IMSA USCC in 2016 and 2017

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by Mike Hedlund

I don't see it in the official homologation list. So that'd be a no.

-mike

They might bring it to this year's test so it's FIA homologated for next season?

[MitchZ06]

^ More than likely.

[carbsmith]

I don't think FIA homologations are any more important to IMSA than they are PWC considering the Viper ran under the GT3 part of the rules with no homologation for a year and the ARX-04 still isn't homologated.

Ginetta and Lexus are racing elsewhere without being on the FIA list either.

[Coach Ep]

Did I miss the announcement of Flying Lizards return to GTD with Audi for next year?

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Did I miss the announcement of Flying Lizards return to GTD with Audi for next year?

nope, just speculation here.

[Deleted]

With that post I just realized Flying Lizards is not running full time anymore? I'm shocked, how the giants have fallen. Then again maybe I had realized this sooner if my USCC race viewing count was more than (IIRC) 9 events since the series began, and only one of those being from this year. But I miss their wacky looking Porsches at LM

[Mike Hedlund]

Originally Posted by Chiana

With that post I just realized Flying Lizards is not running full time anymore? I'm shocked, how the giants have fallen. Then again maybe I had realized this sooner if my USCC race viewing count was more than (IIRC) 9 events since the series began, and only one of those being from this year. But I miss their wacky looking Porsches at LM

The customer racing business is damn tough.

-mike

[Deleted]

I'm sure it is

The exit of semi-direct Porsche backing sure hurted when they were 'forced' into GTC in ALMS, and then the GTD thing, but with Neiman also concentrating fully on business and not driving now maybe his interest has faded too and affecting the outcome

Btw I just realized how twins these two look

[Fogelhund]

With the way BoP is managed, it is always difficult to decipher whether advantages have been gained in the boardroom, or actual hard work. I know they are all working hard to make gains, yet...

But my point, these new tire compounds... yes everybody has them, but as we've seen other times, there are times that certain compounds will favour one chassis more than another. That is certainly a possibility with what has happened here. The problem is that these are more sprint race tires, for the heat, and might not be an effective compound come PLM. Porsche might get yanked back, only to be on the regular compounds and be disadvantaged... interesting game being played out.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

With the way BoP is managed, it is always difficult to decipher whether advantages have been gained in the boardroom, or actual hard work. I know they are all working hard to make gains, yet...

But my point, these new tire compounds... yes everybody has them, but as we've seen other times, there are times that certain compounds will favour one chassis more than another. That is certainly a possibility with what has happened here. The problem is that these are more sprint race tires, for the heat, and might not be an effective compound come PLM. Porsche might get yanked back, only to be on the regular compounds and be disadvantaged... interesting game being played out.

That's an interesting point. I hadn't thought about the impact of the new Michelin tires on chassis performance but that is for sure a possibility. We'll have to see if there are any further bop changes before Petit to also factor in.

[MoMedic9019]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Did I miss the announcement of Flying Lizards return to GTD with Audi for next year?

Seth said two months ago they had intent to buy two new R8 GT3's.

With Kpax possibly leaving PWC, we will see how it shakes out

[jasonjessica09]

I love the IMSA series but it is too freaking expensive to run. VIR should have been a 2 day weekend not 3 days. Cut the weekend sizes down folks. Reduce Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta lengths by a couple hours each. Also cut GTD and LMPC by a race or two on the 2016 calendar. IMSA needs to do all of this now.

[BullMan]

Originally Posted by jasonjessica09

I love the IMSA series but it is too freaking expensive to run. VIR should have been a 2 day weekend not 3 days. Cut the weekend sizes down folks. Reduce Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta lengths by a couple hours each. Also cut GTD and LMPC by a race or two on the 2016 calendar. IMSA needs to do all of this now.

Here you go again with the reduction of Watkins Glen and PLM. Not gonna happen, dude!

[Akrapovic]

Whilst I can see why reducing days on weekends would help, I don't see how reducing a race distance by a couple of hours would. Slightly less fuel, 2 less sets of tyres. That's a very small financial impact for the team.

[MitchZ06]

Exactly....

[MoMedic9019]

They need to stop the split weekends and excessive travel. That will kill extra expenses.

And for what it's worth. Their reasons for them are contrived bull.

[ATLFalconsFAN]

At least one extra P2 car at Sebring next year:

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2015/0...full-elms.html

[Deleted]

People not already committing to the series itself aren't doing much of Sebring nowadays anymore, and if they are doing just one-off at the start of the season it tends to be Daytona, so it's nice

The 05 looks amazing in bare black btw

[jasonjessica09]

Originally Posted by MoMedic9019

They need to stop the split weekends and excessive travel. That will kill extra expenses.

And for what it's worth. Their reasons for them are contrived bull.

I do think putting Watkins Glen and CTMP on back to back weekends is a good move. Those two places are a reasonable driving distance . The down side is the extra expense for lodging people on Monday, Tuesday nights, etc. But perhaps the travel cost savings makes up for it. Maybe the Glen 6 hour should Sunday with CTMP being the follwing Saturday. And I do support making it the Glen 4 hour in addition for the reason to save wear and tear on the car heading to CTMP. A car that crashes heavy at the Glen (example the #10 car this year) won't make it to CTMP if that race was 6 days later.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by ATLFalconsFAN

At least one extra P2 car at Sebring next year:

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2015/0...full-elms.html

Is there a schedule change for Daytona next year? The article states:

The Florida-based team will open its campaign at the Mobil 1 Sebring 12 Hours classic, round one of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, before switching its focus to the ACO European Le Mans Series for the remainder of the year.

[Maelochs]

Cutting time off races and races off the schedule might help some teams, but it will generally displease fans, which hurts attendance/viewing. which hurts sponsorship, which hurts teams.

Not sure if the short weekends hurt the track, but as a fan I know that I am pretty unhappy to travel for a few days at a track, pay gas and hotel costs, and only see the cars on track for a couple hours's practice one day, a few laps quali the next.

ALMS events offered a lot more practice which might opr might not help teams but sure made the days more exciting for fans (and boosted revenue to the hotels in the region as fans would go the extra day to see the big cars run.)

Tudor events, why even bother going for the first two days? Two extra days off, two extra nights in the hotel to watch support series practice? If it weren't fro the Conti race I'd only show up on Tudor race day. As it is I can drive right to the track for the Conti race and save a night in a hotel--which is okay for me but hurts the hotel.

Problem there is, how far am I willing to drive just to see the Tudor and Conti races? When i would see three or maybe four days with the big cars on track for at least a few hours each day, taking the extra time and driving the miles seemed worth it.

Now, with gas more expensive and the race weekend shorter, I am going to see less practice, get to fewer viewing spots around the track, but spend just as much time and more money traveling ....

If Tudor wants to cut weekends to two days, that's rollout, tech, two hours of practice, and qualifying in one day? or qualify in the morning and race in the afternoon on the second day?

Who knows, most traveling fans might like that better.
(Tech might be busy if they have to examine all the support series as well all in one morning.)

[ATLFalconsFAN]

Originally Posted by joeb

Is there a schedule change for Daytona next year? The article states:

Perhaps my prayers of never again having to see sports cars racing on an oval have finally been answered!

[Lanky Turtle]

Originally Posted by joeb

Is there a schedule change for Daytona next year? The article states:

I hope not, my tickets say Jan. 28-31. Maybe the Rolex 24 has been picked up by the new P1 breakaway series!

[Lanky Turtle]

Originally Posted by ATLFalconsFAN

Perhaps my prayers of never again having to see sports cars racing on an oval have finally been answered!

Easy, just watch the cars through the infield and close your eyes when they get to the banking

[jasonjessica09]

Originally Posted by Lanky Turtle

Easy, just watch the cars through the infield and close your eyes when they get to the banking

Daytona has been my favorite track to watch as a spectator at the ground because of the ability to see all the way around. Also I understand the point about the fans wanting to see more on track action but there should be give and take when these teams have to flip the bill. I for one expect some adjustments (maybe 1 or 2) to the class structure at a couple events over the off season from what was a released of the 2016 schedule a couple weeks back.