Ferrari is awaiting a response from the Technical Committee of the IMSA SportsCar Championship regarding the penalty suffered at the end of the 24h of Daytona.
From the technical checks carried out at the end of the first event of the 2024 season, the experts of the American series found discrepancies between the data they collected and that provided by the Maranello manufacturer on the power of the 296 GT3, which was then useful in defining the Balance of Performance .
BMW also found itself in the same situation, which together with Ferrari received the news the day before it was made public to everyone.
“The IMSA Technical Committee and Supervisors have unanimously established that the performances demonstrated by Ferrari and BMW in the 24 Hours of Daytona exceeded the IMSA expectations shared by the GT Manufacturers' Technical Working Groups”we read in the official bulletin.
“The objective was to ensure that the demonstrated performance of the best example of each manufacturer's car model fell within a targeted performance window, enabling competitive equivalence.”
This resulted in the total deduction of points in the Manufacturer rankings of the GTD PRO and GTD Classes, even though the results were confirmed.
At BMW they immediately started a dialogue to understand more, admitting their great disappointment in the fact, convinced that all the papers regarding the potential of the M4 GT3 – a car in its third year of activity – have been drawn up correctly.
At Ferrari there is also bitterness and even a certain anger for a penalty which, in addition to being communicated late, leaves no room for action because the IMSA regulation does not allow appeals and appeals on the decisions made regarding the BoP.
During the first round of the FIA WEC in Qatar, Maranello's Endurance manager, Antonello Coletta, frowned when asked about a possible Stars and Stripes commitment with the 499P.
Antonello Coletta, Global Head of Endurance and Corse Clienti
Photo by: Federico Basile | AG Photo
“At the moment we have other problems with IMSA, so I prefer to talk about WEC”, Coletta replied to journalists present at Lusail, including Motorsport.com.
“We asked for clarification; frankly, we understood nothing about the penalty.”
“So I prefer to wait for their direct response and then respond with clearer ideas, which we don't have for now.”
It should also be added that IMSA is no stranger to decidedly questionable decisions like this. Last year, incorrect tire pressures were found on the overall winner Acura LMDh, but even then the success was confirmed.
The manufacturer himself admitted the embarrassment over the crime committed by the Meyer Shank Racing team, which was ousted from the ARX-06 GTP class programs at the end of the season.
IMSA's decisions actually displease everyone because if an irregularity on a car is detected and confirmed, it is right that the sanction affects every party involved in the same way.
In the case of Ferrari and BMW (and at the time also Acura), the cars considered to be outside the rules, one wonders why teams and drivers who used something that was not in order should have the result obtained on the track confirmed, while the punishment hits the Single Builder.
But even in this case, it is decidedly questionable that a sanction is communicated without a clear explanation from the first notice, and that the possibility of replying by trying to prove one's innocence is denied.
A system that the manufacturers involved in IMSA will have to try to change by convincing the American leaders to do something to avoid taking on such unclear traits that make no one happy.
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