19 replies to this topic

[MotoFusi]

I can't believe no one is talking about the best 24 I've ever seen. Fantastic racing and lots of back stories. Coverage was fantastic. 23 of the 24 hours was televised.

 

Congrats to the Taylor's, Max and Jeff. Nice job.

[MPR22]

And yet nobody is posting about it. This is racing website not a technical how do I fix my turn signal website. Or at least it once was. And before you say, " then why aren't you posting about it all weekend? Because my ass was in a Spec MIata doing battle with over dog 1.6s swarming me. Had to watch the race on DVR.

Ricky's pass was a bit ambitious but I can live with it. Patrick Pillet was awesome and he almost pulled it off in GT Le Mans.

The Corvettes are to slow in a straight line, they should be crying until BOC happens.

[Jim Drago]

I watched and/or FF through all of it. It was great racing for sure.. the NSX and the Turner BMW were identical in straight line,  The Porsche, Ferrai and the Ford all seemed reallly close in terms of power as well. Pretty amazing

 

A bit disappointed with all the classes as it basically now has Chevy and Cadillac running unopposed in DP. Ford with an all out effort in GT Lemans.  It seems like the competition has been diluted in all classes. They need some more competition in prototype. Did anyone really think one of the factory Fords wasnt going to win GT Lemans before it started? Turned out to be a great race, but it was unexpected.

 

As far as the end goes.. I was rooting for the 10 car with Gordon being on board and Max's last race. I was glad they didnt call anything.. but IMO the 10 car was at fault there. R/F wheel contact to L/R wheel contact. I get that it was the ending laps of the 24, don't blame him for making the move, wasn't intentional... but it was the fault of the 10 car. I think had the situation been reversed.. They would have forced the 5 car to let the 10 back around.. just my 2 cents  

[LarryKing]

Cause we're all on Facebook instead?

[MPR22]

Cause we're all on Facebook instead?

Ah, I see.  I consider Facebook one of the greater social evils of our time and refuse to participate.  

[Jim Drago]

We use this more to complain about parity 

[Mitch Reading]

Love the race although glad I stayed home this year with the weather.

 

Should make the Acura and Lexus run in GT LeMans; tough to see the factory programs come into what is supposed to be a pro/am category in GTD. 

 

How about the Conti race?.... SM drivers Jones/Pombo pick up the first win for Mini!

[LarryKing]

 

Ah, I see.  I consider Facebook one of the greater social evils of our time and refuse to participate.  

 

And the Facebook world is grateful

[Bench Racer]

Because my ass was in a Spec MIata doing battle with over dog 1.6s swarming me.

  To the man with a car for every track, get out your 1.6 and whip their a$$ in a 1.6 to 1.6 have-at-it race.

​If your going to call it an over dog, how about some data to prove what your saying. IIRC in your write up, you questioned some of your strategy. All said with a huge while it's snowing. 

Post your video and allow us all to determine what the live status was. Was Gale in his 1.6? Who else was in a 1.6?

[Jim Creighton]

Agree with what Jim said about the 10 car at fault. And it was clear announcers were for the 10 car. I thought a 5 second penalty should have been accessed. But, like so often in  NASACR, winner was the popular car!

 

 

[Richard Astacio]

The 5 car opened the door for a split second, the 10 car took advantage. The 5 car turned into the 10 car.....It's a toss up, I was ok with the no call since they were kind of loose the entire race. 

[MPR22]

  To the man with a car for every track, get out your 1.6 and whip their a$$ in a 1.6 to 1.6 have-at-it race.
​If your going to call it an over dog, how about some data to prove what your saying. IIRC in your write up, you questioned some of your strategy. All said with a huge while it's snowing. 
Post your video and allow us all to determine what the live status was. Was Gale in his 1.6? Who else was in a 1.6?

Wasn't in my regular car so no video. Vaughn and Gale were in 1.6s with all the allowed mods. Both very good drivers and their cars were excellent. I was tongue in cheek about them being over dogs but they were extremely competitive. I did see a couple other 1.6s out there so it appears they are hanging in there. Can't drive my 1.6 as I sold it last weekend. Sad to see your first car go but having 3 cars is absurd.

[Johnny D]

Nice slide show.

http://grassrootsmot...-us-in-daytona/

 

J~

[Argus48]

I was out of the country when the race was televised.

[Johnny D]

http://www.windingro...acing-incident/

 

When Is A Divebomb A "Racing Incident"?

 

 

As you probably know, the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona had an exciting ending in the Prototype class. With 7 minutes to go, Ricky Taylor (Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi) was running P2 behind Felipe Albuquerque (Action Express Cadillac DPi). Taylor made an aggressive passing move in turn 1. Albuquerque and Taylor touched, Albuquerque spun and Taylor and team won the race. Here is a video clip if you didn't see it or want to refresh your memory:

 

 

IMSA issued no penalty to either team for this, thus it would seem that IMSA classed it as a "racing incident". In situations like this, you can play Monday morning quarterback and try to figure out who is right and who is wrong. The IMSA Weathertech series rules don't do much to help you, though:

 

30.3. PASSING. It is the responsibility of both the overtaking Driver and the Driver being overtaken to assure safe overtaking. Where two Cars are reasonably alongside each other, each must permit the other racing room. A Car traveling alone may use the full width of the racetrack. Overtaking may be either right or left depending on prevailing conditions.

 

Did both drivers assure "safe overtaking"? You'd have to say no. Was Taylor "reasonably alongside"? That's more debatable, but most club racers would say no, although the IMSA rules don't tell you.

 

Our point here, for racing drivers, is that taking a legalistic approach is going to bite you more than help you. Imagine you are Albuquerque. What do you do? Well, first you might think "hey, I should be expecting a pass from Ricky around now -- this is the biggest road race in North America and I'm in the lead and he is right behind me." You know that the officials know that too, so they expect you to see Ricky coming. Next, Taylor actually comes down the inside. Now you face the critical decision: do I shut the door or leave him room? We'd say leave him room, for two reasons: first, since he is way back there, you might spin if you close the door and hit him, and second, strategically staying a little wide in Daytona T1 doesn't harm your cornering velocity much at all and puts you in a reasonable position for T2 and T3.

 

With all of that in mind, the stewards probably aren't going to save you, so you drive in a way that is likely to put you ahead and avoid an incident. If you think your car is slower, maybe you try to close the door, but then if you spin, you should expect that the stewards won't rule in your favor because they can figure all of this out too (and IMSA has a blocking rule that could be used to penalize you). The idea is amplified in club and semi-pro racing because there are fewer officials and much less clear camera footage.

 

Doing this in real time, in a DPi car, at the end of a 24 hour race isn't so easy, of course.

[MPR22]

So what I haven't seen talked about is several laps earlier the same two cars had contact some where between 1 and 3 when the 10 was clearly alongside the 5.  It is my belief that contact damaged the 10 in some way.  He had closed down on the 5 easily after the restart and then after the contact it was much more difficult for him to close the gap.  Maybe it was just setup differences IDK.  The broadcast didn't show the contact very clearly at the time. 

[Johnny D]

The disclaimer 1st...each club (SCCA&NASA) both have different rules about attempting a pass. Read the rules as it applies to you.

 

They said in the broadcast that the pendulum has swung both ways in ruling in recent years. Very lenient in this race IMO, with Gordon running into the back of the 70 car etc.

 

J~

[Johnny D]

I was out of the country when the race was televised.

 

There is something called a DVR...

Just sayin

 

Here, knock yourself out.

https://www.youtube....y=rolex 24 2017

 

J~

[DCP]

TVery lenient in this race IMO, with Gordon running into the back of the 70 car etc.

 

J~

The 70 blew through the pit exit red light and shouldn't have been there. I suspect that is why there was no penalty.

[Johnny D]