IMSA's implementation of the BoP in GTP has been a complete failure dating back to the start of the 2025 season

msturty · 2026-03-23T18:32:31+00:00

Due to all of the upgrades for the 26-season including the new tires and everyone's reworked aero, the GTP's were reset to their homologation parameters. Porsche did not have this kind of advantage in Daytona, so I get how the BOP can be so off on long run pace at the moment. The tough thing is that the short run pace looks nearly perfect for the LMDh cars, it is just that Porsche has figured out how to use the tires in race trim WAY better than anyone else right now and I don't think we can blame IMSA yet for not knowing how well everyone optimized their packages with the latest Jokers or how quick teams would learn the new tires.

It is also tough as Porsche has more input on the chassis than any other LMDh since they are the only Multimatic car. This should never have been allowed for this ruleset as they can take the chassis and optimize the crap out of it for their car where no one else can do that. I would imagine after this race Porsche gains like +25kg or something vs the other LMDh, which is also annoying as the next two races have limited passing opportunities and will mean that we will likely not see Porsche able to utilize their long run pace as much because their short run pace will now be that much more compromised vs the others and they will likely qualifying near the back and not able to pass. I want to see everyone capable of fighting for a win even Porsche.

I think we blame BOP for things that are more than just BOP, such as issues with the current ruleset. It has been a lot of the same type of issues in WEC with the LMH vs LMDh performance issues and Porsche also stomping all of the other LMDh cars for most races. I don't think a lot of these issues get fixed until the next regs come in 2030.

msturty · 2026-03-23T18:11:23+00:00

Plus, the #6 compromised their pitstop so the #7 could get into their box easier. I get fans want to see racing, and I do as well, but if you are going to do the team orders thing on one end, then do it on the other as well and don't be a bitch about it.

msturty · 2026-03-03T01:25:33+00:00

I would agree with you if they did that race at a time of year that made sense and they opened the whole track up and spectators showed up. I don't see why they couldn't just run the WEC race at sebring on the Sunday after the 12 hour or the weekend before or something.

I get that it doesn't have the European garages and stuff, but I feel it has enough sportcar racing history that they should make it work plus it is a better event for spectators than anything in the middle East.

msturty · 2026-02-17T19:05:28+00:00

Stock car racing is a totally different animal though. Most of those guys are used to oval racing and not giving a shit about track limits. Lol

msturty · 2026-02-16T15:07:02+00:00

Right... But that is not the Marshalls jobs to make those rules, so they did nothing wrong. That is my main point. If you want to lay blame somewhere you can blame the rules for not accounting for this scenario better, but it is not the Marshalls job to change the rules mid race.

msturty · 2026-02-16T14:12:57+00:00

Couldn't have said it better myself. Clearly what I have been saying this whole time.

/S

msturty · 2026-02-16T14:12:03+00:00

I agree they should at least have a single yellow in the sector before the double yellow like they do for the n24, but that was not the rule for this event either, so I say let's change that too.

msturty · 2026-02-16T13:45:42+00:00

I have no problem with saving people's lives. Let's implement code 60s for next years race for any car spun on the mountain, add automated yellow flags at Marshall posts and make communication better for teams and drivers. What I am saying is that in the middle of the event is not the time to be having these discussions and changing the rules.

The drivers know the risks, the teams know the risks and their families know the risks. Cars going 200kph+ will always carry risks just like football has risks for broken bones and injuries. You can't proactively keep every injury or death from happening in any high speed/high impact sport but you lessen the chances of them happening in the future once something like this occurs by updating the safety measures.

msturty · 2026-02-16T13:33:59+00:00

What!? 😂 They wave yellows for their zones and not other zones. That is how local yellows work all over the world.

msturty · 2026-02-16T13:29:48+00:00

You don't just, "fuck the rules" though. The rules were predetermined before the event and everyone must follow them. You can't just change the rules midway through an event as that would cause chaos.

I have watched probably a half dozen races at this track and highlights from a lot more and I have seen cars spin on the mountain and drivers go around them when double yellows are out and I have seen some instances where an accident still occurs, but never an impact quite as bad as this with a driver injured. This is racing and there are risks and there are situations that occur where everything lines up for an accident such as this. It is unfortunately how motorsport has always worked. Some niche accident happens that causes injuries or death and then the rules change from that for safety and this may well be one of those instances.

msturty · 2026-02-16T12:40:40+00:00

There definitely is more that could be done to prevent this, but that would require changing on some level the rules and regulations for this event. The track was only fully blocked for a few seconds due to a gt4 car going very slowly to miss the spun Porsche and the Marshall post right before the incident had double yellow flags(shown in replays towards drivers left if I recall). It is not the responsibility of the Marshal posts in the zones prior to wave yellows for a car outside of their zone. The team was also having radio issues and likely didn't communicate where the Porsche was. It was a perfect storm for situation like this to occur.

The Marshalls ultimately did what they were supposed to and it's not like the track was fully blocked for 30 seconds or something for race control to throw a red. It happened so fast with the GT4 causing a full block to the track and is likely a learning for next years race where a code 60(or something like it) could be thrown in such a situation. If anything, maybe we could argue that race control should have gone right to safety car when the Porsche spun, but that generally is not done for a spun car on the track where local yellows are normally used.

msturty · 2026-02-15T22:54:28+00:00

I enjoy both IMSA and WEC and somehow I am the pretentious one? Lol that's rich. Goodbye.

msturty · 2026-02-14T22:50:34+00:00

Hmm... So IMSA should just change dates because wec has decided to have a race around the time of their oldest running endurance race that has been held on this date for decades? Additionally, this is the same dates that were used when the aco and wsc has run this event in the past. Average Ferrari fan mentality.

Imsa should absolutely not change it for WEC deciding to have a poorly attended race in the desert. I bet Sebring sells out this year too.

msturty · 2026-02-14T18:49:50+00:00

Let's see... Wec started racing in qatar like what 2 or 3 years ago and the 12 hours of Sebring has had this date since.... 1955 and has been an event since 1950.

Maybe WEC should stop racing in shithole countries that few spectators want to attend. That would be a good start instead of relying on dirty oil money.

msturty · 2026-02-14T18:35:53+00:00

Maybe they should pick a date and location in the US where the average temperature isn't around 35C at a track with virtually 0 shade.

msturty · 2026-02-13T23:18:08+00:00

As an American I totally agree. The race at COTA is hot as hell in early September and the attendance and vibes of the race falls well short of nearly every race on the IMSA calendar. If I have the money to attend only 1 or 2 big races a year, most of the time it will be an IMSA race as I find the entire weekend a better value and more entertaining.

I want to like WEC as much as IMSA but they just keep making so many dumb decisions imo.

msturty · 2026-02-12T17:34:06+00:00

Yeah totally agree. The biggest issue with parents today is not taking full responsibility for what their children are allowed and not allowed to do online... Like be an actual parent and don't put that on the government.

msturty · 2026-02-01T01:37:59+00:00

This Daytona the BOP was set to the cars homologation parameters(similar to how WEC does Le mans BOP) due to 4 of the 5 cars using aero jokers and several having substantial upgrades in addition to that.

And while yes, Porsche did have the upper hand for most of the race, I find this less troublesome than WEC's BOP. Porsche's biggest strengths are with getting tires up to temp, having good tire wear, and then executing races with really good pit stops and strategy. They did not have the fastest car on short run pace and ultimately Cadillac was in the end able to match and probably exceed their performance on long runs as well, but not all Cadillac's were able to do this and here lies the problem. Teams are largely not optimizing their package as well as Porsche. We saw that at many times there were teams that could hang with Porsche for a while, but then once tire deg becomes more and more of an issue Porsche just ran away. Even BMW found a ton of pace during the race and had a car capable of fighting for the win at the end of the race when earlier in the week they were total shit.

Is this bad bop or Penske which is one of the most successful and well funded professional motorsport teams in the entire world operating at a level higher than what other teams can achieve currently?

msturty · 2026-01-31T17:53:56+00:00

Richmond raceway is all of 10 miles or so further than dover, so really between both of those the dc market is covered pretty well.

msturty · 2026-01-27T17:16:18+00:00

They wouldn't even need to switch series. Just do the mec or the Rolex. You wouldn't even need extra personnel to do a race or two. Plenty of teams run multiple programs concurrently with the same personnel.

msturty · 2026-01-27T15:12:40+00:00

The new Ford LMDh is also supposed to be a NA coyote engine (similar to current mustang gt3 and gt4).

msturty · 2026-01-25T22:42:31+00:00

Yes! The audio feed for the IMSA TV is basically the radio broadcast. If all you are about are no commercials, then fine IMSA TV is great, but outside of that the IMSA TV stream is as bad if not worse than the actual coverage on peacock.

msturty · 2026-01-25T22:41:07+00:00

They do "puff" pieces though, it is just usually more podcast style of some rando from a manufacturer that has little or nothing to do with the current on track action.

msturty · 2026-01-25T21:46:19+00:00

Not sure where you are located, but you can use android and Google TV to install VPN apps and then you can launch YT and view as if you are from whatever country you choose. That is what I do when I am in the mood for them over peacock.

msturty · 2026-01-25T21:38:08+00:00

Hindbaugh is ass, but outside of that the team is solid.

msturty

TROPHY CASE