Quote:
Originally Posted by dave_l
Hi all, my first post so let me start by saying thank you for all the interesting reading!
Maybe you can all help me understand something.
There seems to be a general feeling that if a car passes scrutineering it must be OK/legal.
But did the Porsche not pass scrutineering at the Le Mans test day? Was it not then deemed illegal and made to be changed?
Sorry if I am wrong but that seems to suggest to me that scrutineering isn't the end of the argument?
Dave
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Welcome on the forum Dave.
The rear bodywork of the Porsche 919 was actually revised between the LM test day and scrutineering and there is no indication that further revisions were necessary after scrutineering (see
racecar-engineering report). It is unclear though if such revisions were made at the specific request of the ACO-FIA.
In any event, you are right, passing the scrutineering tests is not the end of the story. Subsequent revisions may be required if ultimately it turns out that a system or solution that passed scrutineering is nevertheless found to be in contravention with the rules, whether as a result of a formal protest or of clarification request.
That's why I believe that Vasselon's argument according to which the rear wing system is deemed to be legal because it passed the deflection tests is a somewhat weak, short-sighted argument. Evidently, the current deflection tests are not adapted to highlight the fact that the rear wing's main plane and additional flap are movable (namely pivotable) at speed.
BTW, the series of deflection tests that are defined in the rules are not meant to be exhaustive. The ACO-FIA have explicitly reserved the right to introduce further deflection tests in the event that a bodywork part/element is suspected to be moving at speed.