Could the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s first GTP title be decided in postrace inspection this weekend in the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta?
It’s not like it hasn’t happened already this season.
Twice in eight races, the winners in GTP have been found to be outside the rulebook in post-race inspection and suffered penalties that have dramatically affected the championship standings coming into the season-ending Petit Le Mans.
Here’s a look at every winning team’s worst nightmare:
Porsche’s Penalty at the Glen
At Watkins Glen in June, the front skid plate on the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport’s first-placed 963 was found to be slightly below the minimum as a result of wear during the race.
That ruling elevated the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 to the top step on the podium and moved the No. 6 Porsche to the rear of the GTP field. The penalty cost Porsche drivers Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy 130 points. Coming into the Petit, Jaminet and Tandy are five points behind leaders Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims of Action Express Racing.
The victory for the BMW M RLL has helped pull Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly within 38 points of leaders Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims at Action Express Racing’s Cadillac team. Team principal Bobby Rahal acknowledged the Glen result, the team’s only victory, was an important step.
“There is no question that our GTP program was a tremendous undertaking for RLL, for BMW, and for everyone involved with the BMW M Hybrid V8,” he said. “Certainly, the victory at Watkins Glen was a highlight and five podiums so far for the No. 25 car is a great accomplishment. Comparing where we were only one year ago when we began with this new formula to our test last week at Road Atlanta in preparation for Petit Le Mans, we have made some great gains. Historically, Petit has been a good weekend for us so we can’t help but be optimistic.”
The Watkins Glen result also cost Porsche dearly in the manufacturers’ championship. It took its points from the result of the No. 7 Porsche, suffering a 70-point setback as a result of the penalty. On the strength of strong showings in the sprint races, the German manufacturer leads Cadillac by eight points in the factory standings headed into the finale and is 61 points ahead of Acura.
In a pre-race zoom meeting, Urs Keratle, Porsche’s director of its GTP program, expressed no regrets about the costly incident at the Glen, describing the first GTP season as a “fair fight.”
Meyer Shank Racing won the Rolex 24, but took a 200-point hit after the race.
Remember the Rolex
Meyer Shank Racing was allowed to keep its victory at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, but lost 200 driver and team points when it was belatedly discovered the team had used Michelin tire pressures below the minimum.
While the team and its drivers, Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun, are mathematically eligible to win the championship, the penalties leave them a distant sixth behind five other teams/drivers.
Acura, meanwhile, received full points for Daytona, enabling it to hold third in the manufacturers’ standings in front of BMW and behind Porsche and Cadillac headed into the season finale.
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