zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Mazda Goes Out In Flames, Turns Last 14 Minutes Of Petit Le Mans To Chaos
Mazda Goes Out In Flames, Turns Last 14 Minutes Of Petit Le Mans To Chaos-October 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:28

All of the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship’s Prototype-class cars are being retired after this year in favor of the new DPi spec, so why not go out with a bang? Besides, well, the total heartbreak of losing an almost certain podium for the unluckiest team on the grid.

IMSA Radio commentator John Hindhaugh called this the Mazda’s “viking funeral.” Sadly, it was caused by an engine letting go with less than 14 minutes to go. The engine had been backfiring heavily in the last hour, unleashing huge fireballs until the entire rear of the car ultimately caught on fire.

Driver Joel Miller smartly pulled the car next to a fire truck to put out the car-b-que quickly, but it cued a brief yellow flag that bunched up the field for a restart with only 8 minutes to go.

Sadly, the No. 55 Mazda Prototype had to retire earlier in the race with electrical issues, leaving the No. 70 as Mazda’s only hope. It’s hard not to feel devastated for the Mazda team, which shows such promise every race yet rarely gets a good result.

After the restart, Pipo Derani in the No. 2 Extreme Speed Motorsport car was right on Olivier Pla’s rear bumper. Pla was stuck playing the world’s most nerve-wracking game of vehicular keep-away from Derani on the restart, but continued his dominant drive in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing through to the end.

Tonight was Michael Shank Racing teammate John Pew’s 250th race start and final race in the series, so Pla bringing home the win was extra special. Pew, Pla and teammate Ozz Negri shared all of the hugs after the race. No. 31 Corvette Daytona Prototype drivers’ Dane Cameron and Eric Curran also won the Prototype-class drivers’ championship.

Prototype Challenge was largely decided by a last-minute fuel stop. The No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car went largely unchallenged when the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports car was forced to stop for fuel with six minutes to go. Starworks drivers Alex Popow and Renger Van Der Zande took home the PC drivers’ championship for the year despite retiring from this race.

GTLM was all about Ford versus Ferrari as it was at Big Le Mans, but this time, the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE beat the No. 66 Ford GT for the win. It was the No. 67 Ford that was the championship contender, however, contact with the No. 25 BMW Team RLL M6 sent that car behind the wall for a in the third hour of the race. The No. 4 Corvette team of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner then took the GTLM Championship.

GTD, however, was where all the drama was tonight—provided you could see the race ending at all, given Fox Sports Go’s feed. The yellow flag put No. 44 Magnus Racing Audi R8 driver Andy Lally right behind Jeroen Bleekemolen in the No. 33 Dodge Viper. Lally took the lead after badgering Bleekemolen’s back bumper with only 1:18 left in the race.

However, Magnus Racing didn’t win. The No. 33 Viper did. IMSA ultimately disqualified Magnus team over John Potter not doing his minimum drive time in the car.

The GTD championship had long been decided—the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 —but the class win for tonight’s race will be the subject of fierce debate for weeks to come, that’s for sure.

According to an initial look at the No. 70 Mazda, the team believes it may have been a faulty fuel injector:

: Magnus wasn’t the only team who was moved to the bottom of the GTD class standings due to a drive time violation. Silver-rated driver Patrick Lindsey also didn’t meet his three-hour minimum drive time in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, sending that third-place-finishing car behind Magnus in the standings, per . IMSA determined that Lindsey had only completed two hours and thirty minutes of drive time in a post-race audit.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
This Is What Race Tracks Do When They Don't Have Races
This Is What Race Tracks Do When They Don't Have Races
Unlike local race tracks, major oval venues such as Texas Motor Speedway often don’t have race cars making circles every weekend of the year. To keep busy, they host concerts, run races on smaller ovals within the track and, um... break strange world records. Someone in the office must have...
Oct 24, 2024
174 MPH On The Nürburgring Can Blow The Doors Right Off Your Car
174 MPH On The Nürburgring Can Blow The Doors Right Off Your Car
The driver of this Setra Motorsport BMW M3-R seems pretty confused when he notices something’s missing. Here’s why you need to make sure your doors are on tight and closed before you head out on track. Otherwise, you might lose that door. Setra Motorsport said on that the car was...
Oct 24, 2024
'Championship-Winning Double Burnout' Is The Best Phrase I've Typed All Year
'Championship-Winning Double Burnout' Is The Best Phrase I've Typed All Year
The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge held its final race of 2016 today at Road Atlanta, finally deciding a close-fought season championship. The two race winners turned out to be the season champions themselves and came together at the end to smoke some tires. Spencer Pumpelly had clenched the ST-class...
Oct 24, 2024
Renault Flambé Interrupts Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix Practice
Renault Flambé Interrupts Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix Practice
Free Practice 1 for the Malaysian Grand Prix was red-flagged this morning for fifteen minutes after Kevin Magnussen’s Renault caught fire as it was being pushed into the garage. Magnussen completed an installation lap and came back into the pits for further checks on the car, reports . The team...
Oct 24, 2024
Marvel At The Wide Hips, Huge Wing And General Insanity Of Hyundai's 2017 i20 WRC Car
Marvel At The Wide Hips, Huge Wing And General Insanity Of Hyundai's 2017 i20 WRC Car
Hyundai showed off an “interim” version of their 2017 World Rally Championship competitor at the Paris Motor Show knowing that they’re still tweaking everything from its powertrain to its aerodynamics, but it’s still among the hottest of all hatches to behold. Drool with us at the close-ups. Like all the...
Oct 24, 2024
The Beautiful And Insane Amount Of Work That Goes Into A Single Bolt On An F1 Car
The Beautiful And Insane Amount Of Work That Goes Into A Single Bolt On An F1 Car
So much work goes into each part of a Formula One car that it’s a little mind-boggling when you start to think about it. Even the mundane parts you rarely think about have to come from somewhere. Case in point: the life cycle of a seemingly ordinary suspension bolt. Part...
Oct 24, 2024
Copyright 2023-2024 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved