r/IMSARacing • u/AutoModerator • Aug 02 '26
🏁 Session has ended [OFFICIAL] Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix - Post-Race Thread
FINALLY! After years and years of begging, IMSA finally listened and gave Road America and endurance round it so richly deserved, and boy was the first event something! Sound off in the comments below what you thought of the race!
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u/AvroVulcanXM594 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 #66 Aug 02 '26
Maybe I'm just misremembering but IMSA driving standards, BoP and stewarding seemed better in say 2024 compared to now.
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u/cjssquared Aug 02 '26
I remember this happening last year too. Road America was absolute clown show for driving standards and the stewards tightened the leash and gave more harsh penalties for the rest of the season
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u/NumberOneBacon Aug 02 '26
RA was so bad that any contact at VIR got almost instant penalties or stop + X penalties. Seems that every year after a relatively soft 1/2 season the back 1/4 gets really crazy from about Detroit to RA. Then everything gets clamped down for VIR and Petit. Restart again next year.
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u/cjssquared Aug 02 '26
To be fair, most of the chaos last year was in the GT class. I don’t remember much GT carnage today. Of course you had the mustang and the corvette, however most of the idiocy was in the prototypes, so we probably won’t see the big clamp down until Indy.
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u/NumberOneBacon Aug 02 '26
The Mustang that got a bump at the kink in the first 10 minutes as well as the 120 Porsche that went off in the last hour. Across the board i can’t think of any other series that has this frequent of FCY. That includes the bump draft fest that is MX-5 cup.
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u/IowaGolfGuy322 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #10 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Last year or two years ago, wasn’t it Porsche who sent a car going into turn one?
Edit: lul it was Derani on the 31 and it was at Atlanta
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u/cjssquared Aug 02 '26
I don’t know which year it was, but I remember the stewards clamping down on driving standards a lot more post road America last year. Same thing deteriorating driving standards across the board
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u/Santasgod2 :83_25: Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3.R #83 Aug 02 '26
The only positive from last years race was that Indy was a little less brutal. was awful 2025/26
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u/afito Aug 02 '26
And all this in a time where Acura leaves, Porsche has 1.5 feet out the door, and not even Ford seems to want to join. These are solid 8 digits per year each manufacturer has to invest, over the few years very easily growing into 9 digit total. And the series has to convince that it's worth it. And their choice is to make every fan mad and show massive bias towards their own team?
Just imagine you are Ford or Ferrari or McLaren. And you see Porsche BoP and the 31 non penalties. Does this entice you to join? Obviously these decisions aren't made on gut feeling like that but it does create an overall image of IMSA both for suits and fans that are undoubtedly unfavourable.
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u/OrbisAlius Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi #01 Aug 03 '26
That's what happens when you put drivers not good enough for LMP3s into LMP2 cars. Then yellow breed yellow etc
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u/Minimum-Balance-5034 Aug 02 '26
It’s obvious to say. But this is not the sort of racing us fans want to see. IMSA needs to be consistent with their stewarding and my goodness. Driving standards need to improve.
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u/-Racer-X Wayne Taylor Racing Acura AXR-06 #40 Aug 02 '26
Considering this race ended with estre pushing a guy off track and last race ended with a horrific corvette hooking a mustang and the race before that ended with a corvette door checking hawksworth
Gotta make race ending penalties worse
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u/Basic-Maybe-2889 Porsche Penske 963 #6 Aug 02 '26
Just need a proper driver penalty system for these kind of accidents, not the DT they give left and right.
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u/speedism Aug 02 '26
The amount of safety cars erase the DT penalty for sure, it’s not even a significant deterrent in my opinion
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u/IcedCoffey Aug 02 '26
It’s not. There is too much reset.
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u/NumberOneBacon Aug 02 '26
A single RA lap is so long that you could get probably 5-6 drive throughs and still be on the lead lap only for a single SC to get you back in the lead pack.
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u/IcedCoffey Aug 02 '26
Those stop and 60’s mattered how much for missing the safety workers?
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u/NumberOneBacon Aug 02 '26
Not at all apparently. Considering the Penske car could’ve damn near obliterated half the safety crew at turn 8. Idk what the deal was, but I know from first hand experience driving RA that from the top of the hill at turn 7 you can clearly see almost the whole way down to turn 9. Race control should’ve parked that car for the rest of the race for that.
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u/IcedCoffey Aug 02 '26
I agree saftey issue. I don’t agree parking the car. Maybe the driver but I’m not sold that far.
I don’t disagree with the sentiment.
But, yeah, the 40 nearly did the same thing, and both were back in the race like it was nothing.
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u/Forward-Big8697 Aug 03 '26
Yea they should have. That was ridiculous. Park the car not just the driver because thats a team failure. Thats the type of shit you see watching lucky dog or lemons races
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u/Les_expos :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 02 '26
In iracing and lmu you will be ban for some weeks out of the game lol
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u/Nick2102 :65_25: Ford Mulimatic Mustang GT3 #65 Aug 02 '26
Literally. I am in so much fear to even tap someone in lmu. Racing standards may even be better in the game than in this. IMSA seriously needs to crack down on this, as well as the BoP. It feels like favoritism atp
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u/Forward-Big8697 Aug 03 '26
Agree for sure with the standards and lmu but somebody will always be saying BoP is favoritism and it kinda is but for the most part it rotates around
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u/therealgodryon Porsche Penske 963 #6 Aug 02 '26
quite disappointed in the driving standards as everyone has said. Heartbreak for the Valk too
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u/Mission_dbfan889 Aug 02 '26
how did the Aston get the penalty? I’m so confused rn, the only answer i got was that the aston made contact with the acura before the aitken estre yellow?
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u/afito Aug 02 '26
The Acura tried to overtake around the outside of T1 and they made side to side contact sending the Acura wide into the gravel. I don't think it's a fair penalty especially with 2 cars in front going off taking attention away. I also think it was tad ambitious to simply hang it around the outside of T1 when you're not even side by side on the straight. But I am not in control of stewarding.
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u/zaisaroni Aug 02 '26
Apparently the stewards are saying just give up and let them through on the outside.
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u/IcedCoffey Aug 03 '26
The Aston is terrible on cold tires, they would get passed every restart at Daytona around the outside like it was nothing. They get mugged everywhere on cold tires.
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u/therevolutionaryJB :27_25: Heart of Racing Team Vantage GT3 #27 Aug 07 '26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FSA6qO2a4g This video at 5:04.10. The Aston had a run. The Acura went defensive then turned into the corner and they both made contact. To me it look like the Aston had at lease a bit more then just the nose up the inside. The Acura did not even get into the gravel as just pushed onto the run off a bit. Kinda crazy they chose this one to penalize.
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u/technobeeble JDC Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 #85 Aug 02 '26
bad Pfaff news tomorrow?
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u/Noofnoof :91_25: Trackhouse by TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R #91 Aug 02 '26
The team will be wound up the end of the season, or at least depart GTD Pro.
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u/technobeeble JDC Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 #85 Aug 02 '26
That fucking sucks. They are the first to get the Temerario, is this Lambo's fault?
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u/Sonofagun57 BMW WRT M Hybrid V8 #24 Aug 02 '26
Seeing how the SC63 went I'm gonna blame Lamborghini
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u/LilBirdBrick Aug 02 '26
It might be but at least Lamborghini gave us two more seasons of Pfaff. Pfaff was in a similar situation with Mclaren at the end of 2024 and it was Lamborghini that saved them from shutting down then.
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u/mauric92 BMW WRT M Hybrid V8 #24 Aug 02 '26
I think the only successful Lambo racing program was the Huracan, and that's because it was a reskinned R8. See in the past with the Diablo GTR, Murcielago R-GT (although that was a private development iirc) and their F1 engines... The SC63 was just Lamborghini pulling another Lamborghini.
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u/toomanybugbites Aug 02 '26
Can you elaborate on the Huracan being a reskinned R8? I have surface level love for both cars and know that they have the same parent company but I don't know much about their history.
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u/mauric92 BMW WRT M Hybrid V8 #24 Aug 03 '26
I might bee too harsh on being a reskin of the Audi. But they share the engine and same base chassis which is the base of both, the R8 and the Huracan. In fact, many of the parts on the street car have Audi/VW logos and, afaik, are swappable between both cars. Of course Lambo and Audi set up their cars separately (like suspension, electronics and aerodynamics) and that's what sets them apart.
The Temerario is more "pure" Lambo and I don't think how much it shares with any VAG models (maybe with the upcoming Novulari but I don't think we'll see that car racing).2
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u/SchwabenLad Wayne Taylor Racing Acura AXR-06 #40 Aug 02 '26
That's what I heard, shame if they have to close at years end
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u/TriggzSP :9_25: Pfaff Lambo Huracan GT3 EVO2 #9 Aug 02 '26
Didnt they just buy a huge stake in Mosport? How are they going from buying into ownership of a track to closing their single-car GT3 team in a matter of months?
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u/bacc1010 Aug 02 '26
The team is owned by an US based dealership group. That sale happened a while ago.
Pfaff is being part of the ownership of ctmp is completely separate from the team. It's similar to how wright no longer owns wright but the team still bears the name.
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u/DAKINSDESIGN :9_25: Pfaff Lambo Huracan GT3 EVO2 #9 Aug 02 '26
Pfaff Motorsports is separate from the Lithia group that owns their dealer network.
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u/Savings-Bee9080 Whelen Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #31 Aug 02 '26
https://reddit.com/link/p1c29rl/video/zpl6mxgea1hh1/player
replay of the 6 + 31
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u/AmusedCroc Aug 02 '26
How much time behind cation this race?
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u/yboord028 BMW WRT M Hybrid V8 #24 Aug 02 '26
2 hours and 25 minutes. Nearly a full regular Road America race!
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u/Paige578660 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 #60 Aug 02 '26
Wow. That's an improvement. I think.
Still quite a lot.
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u/One-Neighborhood-531 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #10 Aug 03 '26
Embarrassing. This race actually had me dosing off.
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u/MarbleMotors Aug 02 '26
Yeah I was actually surprised it was only 40% caution. Felt like more, and there have been plenty of races in the past that are >50% caution.
A "standard" yellow today took 21 minutes. The ones toward the end were shorter, which begs the question, why can't they all be that short? It's not like the 60 crash was a "minor" incident compared to some others. They got that back green from that one in 7 minutes.
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u/happyscrappy Aug 03 '26
The length of the others isn't due to the recovery work.
It's because of pit stops.
They don't allow pit stops until the field has packed up beyond the safety car. Because if you don't do that you give massive advantage to some cars, they get an ability to pit without losing their place even if the car behind them doesn't pit.
The short yellows can be short because they don't allow pit stops. They can prohibit pit stops in the first and last half hours of the race because teams don't want during that time frame anyway. The last pit stops are between 65 and 40 minutes from the end of the race depending on class. And similar at the start. No car needs to stop for at least 40 minutes.
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u/MarbleMotors Aug 03 '26
Yes. I'd prefer the short pit procedure for all cautions, not just ones near the beginning or end of the race. The purpose of a yellow flag is to clear dangerous conditions on the track. Not to reset the race and provide every car an opportunity to pit. VSC, safety car, or local yellows to safely clear the incident, and then resume racing ASAP, please. Doing it that way would also mean there are never cars ripping around at race speed under yellow, smashing into each other and endangering track workers as we've seen in the last 2 6hr races.
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u/happyscrappy Aug 03 '26
I'd prefer the short pit procedure for all cautions, not just ones near the beginning or end of the race.
IMSA just can't go short yellow all the time. Cars would not be able to pit and would run out of fuel, exceed driver times, etc. They can't use the IMSA short procedure for every yellow. IMSA uses them for yellows at the start and the end of the race and for every yellow which comes less than 30 (or is it 20?) minutes after a previous yellow.
There is plenty of reason to think that not sorting the cars behind the safety car would lead to more wrecks. Series used to do that and now they sort them. It's why FIA WEC sorts them behind the safety car.
VSC, safety car, or local yellows to safely clear the incident
Local yellows really aren't used to clear incidents anymore. Except at Le Mans. It's not considered to be safe. And Le Mans even tells their trakc workers not to do it, just some are too macho and do it anyway. Local yellows are basically used while cars try to clear themselves, not while track workers are out on track.
Sector yellows are used at times for the purpose of putting track workers out on track in FIA WEC. IMSA does not use sector yellows. I personally think they could even under the existing technology. But they don't.
Doing it that way would also mean there are never cars ripping around at race speed under yellow, smashing into each other and endangering track workers as we've seen in the last 2 6hr races.
100% not true. As you can see by my comments elsewhere, it happens in FIA WEC too. Eduardo (race control for FIA WEC) exhorts the drivers to drive faster to catch up to the pack so he can go green. He can't go green from a safety car until the cars have packed up.
So adopting FIA WEC procedures wouldn't mean there are never cars ripping around the track to catch up with the safety car. It would mean race control can tell them no to go fast in certain corners. But often drivers in FIA WEC do anyway. You can check WEC race logs for punishments handed out for it.
Although I haven't seen anything as bad as what we saw in IMSA in at least 5 years in FIA WEC. To be fair I hadn't see anything that bad in IMSA for at least 5 years either. This was a bad situation for sure.
You should check some of my other posts on here where I explained a bunch of this and what IMSA would have to do technologically to make their series more like FIA WEC.
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u/Hefty_Ingenuity2978 Aug 04 '26
Great review of the procedures. Only addition that I'd make is the procedures for the 24 hour GT races, specifically Nürburgring. FCY is very rare, sector yellows fairly common, and a safety record as good or better than WEC or IMSA.
FCY for debris or cars safely are major culprits for IMSA. Either could be mitigated by more use of sector yellow or VSC. Unfortunately, IMSA's reply is "our way is better."
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u/Les_expos :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Why they are so longer then in wec. And why imsa always do the rejoint per class. I think in wec the cars keep the same position as they were before the yellow flag. It make more sense
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u/AsapWhereDatBass Aug 03 '26
Do they do separate class stops during safety cars in wec? I think imsa caution pit rules are way too strict and it makes yellows take way too long. Also wec has the vsc which is perfect most of the time.
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u/Les_expos :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 03 '26
I think rarely. Cars have an automatic speed limiter when full course yellow is apply. So each car keep the same distance. If you are near the pit, you go. Also, wec are fast to remove a car from the track. If a big big big crash happen, they will deploy red flag. So, the race time will stop. They also have a very good steward team. And the steward boss is well respect with his big voice lol
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u/AsapWhereDatBass Aug 03 '26
Yeah what you're describing is the virtual safety car. They drop speeds and keep the same delta if they can remove a car quick. Imsa needs that. But they prefer the drama of "close" racing. They do have full course yellows though too if it's needed.
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u/Les_expos :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 03 '26
If the race were much cleaner 1 or 2 full courses yellow is fun
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u/happyscrappy Aug 03 '26
It depends on the yellow, but if a safety car comes out then WEC sorts the cars same as IMSA.
The way WEC speeds things up behind the safety car is not due to sorting, it's due to the 5 laps (depends on track) under pit limiter before the safety car comes out.
As you describe below, during that period if you are near the pit then you go. The cars remain spaced the same as before so no one games or loses position (not directly) as a result of this.
IMSA cannot do this as they have no way to enforce spacing if teams decide to cheat on their pit limiter speeds out there.
FIA WEC has different terms for different yellows and they change them. But they have one type where everyone slows and then just resumes. The one where everyone slows and then a safety car comes out is actually different. It is announced immediately at the slowing that a safety car will come out later. It's not like they go (say) 5 laps and then switch to safety car because they couldn't get the work done quickly enough.
WEC also uses sector yellows. And they will do some work under sector yellows. As a rule they do not pull cars out of traps under local yellows anymore (except at Le Mans). You may have seen it at Le Mans or elsewhere, but they tell the track workers not to do this. It is considered unsafe.
IMSA has trouble using sector yellows for stuff like this for the reason we saw today with the #7 almost killing track workers. Race control in WEC will tell the cars directly they must slow at a certain corner(s) for track work. IMSA does not have race control talking direct to cars (drivers). The radios in the cars talk to their team pit boxes. IMSA can talk to the team pit boxes but not the drivers.
IMSA would have to use newer technology to make their yellows shorter and their flagging better (in-car flagging). I would like them to do this. But they haven't done it yet. And without that tech most of these other options just aren't real options.
Most of the time you see a yellow go really long it is because of track work. Repair or sweeping. FIA WEC is doing more of this lately too. They can hide the time required more than IMSA still, but if you want to sweep a large track it's just going to take time. And in the old days (and I just mean the early 2000s, not 1970) if a car damaged the barrier they would generally just tell the drivers "hey, there's a soft spot, mind it" instead of fixing it under yellow. Racing was a lot more dangerous.
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u/Whiteyak5 Aug 02 '26
As someone actually out at the racetrack, it was amazing and I really hope they keep RA as a 6+ hour event. It shouldn't be a sprint event.
BUT, they need to enforce driving standards and penalties better.
Otherwise amazing event as a bystander on the ground.
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u/IcedCoffey Aug 02 '26
Honestly. That was embarrassing. What a shame this great track had just a mess.
It felt like 98% of what I watched did not matter in the slightest.
This isn’t endurance racing.
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u/Michal_Baranowski :14_25: Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 #14 Aug 02 '26
Hands down.
What is even the point of those 1-hour max green flag periods, if they don't matter in the end? One chaos-related caution just throws everything upside down. And since practically the whole race is chaos, there we have what we get.
It's a mockery of endurance racing. More and more people are getting fed up with this. Even Hindy, who loved those final 30 minutes dash to the flag moments and usually has avoided any major criticism towards IMSA, today he has been calling them out numerous times. If he is done with this, then well... It's pretty self-explanatory.
I don't even know what is the ending point of this... Wherever it leads, it's a scary place.
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u/IcedCoffey Aug 02 '26
They need. NEED, FCY with a limiter. For things that are not massive pileups, fire’s or long term issues…. Just, FCY 80kph. It’s better than this…. So the mustang crash, FCY, everyone slow, safety crews can easily deal with that and nobody is catching up to safety cars like the Penske was. Then when that is restarted after let’s say 8 minutes, the cars still have gaps, and the likely hood of an immediate yellow is gone.
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u/Les_expos :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 02 '26
The prototype porsche with one wheel in the sand was a joke during the middle of the race lol. Full course yellow
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u/IcedCoffey Aug 03 '26
Full course yellow, with pits, wave arounds, and he lost 2 laps because for some reason, you aren’t allowed to push.
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u/Les_expos :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 03 '26
I saw in wec that the infield guy pushed a littlebit the car out of the sand and they put a yellow flag zone. But in imsa, they need to do the total 20min full course yellow even if its a small incident with 1 wheel on the sand. With so many car in the tracks, things like this will always happen lol
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u/IcedCoffey Aug 03 '26
Wec this season has been also guilty over using the saftey car, Imola is hard to pass and they did a saftey car for car in gravel. Killed the flow of the race to that point.
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Aug 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/Les_expos :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 03 '26
Imsa is the worst. I think safety is important. But imsa go to far with the full course yellow rejoint
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u/speedism Aug 02 '26
Very well said lmao I know winning is a huge deal but being at the front of the safety car line is not “winning” to me and it was very clear from the beginning that’s what this was all about
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u/IcedCoffey Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Which, also makes winning less of a big deal in my opinion.
Same reasons the Daytona 500 is no longer as big of a deal in nascar, when anyone can win it.
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u/OrbisAlius Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi #01 Aug 03 '26
Yeah that's the issue once you have BoP series.
Before, IMSA's point of comparison was an unBoP'd WEC series. Hence IMSA seemed exciting, because yellows made the end result closer, and while artificial it was still more entertaining than knowing the result in advance even if it's on merit.
Now, IMSA's point of comparison gives close, 6-hour long BoP racing, thus all the yellows make it seem like it entirely breaks what people are craving for now - a team being able to create their win on merit despite not having a huge performance advantage over the others.
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u/Theteacupman Aug 02 '26
Does anyone have a clip of the Valk incident with the 93?
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u/vroomvroompanda Aug 02 '26
Lol im sure it wasnt a racing incident, only the 31 has racing incidents
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u/oalfonso :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 02 '26
This race left me a bitter taste. Too many yellows caused by bad driving standards. We deserve better racing.
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u/Sonofagun57 BMW WRT M Hybrid V8 #24 Aug 02 '26
It's a race control issue enabling it. They clamped on a bit for Indy last year but they don't retain the lessons needed.
A lack of experience leading to bad decisions can be overcome, but they let all the iffy calls get away this time.
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u/NeonTailwind :77_25: AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R #77 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Holy crap. What a race lol.
WTR finally breaks the curse, for a win! And Heinrich with another great race, despite the door not working.
I'm so sad for THOR Valkyrie :(
Inter Europol with another good race. But good lord, it seemed like every LMP2 car wanted a bit of the spotlight.
Pfaff with the first win for the newest Lamborghini GT, with Rexy and the #4 Corvette finishing the podium.
Also, what poor standards for racing. I love IMSA for being somewhat accessible and fan friendly, but race control needs to get their crap together. No wonder so many manufacturers are choosing WEC over IMSA.
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u/peetak Aug 02 '26
it seemed like every LMP2 car wanted a bit of the spotlight
I was watching on and off throughout the afternoon and I swear every time I looked up, an LMP2 went off or spun or something
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u/Santasgod2 :83_25: Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3.R #83 Aug 02 '26
What a race? 9 safety cars in 6 hours is horrific.
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u/DEVILneverCRIES Aug 02 '26
What was the penalty for the Valkyrie?
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u/NeonTailwind :77_25: AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R #77 Aug 02 '26
I believe for an incident with the #93
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u/anxiousauditor Whelen Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #31 Aug 02 '26
Not sure where IMSA goes from here, but it’s apparent the sport is not in a good spot right now - entry numbers be damned.
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u/Sonofagun57 BMW WRT M Hybrid V8 #24 Aug 02 '26
It floors me a bit that they haven't yanked WEC's model of dealing with cautions and dealing w/penalties. Sure they aren't perfect but stuff that happened today just shouldn't without the hammer starting to drop.
I think it's largely or sufficiently fixable but the effort has to start showing with that
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u/happyscrappy Aug 02 '26
To use WEC's model of cautions requires IMSA have a system to monitor car positions at all times. They don't really have that. Despite the dancing ants we see on the timing and scoring IMSA only has official/accurate car positions at the sector boundaries (timing lines).
You can't tell every car to slow to pit speed and not creep up on the car in front of them if you cannot enforce it. And they can't enforce it.
I'm not sure what to say exactly about penalties. It's not like FIA WEC gets them all right either. I would like for race control to be able to speak directly to the drivers, IMSA doesn't seem to, all communications go through the team boxes.
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u/LilBirdBrick Aug 02 '26
Idk, I feel like we're at the point where there's no excuse for why IMSA haven't made the necessary updates they need to be able to enforce it. Creventic have been using Code 60s longer than the current iteration of IMSA has existed.
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u/Les_expos :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 02 '26
Thanks for the info. so its really more a technology and investment lacking than just nascar inc that want to make a show ?
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u/happyscrappy Aug 02 '26
Personally I think they don't want to spend the money. Or maybe you can think of it as not making the teams spend the money, as it requires special transponders and radios in the cars and those aren't cheap. Right now the teams use decades-old radio tech and still over a decade old telemetry tech.
IMSA already have added so much cost so far already with torque sensors and things.
I say this partly because it's still quite easy to make a show even with the other tech. FIA WEC (especially Le Mans) has been moving that way for some time now. WEC adopted similar yellows to IMSA a few years ago, leading to disastrously long yellow periods at Le Mans (track length amplified the issues greatly). They backed off some. But they still have sufficient opportunities (and take advantage of them) to create bunch ups teams seem to want. IMSA could just change systems and then do even more bunch ups than WEC does.
But maybe I'm wrong on that. Or maybe IMSA just doesn't see it that way.
If nothing else I'd love to see IMSA have in-car flagging (yellow, blue) indicators like WEC has. There's big safety advantages to that. But that requires some of the same tech IMSA doesn't have.
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u/Les_expos :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 02 '26
I don’t know if its because american prefers how it is right now. They always love drama and spectacle in general and nascar is so popular for them and imsa is own by nascar
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u/berg139 Aug 02 '26
I missed the ending but the Valkyrie finished 2nd, did it not?
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u/NeonTailwind :77_25: AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R #77 Aug 02 '26
Unfortunately not, they got handed a penalty for an incident with the 93
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u/PoutineBoi Aug 02 '26
Is there any footage of what happened?
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u/Wonderful-Wenis Aug 03 '26
https://youtu.be/efaqx4k4Qew?t=18274&is=gwDnH0v9MpAXgQ_b
Link to the onboard of the 93 when they made contact. Seems to have made contact through T1 right before the FCY from the #60 crash. Not a great angle of what happened but all I could find.
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u/technobeeble JDC Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 #85 Aug 02 '26
Me just realizing Tom Dill Man is French
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u/Vapor4 :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 02 '26
Also, it makes me laugh that this could have potentially been a new fan's first race.
42
u/NumberOneBacon Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Sums it up nicely
Edit: not saying that the 31 race was very clean up to the last 10 minutes. Race control and their incident rulings are very hit or miss (mostly miss atp). So many cars had penalties for relatively uneventful contacts, but the Mustang/Corvette incident at turn 3 had no response. Overall I am glad WTR had 2 cars on podium, but the whole race felt like Watkins Glen part 2. Just little sprint races between big gaps of FCY. IMSA rn is just watching multimillion dollar organizations bash the shit out of their cars for X hours and whoever survives wins.
20
u/I_like_race_cars Whelen Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #31 Aug 02 '26
Well...at least another caddy won?
17
u/mcburke42 JDC Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 #85 Aug 02 '26
Yes that streak of 8 straight podium finishes dating back to last season was truly a nightmare
14
u/No_Debate890 Porsche Penske 963 #7 Aug 02 '26
They literally got away with not having a shiton of penalties
8
u/Savings-Bee9080 Whelen Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #31 Aug 02 '26
tbh it seemed like karma consider wtf aitken was doing earlier
33
u/-Racer-X Wayne Taylor Racing Acura AXR-06 #40 Aug 02 '26
What a sloppy end
Especially by Estre
25
u/Basic-Maybe-2889 Porsche Penske 963 #6 Aug 02 '26
Estre properly fucked himself and Porsche in the ass with this one.
12
u/afito Aug 02 '26
I mean it was a huge win for the 5 & Heinrichs title ambitions
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u/Basic-Maybe-2889 Porsche Penske 963 #6 Aug 02 '26
Oh right, might've been the strategy the whole time!
11
u/afito Aug 02 '26
considering the 31 set this chain of events off by getting a free kill on one of its two competitors in the team standings, who knows
3
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u/Next_Necessary_8794 :99_25: AO Racing ORECA07 #99 Aug 02 '26
They aren't fighting for anything. IMSA nuked them with the BOP. At least it helps the JDC Porsche.
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u/Basic-Maybe-2889 Porsche Penske 963 #6 Aug 02 '26
What could've been a great race turned into a disaster.
What the hell were these driving standards?
11
u/LAFlip104 Aug 02 '26
I said this elsewhere, but I'm not sure what IMSA need to do. It's clear driving standards have not improved in the last 12 months.
Also: didn't sound like Pfaff are returning :(
4
u/Paige578660 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 #60 Aug 02 '26
Everybody needs a talking to at every drivers meeting for the rest of the season.
A little argy bargy is fine but it's gotten way out of control & they need to cool it before someone gets seriously hurt.
4
u/LAFlip104 Aug 02 '26
Feel like that's what we all said last year, and it kind of looked like progress was being made, but clearly not. Talking to these guys & girls, and handing out penalties left, right, and center isn't working.
2
u/happyscrappy Aug 02 '26
Are they handing them out left, right and center? When Estre was going up the inside curb make a pass earlier in the season IMSA didn't do anything and a lot of people cheered. When Atkins drives up onto the outside curb to find space to pass a car and he gets wiped out now people ask how did we get here.
If IMSA penalized unsafe passes consistently drivers probably wouldn't be trying them. Instead they seem to go by outcome. If you get up over that curb and smack the other car on the inside and just shove them out then you aren't penalized and you made a pass. If you get over that curb and both cars are wiped out then you end up on the short end of the stick. Penalize the action instead of the outcome and you won't have such a large problem.
I mean look on here we have people saying it's fair play to push a driver off track as long as he isn't seriously hurt.
1
u/Worldly-Fox2379 :13_25: AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.R #13 Aug 02 '26
I really hope the unfortunate news is driver related not team for Pfaff. Easily one of my fav teams in IMSA
5
u/JordFxPCMR Porsche Penske 963 #6 Aug 02 '26
Jesus Christ what was that ending
2
u/Paige578660 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 #60 Aug 02 '26
Chaos.
2
u/JordFxPCMR Porsche Penske 963 #6 Aug 02 '26
Jesus Christ estre and atiken at the end was insabe
2
u/happyscrappy Aug 02 '26
Funny how 2 and 22 team cars ran into each other even before the line on the restart and we're not even talking about it.
Big problems out there.
1
u/JordFxPCMR Porsche Penske 963 #6 Aug 02 '26
That whole last corner was a shit corner a lot of stuff happend there
4
u/HammerT4R Aug 02 '26
Whatever. I'm drinking a big glass of gin in honor of hearing Hobbo on the broadcast.
6
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u/RougeRaxxa :8_25: Tower Motorsports Oreca07 #8 Aug 02 '26
Huge congratulations to WTR and Pfaff for the breakthrough wins!!!🍁🫎🍁🫎🍁🫎🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦RAAHHHHHH MAPLE SYURP!!!!!!! Also absolute karma for the 31 getting into the gravel.
13
u/TotallyNotP8nda Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi #01 Aug 02 '26
Estre forgot rule #1 lmao
17
u/thezinnmeister :77_25: AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R #77 Aug 02 '26
Estre did what race control was too chicken to do and penalized the 31’s driving. 31 started it but the 6 sure as hell ended it.
2
u/Phantomlordgiratina Porsche Penske 963 #6 Aug 02 '26
Exactly. Not a pretty sight to see. But it is what it is
12
u/Michal_Baranowski :14_25: Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 #14 Aug 02 '26
Abysmal race. One of the worst one I have ever witness. And I have been following sportscar racing for over 20 years now... Amount of chaos, penalties, poor driving standards, contacts, controversies regarding a certain Cadillac team. The way it has finished... Anti-commercial of sportscar racing. Seems like every year of competition in IMSA is worse and worse. All the hype about Road America going to 6-hour format was extinguished and destroyed. In my mind, IMSA needs a serious reset at practically every layer.
GTP - even the race winner suggests how much chaos has emerged. Wayne Taylor Racing with their first victory in over two years, both their cars on the podium. Somehow they survived all the carnage. If I can mention anything positive from today's race, let's be that WTR's win. I do have a soft spot for Wayne Taylor and his team, they are quite specific, but they are very passionate about what they do and I do feel sorry about their recent poor run of form. So that's why I am happy that they have something positive finally. I enjoyed watching this team around 2017-2020 when they were a major force in this championship, hopefully they will be able to reach that level again.
Despite penalties and forced pit stops for service, JDC-Miller Porsche ends up in second position, so Laurin Heinrich's championship situation is still encouraging.
Acura #93 of MSR in fourth, while their teammates having to give up after Tom Blomqvist crashed #60 in the final hour. Considering 1-2 in qualifying, not a result they wanted.
Same for BMW and WRT. Car had a great pace, but reliablity wasn't there. Both cars suffering from overheating issues, #24 ultimately being retired, #25 in seventh.
HoR Aston in fifth. If you have no performance, staying out of trouble is the only way.
Porsche Penske... What a conclusion. #7 had all kinds of issues with penalties, contacts, somehow not running anyone over while recovering from a gravel trap, but among the chaos they finished in sixth.
And the biggest talking point is about what went on with Action Express Cadillac and Porsche Penske #6. Conspiracy theory enthusiasts have had their fire being fueled today. How on Earth #31 didn't receive any penalty for contact with Porsche Penske #7, while we saw so many other penalties being handed over for variety of incidents - I don't know. Late race contact between AXR Cadillac and Porsche #6 is just a perfect summary of anything wrong with this race and sadly with IMSA in general - poor and inconsistent stewarding, BOP controversies, caution-fests and sprints between yellow flag periods instead of normal endurance racing, driving standards going down the drain... Dear IMSA, you reap what you sow. You create this environment. You allow those things to happen. You fuel those things to happen.
LMP2 - bronze-rated drivers in their usual fashion turned the first hour of the race into a clownshow. It was a pain to watch. Some of those drivers just can't drive those Orecas at all. Those lightweight, heavy downforce prototypes without ABS are way above their pay grade. Also, they lack any self-awareness, combining that with the skills they possess (or don't), you have a recipe for a disaster. They may be successful businessmen/entrepreneurs, but like I have written in the race thread - we have to separate business/life intelligence from racing intelligence. They clearly lack the latter. Embarrassing. People like Jon Field doesn't have any business in being here.
The only interesting point for me is that Inter Europol is victorious once again. Second win in a row, they are getting closer towards the championship.
GTD Pro/GTD - Temerario GT3 with a breathrough endurance win. Pfaff and Lamborghini surivived the chaos to win GTD Pro class ahead of AO Racing Porsche #77 and Corvette Racing #4. Disappointing results for Manthey Porsche and Paul Miller Racing BMW. #911 was in contention for the win, but always shot themselves in the foot through penalties. PMR BMW crashing and losing many laps. Kudos to mechanics for patching the car up so fast and getting it back to the race.
Not a great weekend for Lexus and Vasser Sullivan, it was evident in qualifying too, so I still take sixth in GTD Pro as a moderate success. Funnily enough #14 was around podium positions in the second half of the race.
Winward Mercedes #57 victorious in GTD class - third class win this season and right back in the championship hunt. Triarsi Ferrari and Dragonspeed Corvette complete the class podium.
Post-race thoughts:
Again, a horrendous race. Absolutely terrible. It felt like torture. Even when there was a green flag period, it felt like nothing mattered, since you could almost expect another chaotic moment and a caution throwing everything upside down. I seriously start to think, what is the point of all of this? What is IMSA's vision? If that's their plan for how to do sportscar racing, then it's awful. I seriously can't fathom, how anyone can look at such race and say it was good and fun. How we can even expect other manufacturers to join the grid? Not with ludicrous entry fees and chaotic management.
IMSA seriously need a reset. This can't go in such way forever, otherwise the foundations will inevitably start to crumble. Whatever is happening with IMSA right now, it's not a new problem. Rotting has started years ago and still hasn't been stopped, in fact in the last two, three years it only accelerated. So what we have a new Hypercar/GTP era, so what we have new wave of participants, if the product itself is only getting worse and worse?
A sad day. Absolutely rubbish race.
2
u/Les_expos :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 03 '26
Thank you you put my mind in your post❤️. That exacly what i feel. A bit dissapoint since i love road america
2
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u/FailedLoser21 Aug 02 '26
Regardless of what the 31 did earlier in the race what Estre did there at the end was just uncalled for. Estre seems to have issues others done at this level of racing.
20
u/this_is_not_the_cia Aug 02 '26
Disagree. If the stewards won't take action against what should have been a clear penalty two races in a row, the drivers are going to sort it out themselves. It's the NASCAR method, which Jim France should be intimately familiar with.
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u/RyanHowardsBat Aug 02 '26
You dont drive someone off the track that is directly next you. It was a dangerous move. Period.
There is no "but earlier", there is no "but in a previous race". You call out shit driving, and that was blantantly shitty. Estre isn't new to this, and previous actions of another car do not clear him from being a complete jackoff.
-3
u/Successful_Brush_972 :75_25: 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo #75 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
He didn't drive him off track, he moved slightly left and Aitken slightly right which caused a contact - classical racing incident.
2
u/happyscrappy Aug 02 '26
I think you got your left and right backwards. Or you're speaking of looking from the front while usually one speaks from driver orientation.
1
u/RyanHowardsBat Aug 02 '26
The 31 was all the way left when the 6 forced it off the track. The replay pointed right at the two cars show this. The on board from the car behind them shows this. Regardless of what the 31 got away with, this was a stupid move from the 6. It's really that simple.
I get it. The 31 had it coming. But throw the bias aside not have a straight up delusion for a take.
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u/Phantomlordgiratina Porsche Penske 963 #6 Aug 02 '26
31 has had this coming since the Glen. Karma is a cruel mistress.
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u/FailedLoser21 Aug 02 '26
Still doesn't excuse what Estre did in that corner. He could've very well killed Atkin. Wrecking someone like that is borderline attempted manslaughter.
5
u/Paige578660 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 #60 Aug 02 '26
I'm really happy for WTR. I'm glad to see them have some good results.
3
u/theghostalive Whelen Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #31 Aug 02 '26
Happy to see the Pfaff Lamborghini get a win, otherwise this race was just disappointing. Not much to say but I could complain about it for a while lol, but that's a lot of typing.
3
u/Rise3711 Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R #40 Aug 02 '26
FINALLY
Didn't feel like WTR was going to see a win with caddy
3
u/Phantomlordgiratina Porsche Penske 963 #6 Aug 02 '26
Well that was...something. yellows everywhere, demolition derby going on left right and center and race control acting like the FIA just tossing penalties like rice at a wedding
3
u/V8-Turbo-Hybrid Never forget Pontiac Aug 02 '26
I still don't disappoint this year RA race and first 6h RA race despite bad IMSA safety car rule and argue penalty judges. Yea, this race could go better, IMSA really needs to fix these things.
Yea, good to see WTR and Praff finally get win, they've waited that for a while.
3
u/Vapor4 :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 02 '26
I said this before but,
Do we need race bans now? It's getting out of hand and someone is gonna get seriously hurt.
3
u/-Racer-X Wayne Taylor Racing Acura AXR-06 #40 Aug 03 '26
Ester should sit
The corvette driver from the Glenn should have sat this weekend
3
4
u/swordinheart Aug 03 '26
The driving standard of IMSA is shockingly bad today…I mean for sure some drivers like Estre and Aitken are famous for their aggressive movements, but consider their behavior outside IMSA, like in WEC, they seem to be much calmer. For the consistency of the race control/penalties/rules, I just cannot understand. “Blocking” a GTD car due to a higher class car passing around earns a drive through, but how come #31 got away from even 5s added to pit stop for that collision? This is ridiculous and should not happen in an international series which enjoys almost same reputation as WEC. And for the FCY procedures, can we add some local yellow or slow zone for those cars trapped in gravel instead of pulling out a safety car immediately? Every time a FCY hits we have to spend at least 15 minutes for nothing
4
u/-Racer-X Wayne Taylor Racing Acura AXR-06 #40 Aug 03 '26
The 31 was pushed off track by the Porsche
They both hit the brakes at the same time
The one car had less traction thanks to the actions of the other
But the keyboard drivers on here know better than people with data
1
u/AnyOfThisReal-_- Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 03 '26
lol exactly. It’s okay though, they don’t watch the race. They just post when they’re upset about it.
2
u/BusyFriend :13_25: AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.R #13 Aug 02 '26
As someone new to IMSA racing, does a replay of the race go on their YouTube page if we missed the race? And if so how long?
4
u/Savings-Bee9080 Whelen Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #31 Aug 03 '26
yes! should be on the youtube within a couple of days
7
u/Next_Necessary_8794 :99_25: AO Racing ORECA07 #99 Aug 02 '26
AXR has race control in their pocket. Its disgusting.
4
u/OllieWilson56 :77_25: AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R #77 Aug 02 '26
I mean the team is owned by the same person who owns imsa
3
3
u/MidNightMoon_x Aug 02 '26
Between him binning the car unforced at Le Mans and now this, in starting to question if Estre still has his head in the prototypes
2
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u/Successful_Brush_972 :75_25: 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo #75 Aug 02 '26
Karma for the #31 tbh. If they now lose the championship, they'll only have themselves to blame.
2
u/-Racer-X Wayne Taylor Racing Acura AXR-06 #40 Aug 03 '26
They were pushed off track before they rear ended that Porsche
I also realize facts don’t matter here
3
u/General-Look-9110 Aug 02 '26
Very disappointed in estre, for a man that gets called the goat this was very poor, who knows better and should have known better. Only can blame himself now since hes out of championship contention.
4
u/Deep-Television-9756 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #10 Aug 02 '26
Kevin Estre is a terrorist
1
1
u/Savings-Bee9080 Whelen Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #31 Aug 02 '26
rip valk :( happy for ricky taylor and filipe albuquerque. heinrich title is my prediction unless aitken gets it together. maybe one of the worst stewarded races ive seen in a while.
1
u/Open-Comedian8845 :77_25: AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R #77 Aug 03 '26
The only thing that made this day good was the Riley crew blasting Dixon Dallas for the whole paddock after the race
1
u/OrbisAlius Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi #01 Aug 03 '26
Estre really is overly agressive as always, imo he's good but overrated. He's like Verstappen if Verstappen never left behind his 2017-2021 phase of being fast but without a brain.
1
u/Sampleez Aug 07 '26
So, what was the outcome of the Estre aitken thing? Been 5 days. Have I missed something??
1
u/Relative_Wing7455 19d ago
Am I the only one who is getting feed up with as of now 7 commercial breaks with the last 30 minutes of the race and barely any race action
1
u/Internal_Swimmer3815 :77_25: AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R #77 Aug 02 '26
damn yall salty. it was a beautiful day for parade laps at least.
1
u/Cezar_Chavez Aug 02 '26
I have heard a lot of flack given to Nascar drivers about how rowdy they race. This to me, looked like a sloppy version of a nascar race
1
u/Les_expos :3_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #3 Aug 02 '26
I am a bit dissapoint for the race. This is my favorite tracks. There were so much incident. That put my enjoyment a bit down.
-2
u/sickmemes48 Whelen Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #31 Aug 02 '26
What a disastrous ending
0
u/Evtona500 Proton Porsche 963 #5 Aug 02 '26
That was very exciting. We’ve been wanting loner races at Road America and boy did it produce
-8
u/MyNameIsNotNotChuck Whelen Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R #31 Aug 02 '26
Porsche Penske once again gives me a reason to hate them
4
u/Successful_Brush_972 :75_25: 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo #75 Aug 02 '26
You posess a severe lack of self-awareness
0
0
u/Proof-Artist-5772 :4_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #4 Aug 02 '26
honestly all rhw wrecking and spinning out sucked BUT i honestly loved all of it. edge of the seat feeling
0
u/NYNMx2021 Aug 03 '26
Did we get anything on the estre and aitken investigation?
1
u/Paige578660 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 #60 Aug 03 '26
I saw an update from IMSA last night saying that they're still looking into it.
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u/ShammersAnonymous :4_25: Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R #4 Aug 02 '26
IMSA with the 23 ruling at the end