We have seen some bizarre things in IMSA in 2023 but nothing as strange as what took place between the Porsche 963 and Cadillac GTPs at INDY for the Battle on the Bricks. Let me break it down for you.
IMO Pipo is IMSA's Max V. He pushes the car and rules to the absolute limit and will do anything to win. Love it or hate it he's always fun to watch , even during safety car periods 😂@@rebelduck9077
I was at the track (i have a picture of the 31 and porsche side by side under yellow) and the announcer at the track said something along the lines of the Porsches held up the fast lane in the pitlane This actually makes more sense
Yeah I can understand that maybe the 7 impeded the 31 to enter the fast lane while being ahead, but the 6 was clearly ahead of the 31 so that didn’t make a lot of sense
Great video, as others said it’s pretty difficult to follow IMSA so these videos are super, also they are so well made! I agree that the Chevy’s move and the race direction’s decision are very unusual. It would be interesting to know when the indication to prepare for the car split was given to understand if the Porsche weren’t respecting it “in a timely manner”
Thanks! Yes, its really hard to know what actually happened without knowing what was said over the radio. It would be great if IMSA would include radio messages on the broadcast one day like they used to
Well, I guess IMSA just made the class split in to green flag racing behind the safety car. Ridiculous. Next race nobody is going to worry too much about safety during the class split.
Least confusing IMSA regulation/directive... For real, after watching the whole season I still don't know how a "simple" caution period works here. Sure I'll eventually understand it if there's a explenation video but needing one in the first place is ridiculous...
Totally agree, they need to dramatically simplify and shorten safety car periods. For this safety car period we had the initial pass around, then the prototype pit stops, then the gt pit stops, then the second pass around, then the class split... All because an LMP2 spun in the final corner. Crazy
American motorsport never ceases to amaze me with how overly complicated and contrived they manage to make things. Especially when coupled with the bizarre willingness to throw safety out the window. Don't follow procedures, receive a penalty. Leading Porsche didn't complete the procedure correctly, they should be penalised. Of course, that's not the American way. And because you don't receive a penalty for not following procedures, that puts the #31 in a position where they pretty well HAVE to overtake under the safety car, otherwise nothing happens. Them being allowed to keep the lead just reinforces that behaviour, which is utterly absurd. What kind of race control endorses 3 wide racing under yellow and thinks it's a good idea? Inaction and lack of rule enforcement creates these dangerous situations that should never happen in the first place. We should be seeking to minimise cars passing under yellow as much as possible, not forcing it to happen. Steve Park and Larry Foyt, anyone? Penalise the leading Porsche for not following the procedures correctly, penalise the #31 for passing under yellow, set the expectation that this sort of thing is not acceptable, then get on with the race. No idea why that's apparently such an impossible thing to ask, but I guess it's to be expected. Anyway all that aside, there's a really important detail missing from all this, which is at what point where the commands given by race control? Did #31 pulling to the inside as the "prepare for class split" announcement was given, or before? That would really help tell the full story.
Unfortunately that is pretty standard for IMSA/Sports car racing outside of the endurance rounds. I think it could get better next year when it becomes a 6 hour race but it wont look significantly different
In my opinion, no overtakes should be allowed under SC, the red Caddy driver was doing it quite dangerously which is opposite to the intension of a SC. But from this incident all GTP drivers learned or reminded what to do under SC.
Usually when they do this class spits the dangerous situation that brought the SC out has already been solved, but yeah it’s still pretty dangerous if the car ahead doesn’t expect it.
The race leader never moved left. The guy in the second car doesnt move to the right immediately either. He just weaves, and then realizes his mistake.
Great video as always! I do however disagree and I think (shockingly) IMSA got this right - Nasr in the 7 was running at FCY pace and did not pass the GTD cars ahead once Derani pulled in behind him so surely Derani had the right to overtake?
