IMSA: Penske Porsche loses appeal, BMW official winner (Update)

Statement from Porsche Penske Team:

“Porsche Penske Motorsport has to accept IMSA’s decision to deny our team’s protest  and keep the results of IMSA’s post-race inspection at Watkins Glen, which resulted in the No. 6 entry being relegated to last place in class after taking the overall victory in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen last Sunday. 

“The team did not begin the race with any intention of racing the car at a ride height that would cause the amount of front skid block wear that was measured post-race and did not receive any performance benefit as a result. The unforeseen wear was caused by in-race damage that resulted in changes to the underwing and front skid area that caused aerodynamic instability, bouncing.  After such a great job by our team and drivers, we are left with no recourse but to move forward and fight for another victory next weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.”

–By John Oreovicz/IMSA Media–

BMW M Team RLL and drivers Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly are finally able to officially celebrate their first Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) victory in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition.

IMSA certified the official results Thursday morning from the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. The No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 co-driven by De Phillippi and Yelloly crossed the finish line second behind the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 at the end of Sunday’s race, but the Porsche was found to have a chassis skid plate measuring thinner than the legal minimum during post-race technical inspection and moved to the rear of the class finishing order. That elevated the No. 25 BMW to first place.

BMW M Team RLL team principal Bobby Rahal offered his perspective on the confirmed results.

“Obviously, we are pleased by IMSA’s technical group decision,” Rahal stated. “There is nothing like winning, but I was most happy with the pace of the BMW M Hybrid V8 throughout the Watkins Glen race. My thanks to everyone at BMW who have worked so diligently on both sides of the Atlantic over a very intense period of time on the new-era GTP program. Our guys were in Munich starting last July assisting with the car builds. We received the cars in September and began testing in October. Five races into the season, we are winners.”

De Phillippi, Yelloly and the BMW squad were crushed to miss out on claiming victory on the track at Watkins Glen, but they learned of the Porsche’s infraction and were provisionally awarded the win later Sunday evening. On Thursday, when the results became official, the drivers and their hard-working crew could finally exult in their achievement.

“Obviously, a win is a win, but we certainly didn’t want it to come under these circumstances,” said De Phillippi, who scored his sixth win in IMSA competition but first in the top prototype class. “We would have preferred to hold onto the lead for those last four minutes (before the No. 25 was passed late for the lead by the No. 6) and I would like to have celebrated with my teammates. But that’s racing. Everybody with BMW M Team RLL did a phenomenal job throughout the race overcoming the issues we had early on with some unlucky contact, so to bounce back with strategy and speed was an incredible feat.

“Maybe we didn’t pick up the win how we would have liked, but we certainly had the speed to represent a win, and I figure it was still well-deserved.”

The continuing progress of the BMW GTP program is undeniable. With the Watkins Glen triumph, Yelloly and De Phillippi have achieved podium finishes in three of the last four races.

“I think it’s been a collective effort,” first-time WeatherTech Championship race winner Yelloly observed in Sunday’s post-race news conference when he thought the No. 25 had finished second. “Obviously, the hours that the boys and girls back at the bases in Munich and Indy have been tremendous. We were able to test here – as were a few of the manufacturers – before we came here and it’s one of the first circuits since we started that upward trend that we’ve been able to come to for a solid two-day test and have a couple weeks to digest it all before we came back. Each session, we were in or around the mix at the front, which is good. Obviously, we want to keep that going in two weeks’ time in Canada as well.”

The victory also vaulted the No. 25 duo from fifth to second in the GTP standings, just 64 points behind the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac and drivers Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims.

“We didn’t realize how insane of a feat it has been for us to win considering we were the last manufacturer to start the program,” De Phillippi said. “Considering where we were at (the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in January), it’s been an endless grind. We’ve had legitimate pace at the last couple races and we’ve proven that we’re in the mix now. We’re going to continue to keep pushing, and I think everyone realizes now that we are a threat for the championship and race wins.

“I think we’ve kind of taken everybody by surprise because we were the last to the party, but we’ve been swinging above our weight class the entire year, especially from Sebring onwards,” he added. “That’s something we’re all proud of, but we want to be dominant and we’re not going to stop pushing until we get where we want to be.”

The WeatherTech Championship returns to action July 7-9 with the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.