MSR was cheating at Daytona, but keeps victory

Meyer Shank Racing has been caught cheating during the Rolex 24 at Daytona 2023.

The team has been found to have manipulated the data from the tire pressure sensors on the car, so it would appear to be running higher tire pressures than they actually were. The manipulation was also influencing the live data link, which is sent directly to the IMSA, and to all the data stored on the memory card in the cars, which IMSA demands to be physically handed over several times during the 24-hour race.

The team will be allowed to keep the win of the 2023 edition of the 24-hour race, and the drivers will get to keep their Rolex watches and trophies.

However, there are a lot of other penalties for the team:

-They will lose 200 points in both the driver and team championship in the overall IMSA Championship.

-They will lose all points for both drivers and team in the Michelin Endurance Cup.

-They will lose all price money, plus they will have to pay a fine of 50.000 dollars for cheating.

-Team owner Michael Shank is put on probation until 30 June 2023, in case the team will violate any other rules.

-The technical engineer for the Team, Ryan McCarthy has lost his IMSA credentials, and has been banned indefinitely from appearing at IMSA events.

Meyer Shank Racing Acura #60
Photo Courtesy of IMSA / Jake Galstad

IMSA was told about the illegal software change by HPD, which is behind the Acura ARX-06 cars, after they checked the data from both their cars, following the race. Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing #10 was running the exact same car, so the comparison between the two was easy to do. The WTR car was fully legal throughout the race, so there is only a penalty being applied for Meyer Shank Racing, since they changed the software, from the original HPD software.

The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be run on 18 March 2023 at Sebring International Raceway.

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