IMSA today announced that the #16 BAR1 Prototype Challenge (PC) team and drivers Johnny Mowlem, Tom Papadopoulos, Tomy Drissi, Brian Alder and Martin Plowman have lost their finishing position in the final race results in the 2015 Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The pro-am PC class requires minimum drive times to be met by bronze- or silver-rated (amateur) drivers to be eligible for points and awards. For the Rolex 24, that minimum was four hours and 30 minutes for the PC and GT Daytona (GTD) class.
As the #16 team utilized two platinum drivers in its Rolex 24 lineup, the team needed two silver- or bronze-rated drivers to each achieve the minimum drive time requirement. Only one of the team’s silver- or bronze drivers met the minimum. As a result, the #16 team loses its finishing position and all prize money and points, aside from the one point awarded for starting the race.
“For the competitive balance and fairness for other teams with different driver configurations in the ‘pro-am’ environment, minimum drive times for bronze and silver-rated drivers must be enforced,” said IMSA Race Director Beaux Barfield.
IMSA say that the penalty assessed to the #16 team is consistent with a penalty assessed to the #94 GTD team in the 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona, which also had one pro-am driver miss the minimum drive time requirement.
The move though is attracting some comment after the rules were changed post race to allow the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP to retain points and 16th position despite Jordan Taylor substantially exceeding his permitted driving hours in the closing stages of the race.
