Porsche Stripped of IMSA Win, Giving BMW First Prototype Victory in 23 Years
The Penske Porsche 963 failed to pass post-race inspection, promoting the second-place BMW to the top spot.
If you didn't watch Sunday's IMSA Six Hours of The Glen you missed one hell of an endurance race. Exciting battles in every category ran up until the very end when a huge rollover crash involving Bill Auberlen triggered a yellow flag with just a couple of minutes left on the clock. The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 driven by Mathieu Jaminet finished first in the headlining GTP class, closely followed by the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 of Connor De Phillippi. However, this result was later reversed by IMSA officials after the Porsche failed its post-race inspection.
De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly drove nearly perfect for most of the endurance race, holding onto a steady lead for the last couple of hours in the BMW. With just a handful of laps left, however, the chasing Porsche managed to work its way through traffic better than the BMW and ultimately passed De Phillippi in what resembled a mid-corner traffic jam involving LMP and GTD cars. De Phillippi attempted to fight back but the yellow flag sealed his fate.
According to IMSA, the No. 6 Porsche was found to have a skid block measuring less than the rules allow. Porsche Penske released the following statement Sunday night:
“Following post-race inspection at Watkins Glen International, IMSA has penalized the No. 6 entry in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen citing that the front skid wear of the No. 6 Porsche 963 was less than one millimeter outside the legal tolerance. The rear skid wear was noted to be well within the legal tolerance. Porsche Penske Motorsport plans to collect all of the data and follow the protest procedures.”
A skid block is an aero measure found underneath the car that alters the vehicle's handling dynamics. These must comply with IMSA's regulation, and any variation is seen as a sort of performance enhancer. In this case, the skid block was "less than one millimeter" outside of the regulations, but IMSA still found its penalty applicable.
As a result of Porsche's penalty, BMW was able to score its first prototype win in 23 years. The last time a BMW prototype won an endurance race in North America was in 1999 at Sebring, when the German automaker contested the BMW V12 LMR.
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