2017 IMSA Year in Review

[MaskedRacer]

My thoughts and "awards". Would like to keep this thread limited to just the racing from this past season.


Best Race
-Prototype: Laguna Seca
-GtLM: Daytona
-GTD: Lime Rock

Best Driver
-Prototype: Ricky Taylor
-GtLM: Antonio Garcia
-GTD: Jens Klingman

Most disapointing driver performances
-Prototype: Olivier Pla
-GtLM: Tommy Milner
-GTd: Katherine Legge, Sage Karam

Best Car
-Prototype: Cadillac DPI
-GtLM: BMW M6
-GTD: Ferrari 488

Neatest Statistic
-The two all GT races produced 5 hours and 20 minutes of safety car free racing..although not lacking in incidents

Most impressive win
-Prototype: Visit Florida wins Laguna Seca with daring pass by Van der Zande
-GtLM: #24 BMW comes back from spin to win Laguna Seca
-GTD: Turner BMW dominates Road America

Dumbest move
-Prototype: Pipo Derani getting the penalty late while leading Petit Le Mans
-GtLM: Opening turn crash at COTA
-GTD: Sage Karam breaking in rage at VIR allowing Acura to him in the back damaging the front of that car.

Biggest Surprise winner
-Alegra Porsche GTD win at Daytona

Best sounding car
-Porsche 911 RSR

Best paint/livery
-Prototype: Wayne Taylor Cadillac
-GtLM: Porsche 911 RSR
-GtD: SunEnergy Mercedes AMG

Worst paint/livery
-Prototype: Rebellion Oreca 07 (WEC livery is real good though)
-GtLM: BMW "FAST" at Daytona
-GTD: #63 Scuderia Corse Ferrari. Why the big ugly white trapezoid on the hood?

Best appearance by a non traditional sportscar celebrity or driver
-Helio CastroNeves pole at Petit Le Mans

Worst BoP
-Handicapping the Mercedes AMG with extra weight twice!

[MaskedRacer]

http://nasportscar.com/reflecting-on...ertech-season/

[FLGTFAN]

This wasn't my best year for IMSA. I don't get FS2 and am not going out of my way for it, nor a replay.

Dumbest move has to be Kenny Habul at Detroit, although I love the Sunergy Merc and hated to see it fade as the season wore on.

Best race was Road America, ESM came alive, carried the momentum through the year.

Biggest surprise was Mazda going to Joest. After so many years of disappointing performance, now they're all in?!

Most improved is the yellow flag procedures, Petit was a clinic in efficiency.

Don't really like BOP for one reason - do we need to race for 10-12-24 hours when the only hour that matters is the last one?

Overall, happy to see the state of IMSA in 2017.

[FormulaFox]

Originally Posted by MaskedRacer

Worst BoP
-Handicapping the Mercedes AMG with extra weight twice!

I would say not taking bigger swings at the Caddys after Sebring.

[Damian Baldi]

About the prototypes

I'm very satisfied about how the session ended. At the beginning with the superiority of Cadillac it was frustrating, but that car was very well developed while the other DPi cars haven't had enough testing, or a good chassis. Since WG race the category showed his best, with P2 cars being able to fight for the win, after fighting with lot of electronic bugs in the early races.

Beside the cars parity, the best about IMSA this year for me, is the names of the drivers. To see top drivers crossing the ocean is one of the most important things about IMSA in my opinion.

What I like about I saw this year, is that I see the series as an old school racing series, without the complexity of F1 or WEC P1 cars. An european or asian team could take a P2 car to race the next race and that's all. With all the differences I see the current state of the series as a modern form of the group-c era, and that for me is what I want to see.

Three and a half stars of five.

[WestCoast]

Yes, very exciting year for sure. Although next year with the addition of Penske to P1, things will really pick up, with a surge in viewership and hopefully more main-street media coverage (TV)

I posted these shots in the photo forum, but it may be more relevant here ...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/westco...05913236/show/

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by FLGTFAN

This wasn't my best year for IMSA. I don't get FS2 and am not going out of my way for it, nor a replay.

Dumbest move has to be Kenny Habul at Detroit, although I love the Sunergy Merc and hated to see it fade as the season wore on.

Best race was Road America, ESM came alive, carried the momentum through the year.

Biggest surprise was Mazda going to Joest. After so many years of disappointing performance, now they're all in?!

Most improved is the yellow flag procedures, Petit was a clinic in efficiency.

Don't really like BOP for one reason - do we need to race for 10-12-24 hours when the only hour that matters is the last one?

Overall, happy to see the state of IMSA in 2017.

I do agree about the fact that the speed of the FCY's at Road Atlanta was pretty good. The short track did help with that some. I think the approach needs to be taken in the future in the same way that they handled the all GT races. Officials seemed to allow those situations to clear up on their own much more so.

Agree that the integrity of the endurance races needs to be better protected. These full course yellows and the wave around procedure makes it too artificial. Didn't the Daytona 24 have a feel of the first 23 hours being a parade?

[FLGTFAN]

At the end of Petit, much was made over the decision to go green with the protos behind the rest of the field. Contact and penalties ensued, race was lost by some. All of which was set up by race control's decision to let them race!

[bentley speed 8]

Originally Posted by MaskedRacer

Agree that the integrity of the endurance races needs to be better protected. These full course yellows and the wave around procedure makes it too artificial. Didn't the Daytona 24 have a feel of the first 23 hours being a parade?

I feel the same. You just need to be on the lead lap come the final few FCYs and you're in with a shot at the victory even if you were like two or three laps at the beginning of the race. It sure makes the finish more exciting, but artificial and fabricated at the same time (and I personally don't like it).

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by bentley speed 8

I feel the same. You just need to be on the lead lap come the final few FCYs and you're in with a shot at the victory even if you were like two or three laps at the beginning of the race. It sure makes the finish more exciting, but artificial and fabricated at the same time (and I personally don't like it).

I actually miss the days when cars won the Daytona 24 by 10 laps. At least what happens over the course of the whole event mattered. At the Daytona 24 GTLM race in 2017 we had the entire field battle it out the whole way. It was especially awesome to see them parade around at night via Rooftop Ray's camera. But I knew that it was more or less just the drivers making sure they did not lose contact with each other more than anything.

Sebring had it somewhat too. Thankfully a little less of it. I bet the Ford GT guys knew their car was very strong in the hot daytime but would fade in the night so they went all out during the day and ran 1-2-3 heading into the sunset but I think FCY's came out that dashed their advantage and the Corvette took over at night.