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Alex Job Frustrated with Sebring Officiating Calls

Penalty mistake a tough pill to swallow for Alex Job at Sebring…

Photo: John Dagys

Photo: John Dagys

Alex Job admitted his frustration after the end of Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, when one of his GT Daytona cars was assessed a penalty it should not have been.

IMSA confirmed it had made two officiating errors during Saturday’s second round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season.

READ: IMSA admits incorrect calls

The one that took the No. 22 WeatherTech AJR Porsche 911 GT America should have been assessed to the No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR, which coincidentally went on to win the GT Le Mans class race.

Job said he kept pushing and pushing to ensure the call was overturned, but was unable to get that request completed.

More perplexing to Job was that all five officials who reviewed the video did not recognize the on-board camera logo revealed a Michelin tire banner, and not a Continental Tire one as his car would have had.

“It’s just mind-boggling to me that five different people looked at the video and couldn’t figure out it was the 911 RSR, not the WeatherTech car,” Job told Sportscar365.

With a little under two months until the next GTD class race, May 3-4 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Job hopes the video review and penalty assessment process can be overhauled.

“When they take action like that, I would like to see them take more input from the team that is disputing the penalty and then take more effort to double check it,” Job said.

“Even to invite the team member up there, to the tower, and let us show you why we’re ruling on this. Had that happened, we wouldn’t have the penalty.”

The penalty, a stop-and-hold plus 80-second penalty for contact, was not appealable.

The No. 22 car, driven by Leh Keen, Cooper MacNeil and Philipp Frommenwiler, ultimately finished fourth in class.

IMSA apologized for the error, but it wasn’t enough for Job.

“We finished somewhere around five seconds back, out of the win,” Job said. “And we got an 80-second penalty plus the drive in and out of pit lane.

“I want some satisfaction. Apologies are not enough.”

Tony DiZinno (@tonydizinno) is Sportscar365's North American Editor, focusing on coverage of the IMSA-sanctioned championships as well as Pirelli World Challenge. DiZinno also contributes to NBCSports.com and other motorsports outlets. Contact Tony

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