GuyIncognito

I agree.

good luck this weekend! might get to stop by and say hello Sunday.

Captain Slow

A more vitriolic rant from Leo Parente.. - Can't disagree with him though.

AudiOn19s

It was fantastic. They battled the whole second half of the race.

mklaskin

Oh sure, pick on the fat guy

Cory M

If you have Netflix you can stream a couple of good MotoGP documentaries, "Faster" and "Fastest". Great racing.

multi21

Exactly. Not a smart move in an endurance race and almost always going to get a penalty. Fault was pretty clear

ProCoach

^^This^^

Matt Romanowski

All races are sprints now.

hf1

OK, there seems to be a consensus against my opinion so I'd like to learn the error of my ways. I justified my stance by explaining how the Porsche had established a significant overlap with the Ferrari ahead of the turn. How would you explain/justify your judgment? What would be your exact reason for penalizing the Porsche?

We already established that it was a risky (not the smartest) move on Porsche's part from an enduro strategy perspective. But risky =/= guilty so let's stop repeating that and rather focus on apportioning fault for the incident.

ProCoach

Ok. There is no "incident" if there is an NOT an overtaking driver, the Porsche.

From the IMSA Code on "Passing"

ON TRACK PROTOCOL

6.17.1 PASSING
It is the responsibility of both the overtaking Driver and the Driver being overtaken to assure safe overtaking at racing speeds. A car traveling alone may use the full width of the track. Overtaking may be either right or left depending on the conditions of the moment.

6.17.3 AVOIDABLE CONTACT
Any Driver who, in the sole opinion of the Race Director and/or Stewards, initiates avoidable contact with another competitor, whether or not such contact interrupts the other competitor’s lap times, track position or damages other competitor’s cars, and whether or not such actions result in actual contact, may be warned or penalized pursuant to Art. 8 of the IMSA CODE. In accordance with Art. 9.1.3 (1), any action or decision (or any alleged inaction or non-decision) taken by or imposed by the Race Director, Stewards or IMSA Officials in this regard is not subject to protest or appeal.

6.17.4 UNJUSTIFIABLE RISK
Any Participant who, in the sole opinion of the Race Director and/or Stewards, engages in any behavior deemed to represent an unjustifiable risk or reckless endangerment may be warned or penalized pursuant to Art. 8 of the IMSA CODE. In accordance with Art. 9.1.3 (1), any action or decision (or any alleged inaction or non-decision) taken by or imposed by the Race Director, Stewards or IMSA Officials in this regard is not subject to protest or appeal.

1) The Porsche initiated avoidable contact by beginning the attempted pass into the braking zone.

2) The Porsche realized TOO LATE that he could not make it.

3) The Ferrari was on line headed to the apex. His nose was ALWAYS ahead.

4) The Porsche HIT the Ferrari and spun it around.

5) The Porsche (the wrong one) was assessed a penalty by the Race Director/Stewards.

6) The penalty is not appealable.

hf1

Thanks Peter. Comments below...

Establishing overlap is not "initiating contact".

He could not make what? A complete pass? Is there a rule saying that he must complete a pass (put his nose ahead of the passed car's nose) before the turn?

So if my nose is ahead I get to drive into whomever I want? Tough luck for the car right next to me and couple of feet behind? How would any passes be completed if this was the rule? The car in front would just slam into whoever is coming from behind and get them penalized.

The Porsche was maintaining its position NEXT to the Ferrari, as snug as physically possible to the apex/edge. It was the Ferrari that had the choice to either drive through the turn side by side (give the Porsche racing space) or to hit it. It is the Ferrari that initiated the avoidable contact.

ProCoach

No, but in this case, the Porsche put himself into an untenable position, one he failed to recognize the futility of until it was too late. The move to establish overlap with another car raises the risk/benefit ratio substantially, requires heightened awareness and trust in the other guy not to do something totally untoward. It is the overtaking car's decision to put himself in HARM'S way, which is what the Porsche did, not the Ferrari.

No, no rules that the pass has to be completed other than to TAKE AWAY the passed car's ability to turn in WITHOUT HITTING the overtaken car, which most certainly did NOT occur here. The deceleration rate of the Ferrari was greater than the Porsche, resulting in a situation where the Porsche realized TOO LATE that he had no "out" or other option than to hit the Ferrari. Which is, BTW, what caused all the fuss...

If your nose was ahead, they'd hit you in the side. Pretty proof positive that they weren't looking... Again, by being alongside for some time and making sure that SOME part of your car is in the sight line of the overtaken car so they HAVE NO CHOICE but to relinquish the path to the apex to you is very different than what happened here.

I don't see that the Porsche "presented" well enough to make the Ferrari think anything other than what he did. This ain't tiddly-winks, and these are all big boys. The Porsche's grasp was not equal to his reach, period.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

Off to Road Atlanta to see how they do it in PCA Club Racing land...

ProCoach

Another domino dropping...

http://www.pickettracingteam.com/New...0Laguna%20Seca

hf1

Thanks Peter. Nothing wrong with that. I just expected that big boys should have positional awareness (Not the Porsche's fault if the Ferrari didn't see him) and leave racing space when overlap gets established. I thought "just driving my line" and "owning the apex if pass is not completed" was for the little boys.

User 52121

I don't see their decision to pull out as being due to TUSC screw ups. Sounds like they just don't feel comfortable with the new car. While we might recognize the team as a long-time ALMS competitor, they're essentially new as they're new to this car. IMO not much different from a brand-new team jumping into the series. His only comment about the series was "the speed differential between the DP cars and the P2s is still quite big" and based on lap times and qualifying results (alternating DP/LMP/DP/LMP) for grid position I'd say they're already pretty closely matched.