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Daytona decision reversed, Level 5 Motorsports reinstated as class winners [w/video]

After its first ever race at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, we can already tell that there should be plenty of excitement in the newly formed United SportsCar Racing series. Of the four competing classes, three of the winners came down to close last-lap performances, but perhaps none were as close - or controversial - as the GT Daytona (GTD) winner. Spoiler alert.
Midway through the infield portion of the Daytona International Speedway, the Level 5 Motorsports No. 555 Ferrari 458 Italia was trying to hold onto its first-place position over the Flying Lizard Motorsports No. 45 Audi R8. The R8 took an aggressive line trying to pass the Ferrari, and it ended up running out of track and driving off the course momentarily. International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) officials originally thought there was avoidable contact on the Ferrari's part and penalized the team accordingly, which meant Flying Lizard was the class winner. After watching the video replay, though, it was clear that there was no contact between the two cars. Officials overturned the ruling, rightfully giving the Level 5 Motorsports team the Rolex win.
A brief statement from IMSA is posted below regarding the matter, and we've also included a full video recap of the race from FOX Sports where you can see this GTD incident starting at the 2:30 mark.

Why Italians are no longer buying supercars

Italy is the wound that continues to drain blood from the body financial of Italian supercar and sports car makers. The wound was opened by the country's various financial police who decided to get serious about superyacht-owning and supercar-driving tax cheats a few years ago, by noting their registrations and checking their incomes. When it was found that a rather high percentage of exotic toy owners had claimed a rather low annual income - certain business owners were found to be declaring less income than their employees - the owners began dumping their cars and prospective buyers declined to buy.
Car and Driver has a piece on how the initiative is hitting the home market the hardest. Lamborghini sold 1,302 cars worldwide in 2010, 1,602 cars in 2011 and 2,083 cars in 2012 - an excellent surge in just two years. In Italy, however, it's all about the ebb: in 2010, the year that Italian police began scouring harbors, Lamborghini sold 96 cars in Italy, the next year it sold 72, last year it sold just 60. The declines for Maserati and Ferrari are even more pronounced.
Head over to CD for the full story and the numbers. What might be most incredible isn't the cause and effect, but where the blame is being placed. A year ago the chairman of Italy's Federauto accused the government of "terrorizing potential clients," this year Luca di Montezemolo says what's happening has created "a hostile environment for ­luxury goods." Life at the top, it ain't easy.

Ferrari to reveal exclusive F12 NART next month in LA

While denying his tenure was coming to an end just prior to his resignation last week, outgoing Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo hinted at two new models to be revealed next month. One we anticipate to be a new version of the 458 - either the new turbocharged M model or the limited-edition Scuderia Spider - to be revealed at the Paris Motor Show on October 2, and the other we knew would be a strictly limited special exclusive to North America. And now we appear to have an idea of what that model will be.
According to Automotive News, we'll likely be looking at a version of the F12 Berlinetta decked out with the blue and white stripes pioneered by the North American Racing Team (NART) and most recently applied to the 458 Speciale. The special model is also likely to get custom bodywork and a revised interior - similar to what Ferrari Special Projects does for individual customers, but produced in a limited run of 10 examples.
All 10 of those are likely to already have been spoken for, with a price tag tipped to exceed $3 million apiece. The model will be revealed on October 12 at a special event in Los Angeles marking 60 years of Ferrari in America which will likely be Montezemolo's last event as chairman before handing over control to Sergio Marchionne and collecting his eight-figure severance package.