Dubai 24 Hours 14- 16th January 16

[E46]

From Twitter:

#24HSERIES | Due to avoidable collisions during this and several races of 24H SERIES, #11 Scuderia Praha cannot join from next round on.

[canamman]

Originally Posted by rich07

And there goes the engine in the Konrad Lambo . What a shame.

Thank goodness they did not throw a code 60 on that.
Great finish! 13 periods of code 60 for a little over 4 hrs.
Congrats to the Belgian 19 Audi team. 16 Black Falcon
Merc team gave it a good go for 2nd place.

First win for Audi at this race since it started in 2006.

[airbusA346]

Originally Posted by E46

From Twitter:

#24HSERIES | Due to avoidable collisions during this and several races of 24H SERIES, #11 Scuderia Praha cannot join from next round on.

Wow!

[J Jay]

That's swift and resolute.

I missed the crash, who was in the car and what happened? Was it the off-camera crash that hospitalized Thomas Martinson?

Edit - Confirmed to be just for the next round, after Mugello 12H Scuderia Praha will be allowed back in the series.

[rich07]

Yeah this was just announced on RLM and it was from Creventic themselves not the stewards. But only for Mugello 12hrs not the rest of the season.

Edit-apparently the incident was not caught on camera but apparently there was enough eyes on the spot for the organisers to make such a decision.

[MaskedRacer]

Great job from the RLM guys. How do they keep doing that over 1 whole day is amazing. Especially since I bet these Crevantic races are much more difficult to do commentary than WEC, SRO or IMSA. As a viewer its tougher to watch too with so many cup, sport, and touring cars running around where we are trying to focus on the GT3 machines. Dubai probably is not the most TV friendly circuit either.

[airbusA346]

One wreaked Ginetta.





Photos: Primus Racing

[rich07]

Ouch that's nasty. So who was driving the Praha Ferrari when it hit the Ginetta?

[bckf]

Originally Posted by rich07

Ouch that's nasty. So who was driving the Praha Ferrari when it hit the Ginetta?

It was Cressoni.

[canamman]

Originally Posted by rich07

Ouch that's nasty. So who was driving the Praha Ferrari when it hit the Ginetta?

I thought that was a long caution period.
1 hour and 11 mins. That's when I fell asleep.
http://www.raceresults.nu/uitslagen/...20-%20stat.pdf

[rich07]

Originally Posted by bckf

It was Cressoni.

Thanks

[Pontlieue]

Is that purely the accident damage, or did they have to cut the driver out of the car?

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Pontlieue

Is that purely the accident damage, or did they have to cut the driver out of the car?

The latter...

[Miguel]

Originally Posted by Pontlieue

Is that purely the accident damage, or did they have to cut the driver out of the car?

He had to be cut out. Last I heard he broke his collarbone and six ribs. And the team had some harsh words for Cressoni.

I thought this was a very enjoyable race. Watched far more than I had initially planned.

[Marcel ten Caat]

According to Primus Racing Matteo Cressoni had four wheels off the track before slamming into the Ginetta, both cars then hitting the barriers.

Thomas was trapped in the car for an hour, had to be cut out and was then transferred to hospital immediately, where he was indeed diagnosed with six broken ribs and a broken collarbone.

[MGDavid]

The Creventic announcement also mentioned other previous incidents and transgressions by Team Praha, it seems this was the last straw etc.

[rich07]

Originally Posted by MGDavid

The Creventic announcement also mentioned other previous incidents and transgressions by Team Praha, it seems this was the last straw etc.

Wonder if the 'tire warmers' they used in the last race last year was one of those transgressions?

[FIRE]

Open letter from Peter Kox:

Open letter to Creventic.

Last weekend was the 24Hr of Dubai organized by Creventic and I started for Scuderia Praha in a Ferrari 458GT3.

We lead the race until approximately 11.30 in the evening, when my teammate collided with an other competitor and we were out of the race.
Unfortunately the other driver was injured, something we all wish never happens!
My teammate acknowledged that it was his fault and the stewards penalized the team with a 10 place grid penalty for the next race at Mugello.

However 10minutes for the finish they called the team manager to tell him that the team will not be allowed to start at the next round at Mugello... Quote: "Due to avoidable collisions during this and several races of 24H SERIES, #11 Scuderia Praha cannot join from next round on." A chance to get into a dialog was not possible as the race was about to finish and there was no time to discuss, however there was time to immediately put it on twitter and website..

The statement was a direct insult to team and drivers!

When I spoke later in the hotel with the Clerk of the course he assured me that he was not in favor with this decision, as he and the stewards already had penalized the team for this incident and for him the case was closed, correctly so..

Furthermore in the statement they stated that the series tendency is for amateur drivers doing their hobby, drive for fun. Saying, or deciding for us!?, in other words that we are not having fun...
Luckily could I make from my hobby my profession and do this while it gives me great joy and fun, something that everybody needs in his profession to keep going, surely in such a competitive environment as the world of motor racing.
The owner of the car for sure sees(or has seen..) it as his hobby and for sure wants to have fun during his racing weekends!

They clearly close their eyes for other teams/manufacturers who support teams in several ways including (works)drivers.

I have done eight 24HR and three 12HR races(in the Creventic series alone!) with them and got hit(not the other way around!) twice...

If you allow 100! cars( in different classes!) on a 5.39km track you don't need to be Einstein to realize that it is very crowdy and that incidents Will happen!, and I honestly believe that everybody out there is doing their best to stay out of trouble and try to have a clean race, that is in everybody's interest.

100 cars is a massive number for the race organizers and also there is, for sure from my side some compliance that not every decision flag or punishment will be correct.

There were 12! Code 60( full course yellow) + the incidents where there was no Code 60 necessary to retrieve cars from the track!

Creventic wanted to 'send a message' that this driving behavior is not acceptable.
However they did this in a way that affected a whole team, where as they could have(and this is fairly common) sanctioned the specific driver.

They punish a small team were there is no manufacturer involvement,but with commitment for this series, now for the third full season, so a small loss of revenue for Creventic, but a big loss for all involved in the team..

Peter Kox

Response from Creventic:

CREVENTIC has been asked to respond to an open letter received from Peter Kox regarding the decision not to invite the Scuderia Praha team for the next round of the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook at Mugello. Peter is a respected driver who has participated in our series for many years. Although our usual communication channel is through Scuderia Praha as the official entrant, we are more than happy to explain how CREVENTIC has come to this decision.

CREVENTIC organises races in which gentleman drivers play the most important role. We do believe that respect on and off track, in driving and behaviour, is very important to keep the friendly and special atmosphere for which the 24H SERIES are well-known. CREVENTIC wants to organise races in which drivers feel comfortable, safe and enjoy racing. We would like to avoid that achieving a good result in one of our races or the championship becomes more important than respecting the safety of fellow drivers. CREVENTIC is aware of the fact that all drivers can make mistakes. However, there is a difference in the decisions racing drivers are taking which influences the likeliness of such mistakes. In this particular case, the car of Scuderia Praha did not respect the track limits in an overtaking manoeuvre and when re-joining the track from an unexpected angle, took out Thomas Martinsson in the Primus Racing Ginetta. As a result, the rescue marshals had to cut off the roof of the Ginetta and Thomas Martinsson was transported to the hospital with several fractures. We have been informed that Thomas Martinsson is likely to recover completely from this accident. The other result of this incident is that the Primus Racing team's Hankook 24H DUBAI race was over and the car is damaged beyond repair. This is an example of behaviour CREVENTIC does not want to see in its races.

Last season CREVENTIC heard several remarks from drivers about the driving style of Scuderia Praha team drivers . They were taking more risks than usual when overtaking other cars. Some competitors used the word "aggressive". Official complaints were not made however these concerns were, on several occasions, shared with the team. We want to emphasize that the racing incident in the Hankook 12H ZANDVOORT 2014, a collision between the Scuderia Praha team and the Speedworks Motorsport Ginetta that resulted into their driver spending weeks in hospital recovering, did not have any influence in this decision.

Endurance racing is a team sport: you win as a team and you lose as a team. Strategy, choice of driver line-up, the attitude towards racing and respect for other competitors are all important factors and should be a shared responsibility. Therefore CREVENTIC decided with regret not to invite Scuderia Praha team for the next round, the Hankook 12H ITALY-MUGELLO. CREVENTIC went in person to the Scuderia Praha pit box (so not by phone) and explained clearly to team manager Jiri Rozkosny how and why they had made the decision to exclude them from the following round. This decision was not an easy one as the Scuderia Praha team is a valued customer that has competed in many CREVENTIC events. CREVENTIC is convinced we need to point out to all our other teams and drivers that we do care about correct driving behaviour and safety. CREVENTIC is aware that the impact of this decision affects the whole Scuderia Praha team, but as pointed out earlier, we consider endurance racing to be a team sport. Therefore, we hope that all our 24H SERIES drivers will realize that such behaviour can cause damage to other teams' vehicles or can seriously injure drivers, not only can affect the driver who causes such incident, but also can have an impact on the rest of your team mates and team.

The CREVENTIC races generally have a lot of cars but always lower than the maximum according the FIA homologation of the circuit. Although according to the FIA track homologation, 107 cars would have been allowed to start at Dubai Autodrome, CREVENTIC stopped accepting entries at 100 participants. The amount of cars is the reason CREVENTIC is so serious about driving behaviour and safety. Entering in the Hankook 24H DUBAI, every driver and team member knows that there will be a lot of cars, it is a free choice from every team and driver to accept that challenge or not.

We hope to welcome Scuderia Praha at our 12H race in Zandvoort again. If not we respect that decision as well. We are running a FIA sanctioned series. In our FIA-approved regulations is clearly stated that the organisation can refuse an entry. This is done to be able to keep control of our own series. In fact, according to us, more series should use common sense to protect what they have achieved and not to be controlled by forces outside their control. Every team is free to enter, but if you do not agree with our system, atmosphere or approach then it might be better look for another series which is more suitable for you. This is what we stand for.

CREVENTIC is convinced the signal is clear to all drivers and teams. CREVENTIC hopes suspensions in the future will be avoided, however CREVENTIC will not hesitate to act accordingly if we feel it is necessary to protect the way we want enjoy our well beloved endurance sport. We herewith invite Peter for a cup of coffee at our headquarters in Gennep to exchange ideas about this matter, and what we can do to be able to improve things for everyone involved.

CREVENTIC Team

[Coach Ep]

Interesting to note that if the organizers (Creventic) thought their entrant (Scuderia Praha) was 'out-of-line' on a number of previous occasions, why didn't they have a talk with the team or put a warning in effect to try to avoid a serious incident like the one that occurred [and let to the non-invitation aka suspension of Scuderia Praha]. Now they're responding after the affairs have occurred instead of acting pro-actively.

I also find it strange Creventic is criticizing other organizers, what have they got to do with all this???

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Interesting to note that if the organizers (Creventic) thought their entrant (Scuderia Praha) was 'out-of-line' on a number of previous occasions, why didn't they have a talk with the team or put a warning in effect to try to avoid a serious incident like the one that occurred [and let to the non-invitation aka suspension of Scuderia Praha]. Now they're responding after the affairs have occurred instead of acting pro-actively.

I also find it strange Creventic is criticizing other organizers, what have they got to do with all this???

Odd to release a public response at all in my opinion. But yes, lots of strange responses....

[fieldodreams79]

They beat this one to death on MWM that I just listened to.

Seems like an aggressive punishment with no real backbone, at least evidence wise. I do feel, however, there should be more severe punishments for drivers AND teams that have a track record of boneheaded moves (all contact is "avoidable"). Not saying this punishment fits the this incident but these harsh punishments could clean up some of the racing, maybe.

[Deleted]

On Autosport, arguably the giant in motorsport general media, there were 4 articles in total about the Dubai 24 Hours. 3 of them involved the Ferrari ban. So I guess whatever you think about the debacle, at least it generated some halo...

[fieldodreams79]

Interesting. Maybe this will be a milestone in punishments or this time next year it will be forgotten.

Taking this back to the actual race, the increased interest and popularity in this race has increased the sheer numbers, complicating the situation for drivers and stewards alike. Numbers is a good problem to have.

[GT-Eins]

After digging through approximately 25.000 single laptimes we are proud to present additional lap-time-analytics for some of the main classes of this years 24h of Dubai in our race report:
http://www.gt-eins.de/Berichte2016/2...ml#Statistiken

As example watch the below featured analysis of the GT4-class - containing one of the most impressive driver performances of the race...

[Speed-King]

containing one of the most impressive driver performances of the race...

Ellis?