IMSA You can’t get excited about a race with these safety car and stoppage rules

[Adam43]

There were times last year I thought IMSA did all they could to avoid the yellow. Times when I was uncomfortable with the debris just sitting there. Laguna Seca springs to mind.

So they are trying to avoid it. But when they do they have this tool. And they have a well defined procedure.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Adam43

There were times last year I thought IMSA did all they could to avoid the yellow. Times when I was uncomfortable with the debris just sitting there. Laguna Seca springs to mind.

So they are trying to avoid it. But when they do they have this tool. And they have a well defined procedure.

I admire when IMSA do try to avoid a yellow. It's great. But there's also times they have to throw a yellow (as it's the only tool available to them) for something minor.

A full yellow is great. But there are times a lighter tool should be needed. I'm not saying we should cover Deranis incident under a slow zone or whatever. But yeah some debris from a Mustang that's held together by hopes and dreams. Do we really need to spend the next 25 minutes with procedure when a virtual SC could've worked for that?

[Adam43]

I agree that Derani’s stalled car needed a SC.

It’s great when the race isn’t interrupted. IMSA are clear on their approach.

I have nothing to add really, other than it will be the same after the next race too! It’s a waste of energy and there is so much other interesting stuff in the sport and the races to get into.

[GT3_Fan]

Originally Posted by flatlandsman

The Pro class in IMSA is what also needs introducing to WEC, seeing under talented rich people trying to do stuff they cant, well if you think that's great, fair enough, I would rather see top level guys racing properly thanks.

Some of them are very good, but let;s face it, they make a lot of mistakes, cause plenty of yellows in all they drive that can be good, but the endless *****ing about yellows in IMSA, well a fair amount of them are caused by Ams

Sebring has been a race over the years where driving standards becomes a talking point post race frequently (along with Petit). 2014 is a good example of this for those of us who remember that one. But I disagree with this comment just partially. The majority of yellows in IMSA are caused by stalled cars and debris which don't need to be full safety car periods with all the wave arounds and such.

[Coach Ep]

IMSA has 2 tools in their box: Full Course Yellow and Full Course Yellow. The first one is always the standard procedure so with all the wave & pass arounds and class splits. Takes forever.

The second one is the short procedure where the pits gets closed, less wave & pass arounds and class splits as result and back to green much faster.

If the second yellow comes within a certain time frame of the first, standard FCY, the shorter version comes out. And so on.

Towards the end, within 30 mins of the checker, the shorter version comes out. The last (?) caution got called with 34 mins left in the race so it was the standard version.

All the teams know exactly what the caution procedures are, IMSA is very consistent in that regard so no surprises when it comes to that. Certainly not satisfying imo but as long as all the involved manufacturers and team agree to it, it'll stay.

[GT3_Fan]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

IMSA has 2 tools in their box: Full Course Yellow and Full Course Yellow. The first one is always the standard procedure so with all the wave & pass arounds and class splits. Takes forever.

The second one is the short procedure where the pits gets closed, less wave & pass arounds and class splits as result and back to green much faster.

If the second yellow comes within a certain time frame of the first, standard FCY, the shorter version comes out. And so on.

Towards the end, within 30 mins of the checker, the shorter version comes out. The last (?) caution got called with 34 mins left in the race so it was the standard version.

All the teams know exactly what the caution procedures are, IMSA is very consistent in that regard so no surprises when it comes to that. Certainly not satisfying imo but as long as all the involved manufacturers and team agree to it, it'll stay.

At the very least...very least...how about ALWAYS use safety car procedure "B" in any debris or stalled car situation.

[GT3_Fan]

Big kudos to Off the Esses. He just posted a video discussing the black eye/elephant in the room with IMSA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBzJfXhCJyk

[broadrun96]

Off The Esses should read WHY such a system is required in the series based in the US and licensed as a US business. Oh and the drivers are TRASH when it comes to actual compliance with the rules about Code 60 and not speeding in to safety zones. We get it, you are desperate for Code 60 but no one will certify a safety crew to be on a track with that

And using the Nurbugring events as a comparison to ANY other series shows a 6th grade level argument. The track itself everything about how you regulate the functioning of a race

[chernaudi]

To further that point, yes, Code 60 or the WEC's slow zones would be nice, but there's a reason why outside of LM the WEC rarely uses slow zones. North American-based insurance companies don't know about and/or don't care about their implementation, and even in the WEC there's been frequent violations of the SZ system due to drivers trying to game the system. I'm sure the same happens with Code 60 as pointed out above.


And even at LM, the ACO and the WEC have been using more FCYs and Pace Car FCYs over the past couple of years, probably due to track worker criticism of the SZ procedures and the ACO and FIA dealing with competitors trying to game/exploit the SZ system.


And yes, I can even remember when FCY's were rare at LM (only 1-2 per a whole race) and in the ALMS and Grand Am except for major accidents or cars beached in a gravel pit, but those days are behind us because of issues like the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. It was bad enough that Bianchi died about 9 months later in July of '15 from complications related to his head injuries, but track workers were also almost among the casualties that day.

[deggis]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

but no one will certify a safety crew to be on a track with that

This would be a lot easier to believe had WEC never raced in the US with its regular safety rules.

[chernaudi]

I doubt that the WEC and the ACO/FIA are dealing with North American based insurance companies, though. Also read above about the WEC using fewer slow zones at Le Mans over the past couple of years.