IMSA 2023

I somehow missed that one of the Proton 963s will be joining IMSA this season. I thought that program was for next year. I wonder if WeatherTech is going to continue with the GTD Pro entry once this is on track.

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/weathertech-sponsorship-for-proton-porsche-963s/

 

Ok, I’ll expose my ignorance of all the background issues and ask: If other manufacturers can compete in the top class in IMSA, why can’t/don’t Ferrari? Are there subtle differences in regulations of technical specs that make running in the two series (WEC and IMSA) beyond what Ferrari wants to commit to? There must be a reason they aren’t racing in their biggest market. AF Corse has a major base in the U.S., does it not? Thanks.

 

I think the WEC was intended for LMH factory teams (Toyota, Ferrari, Peugeot), + private teams LMDhs as grid fillers.
All 7 races are 6 hours minimum + Le Mans 24 hours.

IMSA is a US national championship for private teams entering LMDhs.
The 11 races vary from 2h40mins to 24 hours for Daytona, so a mixture of sprints and endurance

Some of the calendar dates clash anyway, so only a few teams commited to both series, like Penske (Porsche) and Cadillac.
The problem is that you cannot pick and chose; teams are coerced to sign for the whole series.

 

Thanks, William. It seems Ferrari could have made the commitment. Or perhaps it would have stretched AF Corse too much.

 

Biggest reason is Ferrari built their car to the Hypercar regs while IMSA uses LMDh for the GTP class. WEC is allowing both formulas to run in the Hypercar class together. So far IMSA hasn't allowed that to happen so we only have the LMDh cars in GTP. Honestly not sure if that is going to actually change in IMSA since they already have such large grids.

 

Correct. The WEC needs some LMDH cars to fill its grid (worldwide championship remember) more than IMSA needs LMH teams.
The pity, from my point of view, is that Daytona 24h and Sebring 12h are out of reach for WEC participants.
They are star events, like Le Mans.

 

I am torn on this. Part of me would like to see the Hypercars be invited to run in the big events. The other part of me worries about them messing up the race of full season entrants. I suppose that is a risk of anyone going as a 1 off. Didn't Daytona have like 10 cars on the reserve list this year?

 

You are probably right. At least I followed in the past Daytona and Sebring on the same calendar with Le Mans, and the big Ford-Ferrari battles, then Ferrari-Porsche, etc ... Epic it was.

 

Does WEC have 20 minute full course cautions(like IMSA)?

 

Lamborghini coming in 2024 in WEC and IMSA Endurance Cup events at Daytona, Sebring
and Petite.

The car, SC63 is making its public debut at Goodwood this week.

I'm told the first tests will be happening in August.

https://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/07/13/lamborghini-reveal-sc63-hypercar-and-gtp-contender-at-goodwood.html

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Just booked everything for Petit Le Mans. If you are thinking about going you might want to make reservations sooner rather than later. Slim pickings for hotels. Most are 30-45min away. They are expecting camping and infield parking to sell out. Interesting that there are only 4 series running this year and not 5 like we usually have.

 

GT3 Cup is missing. odd they wouldn't run in Porsche's US hometown.

a long time ago they had IMSA, Koni challenge (whatever it was called), GT3 Cup, PWC, and Trans Am on one weekend. it was amazing.

 

Yeah usually either Porsche or Lamborghini is running that weekend. Weird having the Friday track action ending at 3:40pm. But maybe that means I won't be so exhausted come Saturday.

 

AWA Racing, which currently runs a couple LMP3s in WeatherTech is going to be running 2 Corvettes in GTD next year. I know they had previously announced moving to GTD next year but I wasn't expecting them to get 2 Corvettes since GM is being rather selective.

 

Along those lines, I was the official photographer of a series many years ago, and I'd get
pissed when the 'Big Boys' would only show up at the high-paying events at the more
well-known tracks, screwing the 'normal' guys that traveled to ALL of the events.
(16-18 race series in the midwest, 3 or 4 where MUCH higher paying than all the others)

I was an advocate of a rule that said the point fund paid out only to those that followed (supported)
the entire series. You would get special permissions if you missed a race due to injury/ilness,
or if you crashed big or blew up at the previous nights' event or in practice/qualifying.
But I really disliked 'ringers' coming in.
The rule was never enacted, and I can understand why not, that doesn't mean I agreed with it.

And as much as I dislike nascar, I think they did the right thing in NOT allowing the drivers
in the Cup series to get points when they would race in the lesser series.
It made a difference in the season-ending point fund payout.

 

Because the Hypercars are so different I think IMSA would need to commit to having them in for the full season, or maybe have them join for just the Michelin Endurance Cup (Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta). But again the biggest issue is pit space. I have heard that there is already a reserve list for Petit Le Mans this year as they are over capacity. Good problem to have I suppose.

Unrelated...photography is one of my hobbies. Part of me would love to shoot professionally for a series/team/manufacturer...but part of me is glad I don't.

 

GM ain't that selective if they're going with a team that has never run a GTD program before (AWA was in Pilot GT4 before LMP3, I think)

 

Well they said they were going to be selective anyway

They used to run a McLaren in Pilot Challenge.

 

Everyone with an auto-everything camera that runs out and buys a long lense thinks they can do it. Most can't.
Consequently, some people are doing it for free, so it's not worth it.

On-track pro stuff - guys shoot for several different entities - if they didn't they could not afford to do it, travel, etc.

I did the Detroit Grand Prix back in the turbo years, stopped when they dumped F1 from Detroit.
What I did the most was a dirt late/model series around here from the late 80's to about 2005,
have not shot a race sinse then. I was also the track photog at our local track, and did work for a
few stock car racing mags... that's about it.
I decided to hang it up and not spend the $$$ to go digital - and am glad I did!

 

2024 schedule is out. No more Lime Rock but Detroit streets instead.

https://www.imsa.com/news/2023/08/04/2024-imsa-schedules-revealed-at-road-america/

Detroit will be GTP and GTD Pro which I think is smart. That track looked crazy narrow and bumpy so no AMs is probably a good thing. I like the history of Lime Rock, but the GT only rounds don't do much for me since we dropped GTLM in favor of GTD Pro. There just isn't enough over taking anymore.

They Indy 6 hour is awfully close to Petit. Kinda wish that was a little more spread out.

 

Also interesting that Michelin Pilot Challenge is going back to Mid-Ohio for a 4 hour feature race and no WeatherTech at that one.

 

24 schedule is a mess. no line rock, expanded NAEC, multiple conflicts with WEC, Spa/N24, all the factory drivers are going to miss out on stuff. kinda sucks.

I do like the 6 hour at Indy, but timing and expanded NAEC sucks for teams that only do that sub series.

 

Surprised some of the series are going to M-O and dropping Lime Rock.

 

Honda $$$ is my guess

 

As a surprise to pretty much nobody, MSR won't be back in IMSA next year. WTR will be running the 2 Acura GTP cars.

If you are heading to Petit Le Mans, MSR is going to be letting fans sign the car prior to the race.

https://racer.com/2023/10/03/msr-to-halt-sports-car-effort-after-petit-le-mans/