IMSA 2022: Looking to the present?

[HORNDAWG]

Maybe early, but it is starting to heat up a bit with reg’s for the new classes getting closer. Consolidation of GT looks to be going smoothly. Multiple mfgs already announced for LMDh and others seemingly on the cusp of doing so. Interesting days ahead for us all!


L.P.

[WyldStallion]

DPI looks to be smaller with Mazda going away. But the races so far show that the Cadillac and Acura teams are fast, reliable, and equal in pace.

What of the rumor of LMDh cars being invited to compete in late 2022? Would be test and demo appearances for them perhaps. Can't see them touching pace of DPI cars, who are the fastest active sportscar racing class globally now.

The story of what GTD looks like needs to played out through the rest of 2021 still it appears.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

Maybe early, but it is starting to heat up a bit with reg’s for the new classes getting closer. Consolidation of GT looks to be going smoothly. Multiple mfgs already announced for LMDh and others seemingly on the cusp of doing so. Interesting days ahead for us all!


L.P.

The GTD Pro (why can't they just call it GT3 Pro?) class will be very interesting. IF IMSA ends up keeping the cars in the exact same spec as GTD, we could have the AM cars winning this GT overall. We saw this with the first years of DPi when the P2 cars from Core et al. could stay close enough with the AM driver then put the pro in and let him charge through the field. Personally, I think they will do something to create separation. It might even be a minimum drive time thing for the AMs that extends their seat time. It sounds like manufacturers want to keep specs the same for cost reasons. Tires are still up in the air.

[gert]

Originally Posted by joeb

The GTD Pro (why can't they just call it GT3 Pro?) class

I think because the GT3 "trademark" is owned by S. Ratel?
Same reason why they call it SP9 at the Nurburgring 24 hours?

[canaglia]

Originally Posted by gert

I think because the GT3 "trademark" is owned by S. Ratel?
Same reason why they call it SP9 at the Nurburgring 24 hours?

Don't know, in le mans cup there is a proper named gt3 class and don't know if is a SRO branded championship like GTworld, british gt etc...
Don't know if SP is for "specs" or "special" but it's more related to a performance range than a copyright issue, infact in the past gt2 cars could be in SP7 or SP8 according to engine displacement or in SP-X if the gt2 was entered in national specs. I think gtD is used to give more "personality" to the class, like something strictly related to daytona->IMSA as gtLM (instead of GTE) is related to le mans. Same about DPi that sounds much better than something like lmp2+ or lmp2evo...

[seanyb505]

GT >2 < 3. Somewhere in between.

[broadrun96]

And it is a continuation of the previous nomenclature pattern?? They used to have specific 911s built for the previous idea of the class, nothing like making someone buy a special car to save costs.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by seanyb505

GT >2 < 3. Somewhere in between.

Maybe IMSA changes it to GT Pro and GT Am, and just drops the D? I don't know why this bugs me so much!

[broadrun96]

IMSA following NASCAR's lead, Roar to be dirt course at Daytona.

https://www.imsa.com/news/2021/04/01...-dirt-circuit/



Yes, check the date before whinging.

[NaBUru38]

Daytona ProtoCross!

[WyldStallion]

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2021/0...-released.html

Maybe in a Florida road trip next year I can go to Daytona for Roar weekend. Do the resorts in Orlando in the week and the 24 on the next weekend on the way back.

The Q-race as it was this year..not so great. Splitting proto and GT might be worth a shot this time around. Either that or just go back to traditional time trial qualifying. Its ok if the Roar is just a test. But otherwise try a Motul Twin 125.

[WyldStallion]

Funny how word usage takes off sometimes. "Stratification" within GT cars is not necessariy. Especially when GTD Pro and GTD are both GT3 categories. Just let the difference be the drivers and nothing else. I've never been a big "Stratification" fan as a whole myself even wtih Prototypes and GTs. Did not anybody find the interclass battle at the 2015 Petit Le Mans an incredible race to watch? Or seeing the Porsche GT and Ferrari 333 battle on track at the Petit Le Mans in 1999.

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/g...-manufacturer/

It will be hard to get exicted for IMSA GTD in 2022 beyond Daytona, Sebring, and any all-GT races though. Because IMSA GT will now be more directly competing with Gt World Challenge Europe, NurburingRing series, and DTM now supposed to past where it was the WEC.

And those series might have an advantage for the perspective of GT fans because they don't have protos running around filling up space on the track and its not (most of the time) for overall wins. IMSA will have the Corvette C8R's wheras the others won't though. As mentioned in the article "national homologation". I do very much hope Chevrolet will come up with GT3 homologated C8R for 2023.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by WyldStallion

Funny how word usage takes off sometimes. "Stratification" within GT cars is not necessariy. Especially when GTD Pro and GTD are both GT3 categories. Just let the difference be the drivers and nothing else. I've never been a big "Stratification" fan as a whole myself even wtih Prototypes and GTs. Did not anybody find the interclass battle at the 2015 Petit Le Mans an incredible race to watch? Or seeing the Porsche GT and Ferrari 333 battle on track at the Petit Le Mans in 1999.

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/g...-manufacturer/

It will be hard to get exicted for IMSA GTD in 2022 beyond Daytona, Sebring, and any all-GT races though. Because IMSA GT will now be more directly competing with Gt World Challenge Europe, NurburingRing series, and DTM now supposed to past where it was the WEC.

And those series might have an advantage for the perspective of GT fans because they don't have protos running around filling up space on the track and its not (most of the time) for overall wins. IMSA will have the Corvette C8R's wheras the others won't though. As mentioned in the article "national homologation". I do very much hope Chevrolet will come up with GT3 homologated C8R for 2023.

Who do you think the potential 6 manufacturers would be?

I would guess:

Corvette
BMW
Porsche
Lexus
Lambo
Acura

[WyldStallion]

I can see 5 of those 6 working out. I wonder who could run the Acura Pro effort? Can also see Mercedes and Audi bringing out the big guns for Daytona and Sebring. (Marcielo, Engle, D Vanthoor, etc). Also Porsche can certainly expand their efforts too. GTD Pro might feel like a GT World Challenge Europe enduro race plus Corvette for the 36 hours of Florida races in 2022. Yeah....I'm for that!

[joeb]

Originally Posted by WyldStallion

I can see 5 of those 6 working out. I wonder who could run the Acura Pro effort? Can also see Mercedes and Audi bringing out the big guns for Daytona and Sebring. (Marcielo, Engle, D Vanthoor, etc). Also Porsche can certainly expand their efforts too. GTD Pro might feel like a GT World Challenge Europe enduro race plus Corvette for the 36 hours of Florida races in 2022. Yeah....I'm for that!

It is unknown at this point how much factory support the pro class will have. I suspect some, at least with drivers, but beyond that, no clue.

My shot at teams in pro:

Corvette racing (duh)
BMW - Rahal and maybe a Turner car in the future?
Porsche - Wright or Pfaff and maybe a Core car?
Lexus - Vasser Sullivan
Lambo - Paul Miller and maybe Grasser
Acura - ???

[broadrun96]

I think BMW will be interesting with the new M4 GT3 car coming online for 2022, RLL has been the team but would they trust Turner's abilities with a GT3 car and fund 1 car with Turner funding the second in GTD

Lamborghini-Paul Miller would be tough since I think Snow brings a decent chunk of change to the team. Grasser would make sense as a Pro team but how much will Lamborghini spend supporting a car?

Porsche has multiple teams to choose from and the competition will be fierce to land it if they are willing to pay with LMDh coming online in 2023. You would have to think Wright or Pfaff would be the leaders but would anyone come from Europe to steal the spot.

Acura seems unlikely with a factory funded Pro team, do they have extra drivers not running in DPi and extra funds?

Lexus and Corvette I think are obvious as stated above

[WyldStallion]

Still I hope GTD (pro and am together) can bring a nice grid in 2022. Could really get a lot of the spotlight and TV time considering DPI will be in its last year in 2022 with just Acura and Cadillac entries that have existed for many seasons already. LMDH will obviously get attention in 2023. And having more than 2 all GT races won't hurt either.

[WyldStallion]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

I think BMW will be interesting with the new M4 GT3 car coming online for 2022, RLL has been the team but would they trust Turner's abilities with a GT3 car and fund 1 car with Turner funding the second in GTD

Lamborghini-Paul Miller would be tough since I think Snow brings a decent chunk of change to the team. Grasser would make sense as a Pro team but how much will Lamborghini spend supporting a car?

Porsche has multiple teams to choose from and the competition will be fierce to land it if they are willing to pay with LMDh coming online in 2023. You would have to think Wright or Pfaff would be the leaders but would anyone come from Europe to steal the spot.

Acura seems unlikely with a factory funded Pro team, do they have extra drivers not running in DPi and extra funds?

Lexus and Corvette I think are obvious as stated above

I would hope Weathertech will stick around in a GT3 RS. Pro or Am. I wonder if a team Miller can run in the endurance races as GTD Am, but sprint races as GTD Pro with Sellers/Snow. I would think that for 2022 a silver can only run in GTD Am with another silver or bronze driver. Although when you factor in the 3rd or 4th driver in NAEC races, the elgibility factor for a silver driver in GTD Am would be more flexible.

[broadrun96]

Weathertech is Cooper McNeil so whatever he wants to do and whoever he pays to run the car. He runs Ferraris in Ferrari Challenge and skipped a couple IMSA rounds to run there as he dominates the fields and loves his trophies. Weathertech in IMSA is not a team itself, the program is run by Proton for him. I believe the car is theirs as well although he owns a couple including one of the Coke liveried cars picked up after Petit 2019.

Why would Paul Miller run in Pro with Sellers/Snow as Snow is an Am. There's no mention of dropping GTD to no Platinum or Gold or other driver class changes, it would likely kill a few entries running funded guys who don't want to run against the Pro teams. Think the only gap you'll see will be confidential vs customer tires for the Pro vs GTD class.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Weathertech is Cooper McNeil so whatever he wants to do and whoever he pays to run the car. He runs Ferraris in Ferrari Challenge and skipped a couple IMSA rounds to run there as he dominates the fields and loves his trophies. Weathertech in IMSA is not a team itself, the program is run by Proton for him. I believe the car is theirs as well although he owns a couple including one of the Coke liveried cars picked up after Petit 2019.

Why would Paul Miller run in Pro with Sellers/Snow as Snow is an Am. There's no mention of dropping GTD to no Platinum or Gold or other driver class changes, it would likely kill a few entries running funded guys who don't want to run against the Pro teams. Think the only gap you'll see will be confidential vs customer tires for the Pro vs GTD class.

I think Paul Miller would run in Pro because it would be a challenge. They weren't scared to run GT top class cars before as a private porsche team vs the factory backed efforts in ALMS. Plus i think Snow is good enough to be a pro, and wasn't he labeled as such a couple years ago before being reclassified?

[WyldStallion]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Weathertech is Cooper McNeil so whatever he wants to do and whoever he pays to run the car. He runs Ferraris in Ferrari Challenge and skipped a couple IMSA rounds to run there as he dominates the fields and loves his trophies. Weathertech in IMSA is not a team itself, the program is run by Proton for him. I believe the car is theirs as well although he owns a couple including one of the Coke liveried cars picked up after Petit 2019.

Why would Paul Miller run in Pro with Sellers/Snow as Snow is an Am. There's no mention of dropping GTD to no Platinum or Gold or other driver class changes, it would likely kill a few entries running funded guys who don't want to run against the Pro teams. Think the only gap you'll see will be confidential vs customer tires for the Pro vs GTD class.

It could come down to "stratification". GTD Am I don't think should allow a gold/silver driver combo for their sprint races anymore myself. Silver should only be allowed if they pair with another silver or a bronze. Exception is the endurance races where they can add a bronze driver as the 3rd.

Well thats my idea anyway.

[WyldStallion]

Originally Posted by joeb

I think Paul Miller would run in Pro because it would be a challenge. They weren't scared to run GT top class cars before as a private porsche team vs the factory backed efforts in ALMS. Plus i think Snow is good enough to be a pro, and wasn't he labeled as such a couple years ago before being reclassified?

Agreed. Especially Daytona where they got Andrea Caldarelli. They can certainly win GTD Pro with him and Sellers driving the last 6 hours.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by joeb

I think Paul Miller would run in Pro because it would be a challenge. They weren't scared to run GT top class cars before as a private porsche team vs the factory backed efforts in ALMS. Plus i think Snow is good enough to be a pro, and wasn't he labeled as such a couple years ago before being reclassified?

He was promoted to Gold by IMSA but not the FIA so he left for a season until they restored his Silver status.

Originally Posted by WyldStallion

It could come down to "stratification". GTD Am I don't think should allow a gold/silver driver combo for their sprint races anymore myself. Silver should only be allowed if they pair with another silver or a bronze. Exception is the endurance races where they can add a bronze driver as the 3rd.

Well thats my idea anyway.

The problem there is look at the drivers who are Bronze, you want to whine and cry now about drivers screwing up others races, bring on more Bronze drivers. It WILL be a mess with GTD requiring a Bronze, it's fine in part but teams want that funded Silver driver who won't break the car every other time out.

[WyldStallion]

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/i...o-gtd-in-2022/

Probably announced now so that we can get a Corvette announcement at the Chevy Grand Prix this weekend?

Glad to see this class stucture come together. Just want the GT classes to get more TV screen time dang it. So far in 2021 there has not been enough in IMSA. I think for the first time I've watched more GT WC America than IMSA so far this year.

[NaBUru38]

So GTD Pro and Am will have different BoP. That's a bad idea.


Why don't they instead use success ballast? Therefore, bad drivers in good cars wouldn't get penalized.