BMW and Ferrari’s GTD and GTD Pro manufacturers’ points from the 24 Hours of Daytona have been stripped after they both violated expected performance levels.
IMSA, who govern the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, concluded that the BMW and Ferrari GTD and GTD Pro entrants exceeded the predicted performance levels during the opening round last month.
Complex simulations enable IMSA to decide the Balance of Performance measures, having utilised data from the traditional December test before the season-opener.
Consequently, both makes had their manufacturers’ and Endurance Cup points taken away although their final race positions remained intact.
The winner of the GTD Pro class was the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296, having started the race from third in-class and charged to the team’s first Daytona victory at the 62nd running.
Ferrari’s 320 GTD and 350 GTD Pro manufacturers’ points were stripped as well as their 14 and 15 Endurance Cup points, having conclusively violated Sporting Regulations Attachment 2.2.7 and fined $25k.
BMW were penalised with the same consequences and the same fine, on the same regulation offence.
Paul Miller Racing’s #1 M4 GT3 entrant was BMW’s highest finishing GTD Pro car in P3, and so that podium place will be unchanged.
Three-hundred GTD manufacturers’ points – and their 250 from GTD Pro – have been withdrawn.
Paul Miller Racing looked to be the winning team until a mishap occurred within the final hours, when the team incorrectly assembled a new front-right brake disc after it was changed, and so the scenario cost them their strong lead.
Also, BMW’s 15 Endurance Cup points and their nine GTD Endurance Cup points are no more.
After these circumstances, Chevrolet now leads the GTD Pro Endurance Cup manufacturers’ standings on 13 points, as Porsche and Ford trail on exactly 10 points each.
Mercedes-AMG are situated at the top of GTD on 18 points, ahead of McLaren on 13 and Lamborghini on 10.
Finally, Porsche leads the overall GTD Pro manufacturers’ standings on 355 points ahead of Aston Martin’s 202 and Chevrolet’s 290.
In GTD, Mercedes-AMG leads on 371 points, from Lamborghini on 328 and Porsche on 312.
As expected, Ferrari’s 26 GTD Pro points and BMW’s 21 from qualifying put them at the bottom of those standings, as they are in GTD with 26 and 22 points.
