Heavy penalty for Daytona 24 winners

Daytona 24 winners, Meyer Shank Racing, have been hit with a post-event penalty, a fine, and the indefinite suspension of an engineer.

Meyer Shank won January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, the opening round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

The operation had dominated the build-up to the race before Tom Blomqvist combined with Colin Braun, Helio Castroneves, and Simon Pagenaud combined to take victory in the blue riband American event.

That saw the drivers and the team shoot to the top of their respective points standings.

However, it has since been revealed that the team manipulated tyre pressure data, leaving it with a sporting advantage during the race.

A minimum tyre pressure is mandated in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, with data monitored by Michelin.

Meyer Shank Racing was found to have run with pressures below the minimum, which officials took a dim view of due to safety considerations.

Honda Performance Development is reported to have made the discovery, passing that to category officials that have now reacted.

Race winners penalised

That has seen the team stripped of 200 points in the championship, though the quartet of drivers retain the race win – including trophies and Rolex watches.

Officials also slapped the team with a $50,000 fine and stripped both team and drivers of Michelin Endurance Cup points.

Furthermore, engineer Ryan McCarthy has had his pass revoked and been handed an indefinite suspension.

“We do not want this error to overshadow the tremendous effort that our team, drivers and all of our partners have put forth to develop this new LMDh car,” a statement from the team said.

“We consider this matter closed and are fully focused on resetting and coming back for the Twelve Hours of Sebring.”

The Konica Minolta Acura now heads the team’s championship after finishing second in Daytona.