Drowning in a Sea of Rules, IMSA Quietly Hands out Fines, Penalties from Rolex 24 at Daytona

• Ferrari and BMW were fined and stripped of manufacturer points in GTD for violating this year’s new BOP agreements at the Rolex 24.

• The GTD Pro winning Ferrari team of Risi Competizione kept its victory and driver points, but Ferrari lost manufacturer and Michelin Endurance Challenge points as well as suffering a $25,000 fine.

• BMW, whose Paul Miller Racing team finished third in GTD Pro, suffered a similar fate.

• Meanwhile, there is no telling how many fans of sports car racing may have been lost to an esoteric rules system that not even the competitors seem to understand.

For the second consecutive year, IMSA has announced post-race penalties long after the conclusion of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

In this case, Ferrari and BMW were fined and stripped of manufacturer points in GTD for violating this year’s new BOP agreements established before the race.

The penalties were listed in a notice on Friday when the official results of the race were posted—26 days after the race's conclusion. A day’s notice was given to the two manufacturers and no protest or appeal is allowed.

Is this any way to run a racing series now touting its technical proficiencies? A winning manufacturer, Ferrari in this case, is stripped of points and has no recourse when it comes to pleading its case.

Last year, the race-winning Meyer Shank Racing team bypassed IMSA regulations on minimum tire pressure. The team kept its victory trophy, including Rolex watches, but lost manufacturer, team and driver points, which directly affected the championships in those categories. That was a case of getting caught with a hand in the cookie jar.

This time around, the GTD Pro winning Ferrari team of Risi Competizione kept its victory and driver points, but Ferrari lost manufacturer and Michelin Endurance Cup points as well as suffering a $25,000 fine. BMW, whose Paul Miller Racing team finished third in GTD Pro, suffered a similar fate.

The circumstances of this year’s penalties are murky.

The IMSA Technical Committee and the IMSA Supervisory Officials “unanimously determined” that the cars of Ferrari and BMW “exceeded IMSA's expectations as shared in the GT Manufacturers Technical Working Groups. The goal was to ensure the Demonstrated Performance of the best example of each Manufacturer’s Car Model would be within a targeted performance window—allowing for competitive equivalency.”

BMW expressed outrage after finishing on the podium. “We at BMW North America and BMW M Motorsports are furious by this action as we assure you that we, as well as our customer racing teams, have been completely open and transparent with IMSA about our performance during the Roar and the Rolex 24.”

There has been no official comment from Ferrari.

The penalty applies to both GTD Pro and GTD results, where the top placement of each car determines the manufacturer points. Ferrari lost 350 WeatherTech Championship points in GTD Pro and 320 in GTD. BMW lost 300 points in Pro and 250 in GTD.

At this stage, there is no telling how many fans of sports car racing may have been lost to an esoteric rules system that not even the competitors seem to understand. The bottom line is that Ferrari and BMW went too fast and got penalized. But wait. Those who were outside the rules get to keep their trophies.

How is a fan of speed and on-track excitement supposed to keep up with a set of rules that are almost unfathomable, a virtual secret and not even well understood by teams and manufacturers? It underscores that the IMSA WeatherTech Championship provides a ton of excitement on race day, but once the gates close the “follow on” from fans is not what it might be. “Follow on” is what builds TV ratings and crowds. Keeping up with the complications of BOP, on the other hand, appeals only to the most diehard fan.

It’s an open secret that IMSA’s first priority is not the fans but the manufacturers who pay millions to participate. The manufacturer participation grows the number of teams, entry fees and licensing for participants, not to mention the required fees to be part of IMSA’s factory platform.

For those who may tout the “record crowds” at the Daytona International Speedway this year, there was no verification from the track or IMSA about exactly how many people attended this year’s Rolex 24—or what the previous record might have been. They ask us to take their word for it. Those who have covered the 24-hour over the decades recall similar crowds in the early 1990s when the track first began to use satellite parking lot shuttles and cheap tickets to attract more local fans. (Then came the split between the American Le Mans Series and the Grand-Am.)

The state of BOP has now entered a new phase where manufacturers are losing points and paying fines. Previously, the “penalties” came in BOP adjustments prior to the next race if the sanctioning body thought it had gotten things wrong.

We’ll see how things develop as the season carries on under the new formula for GTD. That formula, introduced this year, calls for manufacturers to establish performance parameters with IMSA and includes the sharing of technical information between all GTD manufacturers.

Let’s hope the crowds keep coming to see a multitude of manufacturers who have figured out how to make money from sports car racing while generating publicity. It’s a great formula, but that BOP plan used in the GTD classes sure could use a little sunlight.