carreracup21

I saw several driving mistakes by Melo as well. His team botched the pit stop and cost him a 20 second penalty. No fresh tires and then Jorg reeled in about 20 seconds after that. I certainly don't believe Melo is a better driver than Jorg nor do I believe that F team is better than the Lizards. What they do have is a faster car, as anyone could plainly see in the final drag race down the back straight.

mark kibort

I just studied all the replays. I take my comment back. There was nothing Jorg could have done. turn 17 is a double apex, he got the inside of the first apex and even gave the ferarri racing room on the inside, and due to his speed, he couldnt have really gone narrower. the ferarri took the inside spot, though still behind and then at the second apex exit, the ferarri, bumped the porsche. that was enough to unsettle the car and give him the edge. the second bump (and third) were kind of after the fact. I can see why Jorg was upset.

MK

A.Wayne

There was no punting , all the contact was side to side , i can tell you this you will get no agreement from any pro driver that they would not have defended their lead like Melos... It was not jorg's lead he was trying to claim it , it was the ferrari that led the way , he did what he had to do and if i was Jorg's boss i would have punted him in the *** for complaining after being outfoxed,...
then again the ALMS agrees, the immeadiate arrogance by Jorg after the race on the radio about filing a protest is , well ,Hmm can i say , girlie .....

A.Wayne

Spot on mark , He was outdriven ...... then cried

mikew968

One of things somewhat over looked here is Jorg could have punted the 430 any number of times on the last lap and he didn't do so!!! The hit in the rear right corner by the 430 looked pretty intentional to me.

Mike

Jarez Mifkin

Note to self, remind me to stay clear of A.Wayne as he thinks running into the back of a person is outdrving them...

carreracup21

I thought Jorg acted very restrained in the post race interview. Obviously very dissapointed, he gave his opinion, was calm and moved on. Seems like a real gentleman to me given what happened.

A.Wayne

Haaa, haa, not to worry morris3 , i never start from the back , so there is no chance of this happening to you ....

cooleyjb

If he was beaten by a better team how come Ferrari was the one that had the infraction. I'd argue that the teams were both pretty equal considering the amount of time in the pits. IIRC the pit time difference at the end of the race was 20 seconds and that was attributed to the window washer with his visor up. 2 tenths of a second separating the two cars after 12 hours means the team were equal. You can't ask for better racing than that.

He was outdriven in the last corner yes, but in the last few laps I'd say on average, the Flying Lizard team had the better package. However you can't forget that the Ferrari started at the back of the grid and made it's way past everyone.

Honestly I haven't been on the edge of my seat for the end of a race like that in a while. Bravo to ALMS

Bryan Watts

I gotta go with Wayne here...darn good racing. There's nothing wrong with a little side-to-side contact on the last lap of a 12 hour sprint race. If he had hit Jorg in the back bumper to send him spinning through T17, it would have been a different deal. I've seen everything from Spec Miatas to Star Mazdas bumping side by side in the last corner to get to the checkered flag and it was great racing every time. When I saw Jorg on the inside on the back straight, I knew what Melo was planning well before they every got to T17...Jorg should have known too. Jorg had his own options...he could have overslowed and cut back to the inside as Melo went deep trying to defend the inside. Melo made the better move and Jorg went him as the first loser.

Rick DeMan

A. Wayne....Take off those rose colored glasses...The Porsche was in front in turn 17 by 15 feet....!!

Makes me wonder if you were even watching the same race...We are talking about Sebring 07 correct..

Bryan Watts

That's because Melo was setting him up...Melo overslowed so that he could cut back up the inside. Brilliant move that Jorg should have seen coming at the exit of T16.

951M471 CarreraM491

I've been racing probably longer than you've been on this planet, and I've seen it many times before, and heard all the excuses. What this came down to was that Melo could not handle being beaten in the last corner on the last lap and he took the cowards way out...he ramed his opponent... any monkey can ram into their competitor. You can try to rationalize it anyway you want... but Melo is a coward, and he's luck noone got hurt, I've seen this manuever kill people!!!

It's really too bad... I was actually rooting for Ferrari, but Melo's driving was the worst I've seen since Schumacher punted Villenueve, but at least Schumacher fessed up and apologized. Melo should be racing Nascar!

Bryan Watts

Does anyone have a link to the video? All of these accusations of a "ram" don't at all seem to jive with the picture in my mind of the two cars rubbing fenders. A ram would seem to indicate that Melo drove up behind Jorg and bumped his rear bumper.

DanS911

+1 even "CRASHCAR" says punting in the corners is cowardly.
That place where he hit him is one of the scariest, on the edge with a big wall coming, hanging on the tires kinda places on the track. Right at the top of third gear in my car.

BTW no way that was a side to side contact IMHO.

On the other hand maybe we could make some money on this.
Start selling new "Racing Accessories" those big honkin' bars the cops use on the front of their cruisers.
Helps to clear the way of those annoying cars in front of you