Risi Fuming About Pit Lane Incident

Inaction from officials at PLM regarding the pit lane pile up when the Risi Ferrari
stopped for the red light and subsequently hit by the factory Porsche and then the
Corvette causes Risi to reevaluate his involvement in Tudor USCC.

IMSA - IMSA: Risi team still fuming after Petit Le Mans crash, series responds

BHW

 

I hate to say it, but if that was the Ferrari running into the back of a Porsche or Corvette (both multi-million dollar factory programs, doing a lot to promote the sport and fans love them), you'd have seen the penalty issued to Risi.

that's the problem with NASCARIMSA.....they're operating under the old, and IMVHO corrupt, NASCAR style of sanctioning....bend the rules for people writing the biggest checks.

 

Let's not forget the debacle at Sebring where the factory Porsche made "avoidable contact"
with the Ferrari at the Hairpin but officials penalized the Alex Job Porsche for the infraction.

BHW

 

excellent example.

 

Don't blame them. They were completely screwed by that.

Teams are leaving, Daytona Prototype still destroying the competition, TV coverage is appalling. NASCAR is doing their best to kill road racing in America and I think it's working.

 

So, just like NASCAR, some rules apply to some teams and some don't.

It won't be a surprise to see PWC change up its format to include more endurance
type races.

BHW

 

I hope PWC is able to fill the void created by Tudor.

 

So, when teams like ESM, SRT Viper, Muscle Milk, Dyson (and who knows how many more)
leave Tudor USCC for greener pastures in WSC or PWC, will the only teams left be
DP and GTD then?

Or, are they griping too?

BHW

 

you forgot AIM, and most importantly, Dempsey: Changes in the Works at Dempsey Racing - Sportscar365

The Dempsey one is particularly bad news, as they are pretty much the only connection between endurance sports car racing in the US and the "mainstream" media, sports or otherwise. they lose millions in publicity if Dempsey goes to WEC.

 

Whoa. One million dollars MORE per car than the GTC budget.......for a GT America?

If I was spending that kind of cash while in the cluster than is TUSC, I'd jump ship, too.

 

yeah, crazy. I haven't seen a breakdown on those cost overruns, but I wonder how much of it was parts & testing due to endless BoP changes.

 

Man, I wonder what that is over their estimated budget going into the season? No matter how large the budget is, a million dollars is still a ton of money.

 

good question.

I also wonder if that overrun includes amortizing the cost of the GTD car over just two seasons (14 and 15), as since I understand it the GT-America is obsolete in TUSC after next year.

 

How laughable is it that when Dave Sims went to protest he was denied entry to Race Control?
Can't blame Mr. Risi one bit if he decides to play in WEC (or PWC) instead of the clearly biased "not invented here" mess that is Tudor.
As far as PWC going to a more endurance format let's not forget that one of the big attractions in that series is short races with no pit stops. Fewer crew, lower budgets for tires, etc.
Let's also not forget to rail on Tudor for the disaster that is P2 cars on crap tires, a merger that forced DP owners to spend $400,000 on upgrades for obsolete crapwagens and a BoP that still has P2 cars being 6.x seconds a lap off the pace. Not to mention the oft-repeated charge that the DP drivers know they can withstand some contact and drive accordingly.

 

It is truly sad what has happened to road racing in this country. I'm sure glad my life has spanned the golden age, from world manufacturers (Sebring, Watkins Glen and others) to the original CanAm and TransAm, to the glory days of IMSA prototypes. I wouldn't drive more than 30 minutes to watch a current IMSA race. The only hope for US road racing is more Indy car races at tracks like Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta and Road America.

 

This quote by Barfield is really infuriating...

"In this incident, there was footage, but ultimately, in terms of being able to see the situation
from beginning to end [with Pilet], the lighting conditions and everything else you would want
to have input on about the situation, we all agreed in race control there wasn't indisputable
evidence we could assess full blame to any party. We decided it was inconclusive because we
didn't have all the data we felt we needed. Yes, the in-car from the Porsche was compelling,
but still painted only part of the picture, not the whole picture.

"We had a car hitting another car that was legitimately stopped, but there were too many
assumptions involved to make a definitive call and the video didn't show," Barfield added.
"You can't penalize someone based on assumptions, even if your gut tells you you're right.
You need evidence and facts. Even when you feel it's the right thing to take action, it leads
you down the wrong path if you aren't rooted in facts and data first."

The footage was "compelling"? A penalty would have been based on "assumptions"?
"Lighting conditions"? What lighting conditions? The light looked perfectly good.

The television footage was conclusive. The Ferrari stopped for the red light at the end of
pit lane per the rules. The onboard cameras in both the Porsche and Corvette showed Pilet
and Magnussen both looking down and pulling at their safety straps.

Here is an assumption, should we assume that had the Ferrari not been there, that Pilet and
Magnussen would have both run the red light? The penalty for that (I'm assuming) is
a timed stop & go.

The way Barfield is talking, it is almost as though Barfield is using lawyer speak in trying to
pin blame for this incident on the Ferrari with the Porsche and Corvette mere bystanders
which were caught out.

The fact that Dave Sims was barred from entering the race control room because he didn't
have a media credential is also very curious. Since when are members of the media allowed
in to race control? Is IMSA race control as it is at NASCAR events, a locked room high above
the track?

Frankly, I wouldn't blame Mr. Risi for leaving Tudor USCC one bit. If IMSA is trying to run
off the class operations in their paddock, they're doing a bang-up job.

BHW

 

^^^ meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

 

Unfortunately, you're right. If it was anyone here, nobody would care or know the difference, but an A-list actor is the only thing that lets people know.

My opinion-Motor racing will die in the next 20 years and the make a comeback after the costs drop

 

some Dempsey anecdotes:

- my gf's family knows nothing of racing. they live in metro ATL, and hadn't heard of Road Atlanta...but they knew that Patrick Dempsey owned a racing team, and in their opinion "he's really good at it".

- there are only two teams that get any lines at IMSA autograph sessions: Corvette, who draws a crowd of baby boomer white men, and Dempsey, who attracts women, minorities, and people under 30.

IMSA needs Dempsey, badly.

 

Agree. Even the fans joke about it when they go to the other teams/tables for autographs about the big line around Dempsey's trailer but no lines elsewhere. It's all in good fun though, and all the teams love having Dempsey there because he's always interacting with the fans and bringing a lot of new people to the track.

I actually feel sorry for him at the races... there's always people waiting outside his trailer for a picture or an autograph and I've never once seen him be anything other than a perfect professional and always smiling/talking with them.

However, that's how he gets the official support from Porsche in a "customer racing class" unlike the other teams... so I don't feel too sorry for him!

-mike

 

agree, he's a great ambassador for the sport, not just with media but fans, and gives a far greater ROI to sponsors than most (any?) other teams. he'd be a big loss to IMSA.

 

Did you see the crowd around him at LeMans? It was massive

 

Porsche and Corvette are true factory 2 car teams and TUSCC seems intent on showing them favoritism. POOR POOR management IMO

 

Wasn't the Viper team favored with continuing 'balance of performance' changes this year?

More than a few years ago, ALMS allowed themselves 2 BOP changes/year..at least that what an ALMS guy told me. Are there any such restrictions in Tudor?