Ferrari, BMW Stripped of GTD Pro, GTD Manufacturers’ Points

Ferrari and BMW have been stripped of all GTD Pro and GTD manufacturers’ points in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Michelin Endurance Cup standings after both were determined to have violated expected performance levels in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The two brands finished in the top three in the GTD Pro category at Daytona, with Risi Competizione taking the victory with their No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 while Paul Miller Racing’s No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 came home in third.

The Prancing Horse also took a double class podium in GTD, with AF Corse and Conquest Racing second and third behind Winward Racing while Triarsi Competizione finished in fourth place.

Daytona was the first race for a newly introduced Balance of Performance system implemented by IMSA in which manufacturers had to declare and define their own expected performance parameters.

Documents published by the governing body on Friday state that the IMSA technical committee and supervisory officials “unanimously determined” that both manufacturers’ “demonstrated performance in the Daytona 24 Hour Race exceeded IMSA’s expectations as shared in the GT manufacturers technical working groups.”

It adds: “The goal was to ensure the demonstrated performance of the best example of each manufacturer’s car model would be within a targeted performance window – allowing for competitive equivalency.”

As a result, both brands receive a $25,000 USD fine, while all manufacturers’ points earned in both the WeatherTech Championship and Endurance Cup have been removed.

This means that Ferrari loses 350 points in GTD Pro and 320 in GTD for the full season, while 15 and 14 points, respectively, have been docked for the Endurance Cup.

BMW has been stripped of 300 and 250 points for GTD Pro and GTD, respectively, and loses 15 Endurance Cup points in GTD Pro and nine in GTD.

This means that Porsche now leads the full-season WeatherTech Championship standings in GTD Pro, while Chevrolet moves to the points lead in Endurance Cup. Mercedes-AMG remains the championship leader in GTD in both points tables.