GARY WATKINS
WEC
Cadillac has lost its fourth-place finish from the World Endurance Championship opener in Qatar. The factory V-Series.R shared by Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Sebastien Bourdais has been disqualified for homologation irregularities.
Rear diffuser strakes were found to be higher than on the car as homologated, as well as being misaligned, at the end of the Qatar 1812Km on 2 March. The inconsistencies were picked up during three-dimensional scanning during scrutineering and confirmed by further checks after the race.
Stephen Mitas, team manager of the Cadillac Racing squad, subsequently revealed during a virtual hearing that the offending parts had not gone through the usual quality control checks at the manufacturer’s technical partner, Dallara Automobili. The stewards of the meeting accepted the explanation that the irregularities were unintentional, but still disqualified the Cadillac for a violation of the technical regulations.
The manufacturer has chosen not to exercise its right of appeal. “We have cooperated with the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest [the co-organisers of the WEC], and accept their findings,” it said.
The AF Corse Ferrari LMGT3 team has also been penalised after a post-Qatar investigation. It was fined $60,000, with half the amount suspended until the end of the season, for what the stewards described as “concealment of operational personnel
