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Paul Miller Racing Reacts to ECU Infringement

Paul Miller “won’t comment” on severity of penalty issued by IMSA…

Photo: Paul Miller Racing

Paul Miller Racing has reacted to the penalty given to its No. 48 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for the technical infraction found by IMSA following qualifying for today’s Continental Tire Road Race Showcase.

The Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow-driven car will start from the rear of the grid after the car was found to have been out of technical compliance, with IMSA confiscating the ECU, which is understood to have been at the root of the issue.

Additionally, Sellers, Snow and the team have been docked 15 championship points and fined $7,500.

The infraction was found in post-qualifying technical inspection, where the car was selected for additional testing.

“We won’t comment on severity of the penalty, or the specifics of the situation, but I’d like to commend the IMSA officials on the professional manner in which they went through their process yesterday,” team owner Paul Miller said in a statement.

While Lamborghini has declined comment on the matter, it’s understood the issue has been isolated to the Paul Miller car only.

Sportscar365 understands that the ECU had illegal engine-related calibrations that provided a performance advantage, potentially over multiple recent race weekends.

Sellers and Snow are coming off a second-place class finish in last month’s round at Lime Rock Park and currently sit fourth in the GTD title race, although have yet to win this season.

While the ECUs are supplied by each manufacturer, it’s believed the illegal modifications were made by the team. 

IMSA has declined to provide additional information beyond the statement it released on the infringement.

No additional penalties are expected to be made by the sanctioning body, although an industry source with direct knowledge of the infraction indicated to Sportscar365 that the severity of the infraction could have seen the car excluded in other championships.

A pair of Audi R8 LMS cars were banned from last year’s ADAC GT Masters season when it was found the team had used an illegal intake system, while multiple Mercedes-AMG GT3s were penalized in-race at the 2016 Total 24 Hours of Spa for illegal engine mappings.

It’s understood the infringement to the Paul Miller car is unrelated to the alleged illegal air restrictors found on all Lamborghinis at the 2016 Rolex 24 at Daytona, which resulted in hefty post-race penalties from IMSA.

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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