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The penalties are uncommonly harsh in broader terms, but I think the specifics are pretty interesting (ignoring the DQ for ignoring the black flag, which is nothing new). They appear to have moved to harsher penalties for causing accidents with lower level classes - so a Pro driver taking out an Am driver, will result in them throwing the book at you. Pro on Pro - not so much, usual racing incident assumptions apply.
You could argue this either way, but it's interesting, and perhaps most importantly, it gives a massive incentive to play it safe with the Am drivers. And that's critical I think because as someone mentioned earlier in the thread, the cost is becoming prohibitive. Without gentleman drivers, the series doesn't do as well - without finishing races (and without massive repair bills) gentleman drivers won't come. So, you could look at it as clever protection. I'd be surprised if we see many 5 minutes penalties in future as I think drivers will be giving Am cars a huge amount of distance!
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