Cadillac was disqualified from the 1812km of Qatar almost a month after the conclusion of the first event of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
After technical checks carried out in Qatar, the V-Series.R #2 that Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Sébastien Bourdais had driven in a comeback to fourth place was found not to comply with the technical regulations regarding LMDh cars.
The prototype prepared by Chip Ganassi Racing was subjected to a 3D scan and the bodywork was not found to be the same as that provided in the CAD version by the American manufacturer during the homologation phase.
According to the bulletin issued by the FIA and ACO Commissioners this morning dated March 28, the measurements concerning the diffuser and adjacent sections went beyond the tolerance limits.
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn, Sebastien Bourdais
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
“At the post-race technical checks, a 3D scan was performed on car #2 to analyze the conformity of the bodywork with respect to the CAD model of the manufacturer's official bodywork deposited at the time of the car's homologation”, explains document #96.
“The results of the 3D scan and further investigation showed that the rear diffuser flaps mounted on the left side and right side are higher (on the Z-axis) and misaligned (on the Y-axis) than the official CAD nominal value of the bodywork, including permitted tolerances”.
“The Stewards received technical report #16 on 03.03.2024 at 1.15am indicating that further checks had to be carried out on car #2 and that a further report would follow at the end of the technical checks.”
“The Stewards received technical report #17 which reported a violation of the above Technical Regulations. On 16 March, the Stewards summoned the Team Manager, Stephen Mitas, of car #2 for a videoconference hearing which will take place took place on 20 March 2024 at 3.00 pm”.
“During the hearing, the Team Manager confirmed the measurements of the Technical Stewards and the analyzes of the FIA and ACO Technical Delegates. He delivered a report from the Dallara Group which explains that due to an error the two parts were delivered without an inspection of final quality to the Cadillac WEC Team”.
“The Stewards believe that there was no intentional behavior on the part of the competitor and the supplier company. Regardless, there is a violation of the technical regulations, which should have been sanctioned with a disqualification.”
“The other cars that ranked behind #2 advance in the final classification. Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, pursuant to Article 15 of the FIA International Regulations and Chapter 4 of the Regulations Judicial and Disciplinary of the FIA, within the established deadlines”.
The disqualification of the Cadillac follows that of the Peugeot #93, which ran out of petrol at the end and was ousted for having crossed the finish line using only hybrid energy, without then being able to reach parc fermé.
This brings the #83 AF Corse Ferrari up to fourth place, which with Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman and Yifei Ye took the podium among the privateers, followed by the Toyota #7 in Top5 and the official Ferrari #50 in sixth.
Behind are the Alpine #35, the Toyota #8 and the Porsche #99 of Proton Competition, finally the BMW #20 of Team WRT driven by Rast/Frijns/Van Der Linde is also back in the points.
#54 View AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3: Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, Davide Rigon
Photo by: Shameem Fahath
Among the 'posthumous' decisions there is also a super fine of €60,000 imposed on AF Corse for having used three people not previously communicated in the operations concerning the 296 #54 Class LMGT3.
By regulation, the operational members of the team must be defined and highlighted by means of a bracelet, but according to an investigation carried out by FIA and ACO employees it emerged that they were working behind the garage computers without authorization.
The Piacenza team will have to pay €30,000 immediately, while the other half remains 'suspended'.
FIA WEC – 1812km of Qatar: Cadillac disqualification
FIA WEC – 1812km of Qatar: AF Corse fine
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