A brief statement from IMSA yesterday evening revealed an extraordinary chain of consequences from another GTD class drive time violation at Petit Le Mans.
Following on from the misunderstanding of the rules by Magnus Racing that cost the #44 Audi team the class win a further adjustment to the result comes with the news that #73 Park Place Porsche driver Patrick Lindsey did not complete the required driving time during the race.
That put the #73, which finished third on the road but was elevated to second after the relegation of the #44, to the back of the GTD standings in the official result, elevating the IMSA Championship winning #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari to second place. The #97 Turner BMW is therefore now officially classified in third!
That change though had even more far-reaching consequences for the #63 driver crew of Christina Nielsen and Alessandro Balzan as the IMSA statement makes clear:
“Following the post-race audit by IMSA officials, a minimum drive-time violation involving driver Patrick Lindsey was revealed. As a result, the #73 entry was moved to the rear of the GT Daytona (GTD) finishing order for Petit Le Mans, and all cars finishing behind the No. 73 were moved up.
“The #63 team and drivers Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen finished second in the race, putting them into a tie with No. 23 drivers Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas for first in the Patrón Endurance Cup driver standings. By virtue of their two victories at Sebring and Watkins Glen, Nielsen and Balzan won the tiebreaker and the 2016 Patrón Endurance Cup GTD driver championship.”
So congratulations (again!) to Christina and Alessandro and commiserations to the luckless and entirely innocent Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas!
It does seem though in the light of this protracted confusion, that the there is work to do in ensuring that all involved are fully aware of the fearsomely complex rules!
