Porsche was stripped of its victory at the six hours of the Glen https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/porsche-stripped-of-watkins-glen-win-bmw-inherits/10487705/
the decisions to: a) green flag the GTD start when a prototype was stranded at the exit of 1 b) not go immediately FCY when there was a P2 car in the barriers at 11 were not race control's finest moments. lucky both didn't result in massive crashes
I hate it when the winner is disqualified after a race. As a member of the public, I feel cheated. Why that wasn't spotted BEFORE the race ?
in this case it was excessive wear to the skid plate on the bottom of the car which happened during the race, so wouldn't have been caught before the race. Penske's appeal is based on the front plate being 1mm out of spec and the rear plate being in spec, so the penalty isn't warranted, but I think it's a pass/fail inspection item so probably pissing in the wind.
My issue with this is MSR getting to keep it's Daytona win. This seems like a much smaller deal than the MSR data manipulation.
Don't forget about P2/P3 qualifying on Saturday. The cars shouldn't have gone out in the first place. It started pouring right as that session started. It was a kinda weird weekend. Lots of mistakes from teams and drivers you don't expect mistakes from. I think these GTP cars must be really hard to drive because there were a number of incidents of the driver losing it on their own. There were also a lot of tire penalties in GTP and GTD. Very strange.
good point re: qualifying. the whole weekend was a bit of a **** show, support races extra crashy, weird race control decisions, first third of six hours was a bit of a mess. GTP cars don't look like they've had enough R&D time. also I think something is wrong with the tires if they're still trying to put heat in them halfway through green flag laps.
It was a weird weekend. I spent half the weekend checking weather updates on my phone lol. Sunday surprisingly stayed dry. There were a few times where we had rain at one part of the track and not another. I think that caught a few people out. Pretty sure that is what caused the crash that ended the 2nd Porsche race. Michelin made a late decision to bring an extra soft compound for the GTP cars. Brought them overnight Saturday so they would have them for Sunday. No one actually used them. Maybe because it was warmer and dryer than expected.
Yes I know, but I don't see the point of such stupid rule !! What's important is that the car started the race fully complying with the regulations. How the car finishes with the inevitable wear and tear is irrelevant, IMO. The skid plates are by definition supposed to make contact with the ground, therefore to wear. Duhhhh !! It's just like saying "but your tyres are worn, your brake pads are worn !!" It's stupid to expect a car to be in the same condition at the end of a race as when it started.
Regarding the crashes Watkins Glen has very little run off room. The armco is very close to the track so if you make a mistake it ends up being a big one. I think there are 2 gravel traps at the entire track.
yes and you’d think that would dissuade things from happening like, say, half the MX5 cup piling into each other but no such luck.
Lol MX5s basically bump draft the entire track on every lap. I am surprised more of those cars don't get destroyed each race.
but with aero cars, if you run too low it wears the skid faster and more. if you can wear it more you can run lower and be faster.... sjd
there's an old story of NASCAR teams spot welding bumpers on so they'd fall off during the race, reducing drag/increasing top speed, but passing post race tech because it was "crash damage"
From memory cars have failed tech due to ride height infringement. That was my first thought with this skid plate thing was ride height but I believe that would have been a different infringement. Hopefully there are some details on what this is.
