Land Audi Loses Second Place in Drive Time Violation

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

The No. 29 Montaplast by Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS Evo has lost its second place GT Daytona class finish in last weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona due to a drive-time violation, IMSA announced on Thursday.

The Christopher Mies, Dries Vanthoor, Daniel Morad and Ricardo Feller-driven entry was found, in a post-race audit, to not have achieved the minimum drive time in the red-flag affected race.

Feller was short of the adjusted minimum drive time, which was 4 hours, 1 minute and 52-seconds, from initial 4 hours and 45 minutes required for each GTD Silver/Bronze driver. 

The time was modified by IMSA by a “percentage commensurate to the time lost” for the two red flags.

It has promoted the No. 12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 to second in class and the No. 88 WRT Speedstar Audi now finishing third, with the Land Audi dropping to second-to-last in the overall and GTD results.

The No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 has been affected by a post-race penalty as well, for a base drive time infringement from Toni Vilander.

It came after Vilander’s race-ending accident in the WeatherTech-backed Ferrari and has resulted in the car being classified 23rd and last in class.

Per IMSA rules, two Bronze or Silver-rated drivers per car must individually complete the minimum drive-time, with all drivers regardless of rating, needing to complete the base time.

Vilander failed to complete the adjusted base time of 2 hours, 57 minutes and 38 seconds.

It is the second consecutive Rolex 24 that Land has been penalized, following the controversial Balance of Performance penalty issued mid-race to the German squad for having quicker-than-expected refueling stops in last year’s running.

John Dagys

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