

since endurance racing is how many laps you can complete in a given time, I think giving laps back is against the spirit of the sport

it's not just that...close pits, freeze field, let prototypes pit, let GT pit, yada yada. it just takes forever.

I understand that some tracks have teams double stacked in pit stalls but let those teams figure it out.

 

screwing up a good thing is what the French do

 

now, about those driver ratings….

 

I don't think that giving a second chance to those who messed up is in the spirit of the race either.
The role of the organisers isn't to manage the race safely, not to orchestrate entertainment.
Le Mans is an ENDURANCE race, and terrific come-backs from cars that have been held back have occured in the past.

 

Depends on who you're referring to as the "organizers" but in my world, the role of the organizers is to orchestrate entertainment. Mostly in the form of rules made before hand.

It's what the rules are all about, yes safety, but also entertainment. Specifically great competition on the track.

How yellow flags are handled is part of that.

 

That sucks! Yeah it seemed like the BoP was a little off in the GT class at Daytona.

 

Personally I am old fashion, and I don't like "stage managed" races where leaders are regularly robbed of the advantage they have built up to give a second chance to those who couldn't keep up.
Using artificial means like yellow flags, safety car period, or virtual yellows to bunch up the field, unlap the stragglers and provoque another rolling start is against what racing is all about, in my book: let's the best win.
In the past, some great wins where achieved with very large margins, and, righly so, no intervention of the race directors.
I remember Jackie Stewart winning the German GP at the Nurburgring by ... 5 minutes, and I saw Pedro Rodriguez winning an World Endurance race in the rain at Brands Hatch by a margin of no less than 5 laps over the field ! Both gaps were enormous.
I don't remember the spectators rioting because they were robbed of entertainement in these occasions; instead they had witnessed milestone performances that went straight in motor racing legend
I get it that the paying public has different expectations now than 50 years ago, and the organizers have to satisfy their taste, which is a shame. But more and more, I see races totally ruined by unwanted intervention.

 

They are not the first team to use that subterfuge.

 

won't be the last, either...

 

I think we're talking past each other and might be in a more similar place than it seems.

I'm not asking for anyone to be robbed or for stragglers to be placed next to the podium cars. I actually am not big on lapped cars being "unlapped" under yellow.

But I do recognize races are managed and sometimes yellow flags are part of that.

Like when under yellow, the back of the pack is allowed to drive around the track and catch up to the rest of the pack so the front guys don't have to race through them on restart. That's actually a nod to the front, at the expense of those running behind them.

Just sayin', rules and race management are part of the deal. The best rules allow for the best competition, er, uh, entertainment.

 

Amen.

 

I don’t see why tire pressures should be regulated. These teams have engineers who are at least as astute as the tire manufacturers’ who, to be honest, are covering their asses to a certain extent. The team engineers aren’t going to allow any unsafe tire pressures.

 

Fully agree on this one.
Races at the higher level couldn’t and shouldn’t be staged by artificials subterfuges (BOP, drs, red flag etc ..)

 

But.....the reality is the exact opposite, yah?

Sent from my SM-A102U using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

Any watch long beach!!!! Real Hero to Zero stuff!!!

Here's the highlights...imsa.tv should have a replay up soon. Peacock is showing the replay...

 

good race. nice to see the 963 get a win after a rough start.