IMSA Race TUSC Round 2: The Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring

[Breitling24]

Originally Posted by nkoske

Agree 100%. Fire people, I've got no problem with that. Definite incompetence on so many levels, but you can't reverse standings now. That would be the ultimate race fixing. You have time to make a call if you don't make within a dozen laps of the incident then it should default to a no call. Calls get missed and called the wrong way, that's what happens when humans are involved.



Yet so many calls are missed. I recall a clear fumble recovery by the 49ers NaVorro Bowman during the Seahawks game. That was clearly called wrong. Yet nothing could be done.

Respectfully, I think you might be incorrect... not a football fan, but I know if a coach thinks/knows the wrong call was made, they can call the refs on it, just like Alex was trying to do. If they don't, then too bad, so sad. And again, TUSC changed Daytona results.

[Dodge_Swinger]

Sebring and Daytona are the two premier events on the schedule. Thus far, IMSA has demonstrated 100% incompetence in officiating. This time it affected two classes and to compound the issue, they aren't going to do anything about it. The NASCAR-style arrogance in the way Alex Job was treated is especially galling. I'm surprised he didn't get fined.

What exactly does IMSA have "in place" to correct this? Firing the officiating crew would be a great start. I suspect we will get another presser from Scott Atherton about having only one, er two, er fifty-seven chances to get this right, instead. I wouldn't trust IMSA to officiate a soap box derby at this point.

[TF110]

I might be alone or among the minority, but this race was hardly better than Daytona. The track is great and the battles as well, but the overall race was nearly as bad.

[TRspitfirefan]

First off, there was a lot of positive improvement this weekend, compared to the Daytona event.
The broadcast was more equitable between the classes. The balance of performance was way better than Daytona (although still not perfect.).
I really appreciated the addition of qualifying and practice #4 streaming.
Even though it only featured stationary camera's, it was still very enjoyable.

I did have some trouble with the sound on the IMSA.com race broadcast.
there was no commentary for most of the event, only background noise.
For most of the race, I used the MRN Radio feed along with the video supplied by the IMSA website.
Quite frankly I was amazed at how much improved the MRN broadcast was.
The addition of Creamer and Eversly helped immensely, but also the MRN crew seemed to have really done their homework.
Credit to them on a great effort.

It was frustrating to have so many long caution periods, but they all were obviously very necessary.
It would be great if the FCY procedure could be executed in a shorter time frame, but it would be better if more cautions could be avoided in the first place. Cars reentering the racing line really need to be more cautious. Perhaps IMSA could be more strict regarding some of the aggressive driving.

I really enjoyed the first eleven hours of this event, unfortunately the final caution ruined what could have been a great rebound for the new TUSCC series. While the caution was probably needed to remove the Marsh car, They could have waited just a few more minutes to throw the yellow. This would have allowed all contenders to complete their final pitstops and prevented the caution from affecting the outcome of the race so drastically.
Instead, the timing of the caution handed the "victory" on a silver platter to the Gannassi team and also to the GTLM Porsche.
And then to make matters worse, this caution seemed to take even longer than the usual lengthy time, leaving the cars that pitted under yellow no opportunity to chase down those "more fortunate entries".
Until that last hour, I was really beginning to feel more optimistic towards TUSCC, that ending left me feeling sort of cheated, and more skeptical of the "new IMSA".than before.

[supermario21]

I tried to watch but it was just painful. Too many yellows, too many crap PC drivers, and too much terrible officiating and coverage. I get the whole "let's attract new folks" mindset, but I'm sick of watching the TV coverage try to tell me what each class is. It's also insulting to intelligent folks like Varsha and co. who have been doing this stuff for decades and know what's going on. I don't care if these races are close, it just feels fake. Audi processionals were more exciting than this. Can't wait for F1 tonight (first time I've said that in awhile) and the WEC season moving forward. Hopefully more P2 teams go overseas and do that. The TUDOR series deserves to fail.

Heck a P2 + GTLM breakaway series would be more exciting.

[Matt]

You must have never watched an ALMS broadcast, they explained the classes every race.

[supermario21]

Originally Posted by Matt

You must have never watched an ALMS broadcast, they explained the classes every race.

I watched far too many of them unfortunately, but at least they had Hindhaugh on the streams.

[Lagunaseca_4life]

Haha f1 under safety car.....love it!

[1969MGCGTdriver]

I just got home from the track and all I can say is the number and the of full course cautions were ridiculous. Before the season started I feared the worst and hoped for the best. It looks like my fears are justified. There is entirely too much of a NASCAR style of "officiating" and tinkering with the races for my liking. The on track action was pretty good and they need to quit screwing it up with terrible penalties and unnecessarily long cautions. This was definitely the worst Sebring race I've attended and may be my last for a while, and that is a shame as I've been attending since 1986.

[PascaLM]

Originally Posted by 1969MGCGTdriver

I just got home from the track and all I can say is the number and the of full course cautions were ridiculous. Before the season started I feared the worst and hoped for the best. It looks like my fears are justified. There is entirely too much of a NASCAR style of "officiating" and tinkering with the races for my liking. The on track action was pretty good and they need to quit screwing it up with terrible penalties and unnecessarily long cautions. This was definitely the worst Sebring race I've attended and may be my last for a while, and that is a shame as I've been attending since 1986.

The "yellow zone" concept could be apply. It would allow to reduce the amount of FYC. The ACO will try it at Le Mans this year. The Sebring track is long enough for this, isn't it ?

[Pandemonium]

They should not be racing in that asphalt no matter how historic it is. Sebring vs F1 this weekend is a 1 to a 10

[Rodger Davies]

A mistake is a mistake, they held their hands up and admitted to it. It was a silly one but you can't say for sure, with all those safety car periods, it cost them the win; although Leh Keen v Andy Lally at the end could have been spectacular. It certainly didn't cost them '4 minutes' in the final classifications, or whatever they were claiming.

Same with 912 - they should have got pinged but didn't, but that happens all the time and they had the quickest car of the top 3 so there would have been a case for them winning even with the penalty.

Both GT classes arguably had more deserving winners that the prototype class! Although feels a bit like PC was the only one actually decided completely on track!

[Rodger Davies]

Originally Posted by Pandemonium

Sebring vs F1 this weekend is a 1 to a 10

Wha?!?!

I agree with you, but only if you change that around to '9 to a 1'.

At least one still has elements of a motor sport rather than an entertainment show. I wouldn't watch F1 these days if I was paid to. Bringing up F1 made me feel a lot better about Sebring; thanks for putting that in perspective...

[porsche91722]

Originally Posted by Pandemonium

They should not be racing in that asphalt no matter how historic it is. Sebring vs F1 this weekend is a 1 to a 10

Ok.... if you've now watched the Melbourne F1 race, are you sticking by that comment?
I dozed off to sleep after about 5 laps of the F1. Admittedly, I'd been up half the night and all day after watching Sebring. The F1 was just plain boring.

[aki13]

I missed the race Live, but here in the UK we have 2 highlight package of the race right now.

Cant believe the fire in that Viper. wow. scary stuff. Look forward to watching the rest of the race.

[Starfish Primer]

Positive points:

• P2/DP are balanced
• IMSA internet video feed and commentary
• Good battles in all the categories

Negative points:

• FCY procedure, very slow
• PC drivers driving standards
• IMSA stewards confusion (#912-#22)

By the way, Can someone explain me why Pruett is hated so much? Maybe I haven't heard some key info this side of the pond.

[Rodger Davies]

The Pruett thing was a result of Grand Am coverage in the past basically making him out to be The Best Sportscar Driver in the World™ without recognising ALMS and other categories' successful drivers when he never branched out to try ALMS or Le Mans.

All in the past now thankfully, hopefully folk on here will get past it. It's a shame that we couldn't have seen the Scott of a few years back or likely see him in a good ride at LM any time. Still, good to have him in the field at the moment, he's one of many credits to the series in terms of talent.

[Danathar]

Originally Posted by TRspitfirefan

First off, there was a lot of positive improvement this weekend, compared to the Daytona event.
The broadcast was more equitable between the classes. The balance of performance was way better than Daytona (although still not perfect.).
I really appreciated the addition of qualifying and practice #4 streaming.
Even though it only featured stationary camera's, it was still very enjoyable.

I did have some trouble with the sound on the IMSA.com race broadcast.
there was no commentary for most of the event, only background noise.
For most of the race, I used the MRN Radio feed along with the video supplied by the IMSA website.
Quite frankly I was amazed at how much improved the MRN broadcast was.
The addition of Creamer and Eversly helped immensely, but also the MRN crew seemed to have really done their homework.
Credit to them on a great effort.

It was frustrating to have so many long caution periods, but they all were obviously very necessary.
It would be great if the FCY procedure could be executed in a shorter time frame, but it would be better if more cautions could be avoided in the first place. Cars reentering the racing line really need to be more cautious. Perhaps IMSA could be more strict regarding some of the aggressive driving.

I really enjoyed the first eleven hours of this event, unfortunately the final caution ruined what could have been a great rebound for the new TUSCC series. While the caution was probably needed to remove the Marsh car, They could have waited just a few more minutes to throw the yellow. This would have allowed all contenders to complete their final pitstops and prevented the caution from affecting the outcome of the race so drastically.
Instead, the timing of the caution handed the "victory" on a silver platter to the Gannassi team and also to the GTLM Porsche.
And then to make matters worse, this caution seemed to take even longer than the usual lengthy time, leaving the cars that pitted under yellow no opportunity to chase down those "more fortunate entries".
Until that last hour, I was really beginning to feel more optimistic towards TUSCC, that ending left me feeling sort of cheated, and more skeptical of the "new IMSA".than before.

I have to agree with you on your analysis. The final caution REALLY screwed things up bad.

Was the time to take cars off the track the same in the ALMS era? If not why was it different this time?

[BullMan]

Originally Posted by Starfish Primer

Positive points:

• P2/DP are balanced
• IMSA internet video feed and commentary
• Good battles in all the categories

Negative points:

• FCY procedure, very slow
• PC drivers driving standards
• IMSA stewards confusion (#912-#22)

By the way, Can someone explain me why Pruett is hated so much? Maybe I haven't heard some key info this side of the pond.

Pruett in GA was always the big fish in a small pond. With few exceptions, the best sportscar drivers in the world generally stayed away, and when they did show up, they would beat him. But the GA TV broadcasts would make him out the be Senna + Earnhardt times a million.

[wdave0]

So, I took the gamble that it couldn't be as bad as Daytona and made my annual pilgrimage. It wasn't as bad - the last yellow was at least valid. Unfortunately everything else was about the same - AMholes causing multiple yellows and terrible yellow procedures which take way too long (30+ minutes for a simple parked car flat tow????). It isn't a surprise that there were botched penalty calls either.
Although I will miss the fabulous sounds of most of the engines and the ambience of the track I won't be back and am cancelling my plans for Watkins, a DVR or highlight show at least edits out the endless yellows. Until or unless IMSAscar figures out how to run a road race properly I can settle for PWC or SCCA nationals. I fear for their future as I heard similar sentiment from many other attendees. I am truly disappointed because the elements are there for it to be very good.

[Dyson Mazda]

Correct me if I am wrong on this, but wouldn't the caution procedure be a lot more efficient if they just picked up the first class leader to cross the start finish line after the caution is thrown and eliminate wave arounds?

[wdave0]

Originally Posted by BullMan

Pruett in GA was always the big fish in a small pond. With few exceptions, the best sportscar drivers in the world generally stayed away, and when they did show up, they would beat him. But the GA TV broadcasts would make him out the be Senna + Earnhardt times a million.

Not to mention that the team he was driving for had a budget equal to the sum of the rest of the field!

[Dyson Mazda]

Pruett is the first American driver to win since 1997 and the Riley Ford is the first American car to win since 1996 (only the 2nd one since 1969 when Ford won with the GT40).

[wdave0]

Originally Posted by Dyson Mazda

Correct me if I am wrong on this, but wouldn't the caution procedure be a lot more efficient if they just picked up the first class leader to cross the start finish line after the caution is thrown and eliminate wave arounds?

They could save 4 laps right off the top just by keeping the pits closed, more if they got rid of the bogus LDWB.

[truebeliever]

Originally Posted by Danathar

I have to agree with you on your analysis. The final caution REALLY screwed things up bad.

Was the time to take cars off the track the same in the ALMS era? If not why was it different this time?

Hello! Why does this surprise you? Welcome to the world of Nascar racing, oh, sorry, sports entertainment for the uninitiated