"But what made the race such a travesty was the manner in which one of the championships was claimed. It is really sad when the corporate need to win a championship at any cost to justify a budget line-item comes at the expense of sportsmanship, ethics and fairplay. And those qualities were left littered about the scrap heap by the time the checkers flew at Laguna. To be sure, Andy Pilgrim won his championship the old-fashioned way….he EARNED it every step of the way. One of the classiest acts in the paddock, when the job got tough during the season he just put his head down and did the absolute best he could. He is truly deserving, without doubt.

But otherwise…

Now, admittedly the Porsche gang was behind in the numbers game, particularly after some early damage to a couple of their other big players. But the way Wolf Henzler, Porsche’s lone remaining front-line contender was simply and blatantly MUGGED, and literally beaten into submission, was just horrendous, and shameful. I mean, even in Ferrari’s most infamous moments of “team orders” they didn’t flat take out any other competitors!

And using other members of your extended “corporate family” to help do your dirty work smacks of both bad sportsmanship and showmanship. In fact, it was the second GT race in a row that the fans both at the track and watching the tube were deprived, by corporate “management,” of what could have been some stellar racing. Which, as I recall, is what they PAY to see! Guess in some minds they’re ultimately just not all that important, eh?

All in all, a rather sad ending to what was for the most part a truly excellent adventure of a season!