The 24 Hours of Daytona which opened the 2024 season of the IMSA SportsCar Championship last weekend experienced moments of dismay when in the tense finale the checkered flag was shown early.
Everyone noticed the strangeness given that there was still at least one more lap left on the clock to complete the scheduled 24 Hours, but the yellow came when the leader, Felipe Nasr, was waved with the white flag indicating the last returned.
The Brazilian at the time was struggling to keep his #7 Porsche ahead of Tom Blomqvist's #31 Cadillac which was following in his slipstream, so he concentrated on his work, but noticed something wasn't going right.
“On the radio they told me to push to the end, but I was confused too – explained the Penske Motorsport Porsche driver – I don't know if there were two white flags because I was concentrating on every corner, braking point and traffic, I wanted to make sure I didn't make any mistakes until the end.”
Nasr crossed the finish line with the time set at 23h58'24″723, therefore with at least one more lap to go. But the checkered flag had already been waved, so the race was officially over.
On Monday afternoon, IMSA, questioned by Motorsport.com about the strange ending, sent out an official communication to explain what happened and admit the mistake.
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
#7 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr, Matt Campbell, Josef Newgarden
“Due to an error by Race Direction, IMSA inadvertently announced, and subsequently, displayed the white flag with less than 3' remaining in the race,” the statement reads.
“At the end of the lap, the GTP #7 car currently leading the race received the checkered flag when there were actually 1'35″277 left to go, concluding the race with one lap less than the scheduled 24 Hours.”
However, this does not affect the final result because, as the communication from the American series continues, according to the regulations, similar events can happen, but with an equally approved result.
“Subject to Article 49 of the 2024 IMSA Sporting Regulations, and the Standard Supplementary Rules, if the checkered flag is displayed inadvertently or otherwise before the leading car completes the prescribed number of laps, or before it has been completed the prescribed time, the race is considered concluded when the flag is waved”.
It is curious to note that, in the official classification at the end of the race, the first car to have actually run for the entire duration initially planned was the Mercedes #57 of Winward Racing, winner of the GTD Class, which Russel Ward brought to the finish line in 24h00'01 “790, while the second was the Ferrari #62 of Risi Competizione, which passed the checkered flag in 24h00'03″261, winning the victory in GTD PRO.
Yellow therefore resolved and Porsche can take home the success breathing a sigh of relief in this… 23h58' of Daytona, a race with a truly particular ending that will make it even more unique!
#Daytona #lasted #23h5839 #assuming #IMSA #error #happened
