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| 2014 Petit Le Mans: What to Expect | |
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|  | | September 25 2014 09:21:27 PM EST | |
| Going into the merger, everyone collectively on both side said the same thing......leave GTLM alone. For years, the ALMS GT class had been the closest and most competitive GT racing in the world. The new IMSA, now under ownership of NASCAR, have managed to destroy all that was good about that class by using a sledge hammer, instead of a scalpel to managed BoP/AoP throughout the 2014 season, on top of the countless terrible officiating calls.
Corvette Racing was not alone when it came to being shafted by the IMSA technical team.
-Ferrari went from being far off pace to being the class of the field, winning 2 races in a row with ease, then at COTA was dead last over 1.5 seconds off pace.
-Corvette managed to win 4 races in a row, mainly due to slower prototype traffic getting in the way of the other GTLM competition. They were never the quickest, but was handed a massive weight penalty. Clearly a move by IMSA to manage the points battle.
-Porsche won the first 2 races then went silent. Mid season they got some huge BoP breaks but still managed to be mediocre until the final BoP of the season was released before COTA. Porsche goes out and qualifies 1-2-3. Guess who has been sandbagging?
-Viper may be the only car that BoP was managed properly all year, and their results clearly show it.
IMSA will advertise that the GTLM points battle is extremely close and it all comes down to the last race. Anyone can win the championship! That may be true on paper, but we know the truth. The hand writing is on the wall unless there is some bizarre attrition at Petit.
For the sake of the sport, this is not fair for the fans, drivers, teams, or all the manufactures who write the checks to keep this series alive.
We have heard from many fans that had purchased tickets to go to Petit, but have chosen not to go because of the BoP situation. We have also heard from many fans who will not be watching the race on TV. Keep in mind many of these fans are also customers of these manufactures. If these customers steer away from the series, so may the manufactures if this series does not get it together for the 2015 season and beyond.
TUSC Team Points Post-COTA
1. 300 points - #93 Viper
2. 293 points - #3 Corvette
3. 283 points - #91 Viper
4. 277 points - #62 Ferrari
5. 276 points - #55 BMW
6. 275 points - #56 BMW
7. 270 points - #912 Porsche
8. 262 points - #4 Corvette
9. 252 points - #911 Porsche
10. 230 points - #17 Porsche
TUSC Manufacture Points Post-COTA
1. 308 points - Dodge
2. 308 points - Porsche
3. 300 points - Chevrolet
4. 300 points - BMW
5. 294 points - Ferrari
Tequila Patron NAEC Team Points Post-Watkin Glen
1. 28 points - #4 Corvette
2. 27 points - #911 Porsche
3. 27 points - #3 Corvette
4. 26 points - #91 Viper
5. 25 points - #912 Porsche
6. 25 points - #93 Viper
7. 21 points - #55 BMW
8. 19 points - #56 BMW
9. 18 points - #57 Ferrari
10. 12 points - #62 Ferrari
11. 10 points - #17 Porsche
Tequila Patron NAEC Manufactures Points Post-Watkin Glen
1. 36 points - Porsche
2. 35 points - Chevrolet
3. 32 points - Dodge
4. 23 points - BMW
5. 18 points - Ferrari
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