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\u00a0In 2013, Porsche\u2019s aging 997-based 911 GT3 RSR couldn\u2019t get close enough to sniff Sebring\u2019s winner\u2019s circle after being left in the debris of its far more potent rivals from BMW, Corvette, Ferrari and Viper. This year, however, the factory-run CORE Autosport 991 911 RSR of Patrick Long, Michael Christensen, and J\u00f6rg Bergmeister exhibiting a competitive pace, as well as excellent pit strategy, and taking advantage of fortuitous yellow flags, not only saw the circle, but saw it from the inside as the winner in the prestigious GTLM division of the classic enduro.<\/div>\n

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Moreover, Porsche also scored its first ever victory in the Tudor Championship\u2019s very competitive GTD class through the efforts of Utah-based Magnus Racing\u2019s GT America, piloted by team owner John Potter, veteran Andy Lally, and Porsche factory test driver Marco Seefried, the trio overcoming an early collision and later transmission problems, to capture the team\u2019s first Sebring win.<\/div>\n

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Unfortunately, these two victories were marred by a race noteworthy for long delays with over five of the 12 hours being run under the yellow flag, (three of those coming within the first half of the event). Virtually all of these interruptions were due to either unforced driving mistakes , or incomprehensible decision making by race officials. While surviving the various crashes throughout the day might well have been considered victory in itself, reaching that checkered flag first remained the object of the exercise, which why it was a shame that the success of both (albeit deserving) Porsche winners came in part because some unintended help from the apparently clueless Stewards in Race Control.<\/div>\n

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The potential of Job\u2019s two new 911 GT Americas: the WeatherTech\u2019s #22 entry and its sister, the Team Seattle\u2019s #23 car, gave him reason to be optimistic about a podium finish. After all, Alex Job Racing has won no less than 70 races and five championships since 1995, including, two Rolex 24 class triumphs and, perhaps most impressively, two Le Mans GT class victories. This year he was going for win number ten at Sebring, with most unwilling to bet against him accomplishing that goal.<\/div>\n

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Unfortunately,eight hours into the race, his WeatherTech entry, having overcome an early tire puncture to run with the leaders up front, was dealt a huge blow with a penalty it clearly did not deserve. Driver Cooper MacNeil was incorrectly given an 80 second stop and go penalty for \u201cavoidable contact\u201d with GT-D Ferrari 458 Italia. This penalty was given despite the fact that the Porsche in question was one of the factory 991 RSRs, something clearly evidenced in the video tape of the incident by the highly visible Michelin tire sticker on its roof. In spite of that, and inspite of the fact that all the GT-D entries ran on mandated Continental rubber, the five officials who reviewed the tape before handing out the penalty made their incomprehensible decision. But which of the two CORE RSRs was it? The answer ironically was both though only the #911 car was ever cited.<\/div>\n

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Job, who immediately appealed the penalty, was told simply: \u201cBring your car in for the 80 seconds,, or we\u2019ll stop timing and scoring it.”<\/em> Faced with such ignorant intransigence, Job had no choice but to call in MacNeil, virtually ending any chances for a win.<\/div>\n
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Nor was Job\u2019s mood improved by what happened after the race. \u201cI went to the tower to see the video. As they showed it, I and they could clearly see the # 22 was obviously way ahead of the incident and that it was one of the white RSRs which made contact with the Ferrari. You could almost visualize the \u2018oops\u2019 coming from their lips. Having reviewed the video, they told me they would discuss the situation and do whatever they could. At the very least, I think they needed to calculate the lost time, the 80-second hold plus the time through the pits. I believe we were running second, so that\u2019s a lot of lost track position.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n
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But what was done, and the penalty stuck, leaving the WeatherTech car a very disappointing fourth in the results. It was some consolation to Job that his other GT America did extremely well in the tough GTD class to finish third, but it had to be a bittersweet result for the man who\u2019s been competing at Sebring for 25 years and was set up for another win. As for the impact on the finish in the GTLM category, where Porsche\u2019s margin of victory was less than five seconds, had Long, Christensen and Bergmeister been hauled down pit lane to serve an enforced 80-second stop, it would have been the Viper folks celebrating, and not the Porsche camp.<\/div>\n
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Following the race, IMSA\u2019s vice president of competition and technical regulations Scot Elkins admitted, \u201cThe series tonight actually made a couple of incorrect calls during the event. The nature of racing is, that it makes it very difficult for us to take those back. There\u2019s nothing we can do in terms of taking time away and doing anything to the results. We\u2019re sorry, and we made a mistake. We have some things in place to fix it for the next time.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n
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You better hope so, Scot. After the snafus at Daytona and the insanity of Sebring, some teams are wondering if their future lies with IMSA, or perhaps the Sports Car Club of America\u2019s World Challenge, for which the GT America Porsches are also eligible. The bottom line is simple: if you\u2019re a big time racing organization, then act like one.<\/div>\n
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Greg Brown, March 2014<\/strong><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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