At least one was rear ended. Daytona has always had very poor driving standards. CF the idiot in the Porker that hit Donohue in the Sunoco 512M in 1971. A number of amateur drivers there are just not qualified and there were just too many cars this year as several of the top drivers said.
field was too big (I remember a few in the early days of Grand Am being around 70, but they intentionally wanted bumper cars then). I think 50 is the right number. I think P3's time in IWSC is done, no need for the field fillers, but oddly P2 was more of a "problem child" class than P3, at least from what I saw. as to driving standards, pro/am sportscar racing always has that problem. I don't think it's any worse than LeMans. then there's this
It's a new car with an entirely new power system, so it will take time to work out the bugs. Starting off with a 24 hour race is not a good way to get going. Let's see how they do in the upcoming sprint races.
I was standing right behind the flag stand for the finish. Awesome watching them side draft right to the line. Kind of reminded me of the GTD pro finish last year.
Agreed on P3. Though it sounds like it is very unclear on what the future of the P2 cars are going to be globally. They don't need both. Leading up the the race the P3 cars were causing a lot of incidents. Reliability was actually an issue for a few of the P2 cars during the race.
definitely don't need both. current P2 cars are pretty old now (not as old as the IndyCar though ), P3 isn't fast enough to be in a top series with GT3 up their exhausts. get rid of P2, give P3 more power and/or aero to bridge the gap between GTP and GTD? dunno. there were engine failures in both P2 and P3, with front running teams. very odd for spec engine classes.
Yeah it was a shame to see the Riley LMP3 and the Era LMP2 go out so early. The LMP3s are a lot cheaper to run so maybe it would be the right call for that to be the future with a little more power. The kind of ironic thing is the LMDh cars are supposed to be based off of the regulations for the next generation LMP2 that doesn't actually exist.
I may be alone on this....but I find Daytona and Le Mans to be a bit boring racing wise. What makes them exciting is the packed grid, the history, and having a lot of top drivers from other series show up. But the tracks themselves just aren't very exciting.
Daytona sucks, IMO. not an interesting track, and as I told Gal Incognito over the weekend, it has all the charm of a mall parking lot. if you're camping and have a nice setup and a good group of friends, it's fun, but you could do that in the woods Sebring and Petit are much better tracks and events. never been to LM24 so can't advise there, but I like the track layout.
There is an energy and excitement that makes Daytona special. Since it is so early in the year there is always something new showing up at Daytona that we just haven't seen before. Petit is my favorite. Absolutely love that track and everything about that event as a whole. Still haven't made it to Sebring yet sadly.
The attraction of Daytona, IMO, is that it's spectator friendly; but being too crowded, it's a real gymkana for the faster cars. Sebring is a real test of endurance, being a very bumpy track.
In an ideal world, I would like to see these specs series (LMP2 and LMP3) being replaced by one GTP Light category, with just slightly smaller and lighter cars, free engines, but less powerful than the GTP and without hybrid, maybe also with a price cap. I think endurance need more different chassis builders.
Front engine cars seemed to have the edge this year, with Aston Martin and Mercedes winning the 2 GT categories, and the mid-engined cars struggling. BoP ? Not so sure; The Mercs are very good in different series in Europe, often beating Porsche and Lamborghini.
William, this isn't just IMSA on their own. IMSA and ACO have been working on this for a while now. It was a stated intention that when LMP1 finished, Hypercar/LMDh would be slower than the outgoing cars, slowed down in the name of safety. There's a target lap time at LeMans they were looking to meet that was slower then LMP1, and close to the existing LMP2. To do that they already had to slow down the PMP2 class internationally, for ACO, FIA and IMSA Events. They removed the low drag bodywork for the high speed events and reduced power. Also Hypercar and LMDh(aka GTP) are racing together in the same class, so on your ACO line it isn't LMH>LMDh>LMP2>GT3 Pro, it's actually LMH/LMDh>LMP2>GTLM. Note, ACO is still racing LMGT not GT3. The big difference is that unlike the ACO/WEC, IMSA run LMP3 at Daytona and some other races. ACO/WEC only has LMH/LMDh and LMP2 classes, While the ELMS (European LeMAns Series) runs LMP2 and LMP3 classes, with no LMH/LMDh class.
I think that's partially the goal with the new P2 cars...LMDH/GTP chassis with different drivetrains. economies of scale on chassis design/construction. (supposedly scheduled for 2025)
Anyone know if all 4 Ferrari teams will race Sebring? Usually Risi sits out all the races until Petit in Atlanta. Not sure what Centilar is doing and Triarsi (our local Central Fl/Tampa Team) is new and actually finished top 10 better than all over Ferrari teams. Usually Af Corse races Sebring.
It's too early to say, but I am not convinced the ACO will play balls with this. I suspect they will favour LMH when they BoP the cars. The reason is that constructors that will race in WEC and built their LMH cars at huge cost (chassis, power unit, transmission, hybrid system, aero, etc ...) like Toyota, Peugeot and Ferrari, won't accept to be beaten by those low-cost teams using standard chassis and components, like BMW, Porsche or Lamborghini with their LMDhs. I suspect, if that happens, the "real constructors" will threaten the ACO with leaving WEC, unless they are given an advantage. Motor racing can be very political in these matters. I guess Ferrari and Peugeot that have been courted by the ACO to join endurance will start playing Merry Hell if Porsche starts winning, and they will ask assurance that isn't going to occur too often !
IMSA specific? looks like FIA/ACO is moving forward but now 2026: https://www.dailysportscar.com/2022/11/10/current-lmp2-homologation-extended-to-2025.html
Hindy mentioned both during the broadcast. Also got into it a little bit on their Post Race Tech show after the race. http://imsaradio.com/index.php/2023/01/30/michelin-post-race-tech-daytona-2023/
