Staff Penske President Jonathan Diuguid acknowledged that IMSA officers handed down a “harsh” penalty to Kevin Estre, however insists Porsche Penske Motorsport (PPM) understands expectations heading into this weekend’s Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Estre obtained a two-race probation following a late-race restart collision with Whelen Cadillac’s Jack Aitken whereas battling for second at Highway America. Forward of the earlier GTD-only spherical at Virginia Worldwide Raceway, IMSA Race Director Beaux Barfield issued a stern warning, cautioning that officers wouldn’t hesitate to park the Porsche manufacturing facility driver mid-race if he’s concerned in one other on-track incident.
Talking throughout a latest media roundtable forward of the penultimate spherical – and remaining dash race – of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, Diuguid addressed whether or not the sanction felt overly extreme given Estre’s clear document main as much as the incident.
“We have been concerned within the lively discussions with IMSA all through the complete course of,” Diuguid stated. “I feel the one factor is, talking with Kevin, Kevin’s a Porsche manufacturing facility driver and a PPM driver and is extraordinarily skilled. however he is additionally a fierce competitor. And I feel in all these instances, the one factor all of us have to recollect is, via the course of the complete season, Kevin hasn’t been concerned in any incident obligations, or every other penalty, for that matter, till the incident we had on the finish of Highway America. So it is not prefer it’s a observe document of points and issues like that.
“Is the penalty harsh? Sure, it is harsh. I feel, to a sure diploma, IMSA is simply attempting to make an instance, which is their proper to do. However once more, we’re within the racing enterprise, and our focus is to regulate what we are able to management and it’s IMSA’s duty to handle the championship, they usually have some objectives there too as nicely. The details are that the PPM vehicles have raced extraordinarily clear all through the season. And an incident was made that was a big one which none of us needed to occur, and it clearly impacted Kevin and his driving crew within the #6 automotive, too, as nicely, and we made some choices on the again of it.
“I do not suppose it was focused at Porsche, focused at Kevin, or focused at anyone particularly. I feel it is a prerogative that IMSA has, they usually wish to ship a message. We have been in open communication with them, and that communication’s gonna proceed on web site with IMSA in Indy and with Beaux and others. We perceive the expectation, we perceive methods to transfer ahead, and that is what our focus is gonna be.”
The squad has restructured its driver lineup for this weekend’s occasion on the IMSA street course, drafting Laurin Heinrich into the manufacturing facility squad to exchange Laurens Vanthoor alongside Estre within the #6 Porsche 963. Heinrich at present stands because the highest-ranked Porsche driver within the standings, trailing title chief Aitken by 118 factors.
With Barfield beforehand emphasizing that Estre is on an “extraordinarily quick leash” that features a mid-race suspension firmly on the desk for future infractions, inserting Porsche’s high title contender in the identical automotive presents a calculated variable.
Diuguid, nonetheless, dismissed issues that pairing Heinrich with a probation-bound driver jeopardizes the workforce’s championship pursuit.
“No, I do not suppose so,” Diuguid stated. “I feel, like we talked about earlier than, Kevin’s extraordinarily skilled, and understands and evaluates each scenario he is in. It is one thing that we thought of, however I do not suppose it is, I do not suppose it is damaging in any state of affairs.”
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– The Motorsport.com Staff