IMSA has closed the book on the wildest race of its season, placing Porsche Penske Motorsport's Kevin Estre on probation for two events and handing the No. 6 Porsche 963 a time penalty equivalent to a five-minute stop-and-hold for its role in the crash that ended the Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America.
The verdict, issued after what the series called a comprehensive review, came five days after the six-hour Michelin Endurance Cup round on 2 August. Estre was penalised under Articles 30.2.4 and 57.3.3 for unjustifiable risk, with IMSA noting explicitly that any further penalty while on probation could lead to a suspension. The car's penalty falls under Article 57.3.5 for incident responsibility.
The incident itself came with just over ten minutes left. Estre and Jack Aitken, in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, had been trading aggressive moves for second place behind Filipe Albuquerque for some time. On the final restart they leaned on each other into Turn 1, and both cars ended up in the outer barriers at speed. The full-course caution that followed ran to the flag, handing Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor a win in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac they completed at cruising speed. Estre and Aitken were classified eighth and ninth in GTP.
Estre, posting on social media before the ruling, accepted a share of the blame without conceding all of it.
"A DNF for us in the last ten minutes of the race. We were fighting for a podium," he said. "But on the restart, the 31 tried to do a move on the left side on the outside in Turn 1. He just had his nose here. I could have left a little more room. He could have backed off as well. I don't think there's 100 percent fault to give to anyone."
Aitken, whose championship lead was cut to 128 points by the DNF, aimed his criticism outward rather than at Estre by name.
"I think it's a real shame because despite maybe not being quite where we wanted to be in terms of pace, the guys ran a really fantastic race and we managed to put ourselves in the fight for a win and a podium," the Action Express Racing driver said. "And I just think that the driving by some of the others around us was over the line."
He added: "It's a shame because a lot of effort goes into these days and we could have had another good result to go on the back of a really strong year, but we'll pick up the pieces, move on and crack on with the last two races."
Aitken's own afternoon was not blameless, and that is where the weekend turned political. Earlier in the race he tipped Tijmen van der Helm's No. 7 Porsche 963 into a spin at Turn 6 in what looked a straightforward case of avoidable contact, and escaped punishment. Laurens Vanthoor, Estre's co-driver in the No. 6, responded on social media with a single pointed question about who owns the No. 31 Cadillac. Action Express Racing is owned by NASCAR chief executive Jim France, who also owns IMSA.
Estre and Aitken were far from the only flashpoint. More than 40 penalties were handed out across the six hours. The No. 7 Porsche took a one-minute stop-and-go for overdriving under full-course yellow after taking evasive action at Turn 6 to avoid trackside workers. A drive-through-equivalent time penalty went to the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Valkyrie for contact with the No. 93 Meyer Shank Acura — the demotion that promoted Laurin Heinrich's JDC-Miller Porsche, Aitken's title rival, to second.
"Motorsport should be a non-contact sport. Sometimes it happens, but it shouldn't happen between teammates," said United Autosports CEO and team principal Richard Dean. "We didn't just lose valuable podium positions and points today, we threw away our championship campaign."
Two rounds of the WeatherTech Championship remain, and Estre will contest both of them on probation.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/imsa-puts-estre-on-probation-after-road-america-mayhem). Visit for full coverage.*