2017 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship - General Season Discussion ThreadSports Cars

[RACECAR]

Well the TRG traitors (Aston Martin to Porsche >->), are leaving their Porsche which they used at Daytona...and are running the Aston Martin again for Lime Rock. What the hell? MAKE UP YOUR MINDS ALREADY!
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/trg-set-for-imsa-return-with-aston-martin-at-lime-rock/

You realize they were with Porsche first going all the way back to Grand-Am (and even the ALMS in the Early 2000s) before they went with Aston, right?

Also, they've apparently sold that Porsche and are currently one doing a one-off race (Which doesn't guarantee a Aston Martin return just yet) . Guessing they haven't been able to run a full season.

Edit:

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/a...18-mixed-views-on-categorys-future-direction/

Favorite part:

The longtime PC entrant is in favor of having a separate LMP2 class, which has been a hot topic in the paddock in recent weeks.

While IMSA President Scott Atherton has downplayed the prospects of split DPi and LMP2 classes in the short-term, Alder said it would go a long way in helping secure customers for 2018.

“Having a separate class would help us with the decision because we’d have a chance, rather than running around and fighting for fifth place, you could actually fight for [class] wins,” he said.

“I feel it’s a no-brainer and they should have immediately gone to that for next year. It’s a very logical next step.

“They have a home for the LMP3s right now and this gives [them] another Pro-Am category, which is always what IMSA has been about.

“To lose a Pro-Am class at the top level, I feel it would hurt the series.”

JDC-Miller team owner John Church, however, strongly disagrees, stressing that DPis and LMP2s should remain under a single class as is the case this season.

“We came here to race for the overall [win], we don’t want another PC class,” Church told Sportscar365. “We want to be recognized with the top class.

“I don’t know why anybody would want to split. Nobody liked the PC class anyway. Why would we go back to that? It seems pretty dumb.

“I think if those guys come into this class they’ll see it differently once they’re here. I think it’s perfect the way it is.”

This is coming from a former PC team.


Also, Troy Flis once again failing to admit he picked the wrong car. I feel most of that Multimatic/Riley's problems can be summed with two teams. Hint: One runs a German mark with Bleekomolen and the other is a Indycar team running a certain American brand.

 

[Mike458]

I thought that PC would die in 2018...

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I thought that PC would die in 2018...

It is, what makes you think it wont? What was said above is that if LMP2 is split from DPi, that means that it will just be a glorified spec series like it is every where else in the world. And just like everywhere else it wont have a chance to ever fight for top spot unless all the P1 or potentially DPi in this case fall out of contention. If we think about what P2 is in Europe and Asia it's not all that different from PC in concept, more gentlemen/amateur drivers spec chassis and engines, and mainly smaller independent race outfits.

 

[catamount39]

Interesting news, the Porsche 911 GTE is going to become available to privateers, and the customer program mentions both the WEC and IMSA. Just speculation, but a customer entry or two in GTLM perhaps?

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/porsche-closing-in-on-customer-gte-program/

 

[GTRacer22]

Interesting news, the Porsche 911 GTE is going to become available to privateers, and the customer program mentions both the WEC and IMSA. Just speculation, but a customer entry or two in GTLM perhaps?

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/porsche-closing-in-on-customer-gte-program/

Doubt it. More likely in WEC because they have an AM class while IMSA does not.

 

[catamount39]

Doubt it. More likely in WEC because they have an AM class while IMSA does not.

Only mentioning it because Porsche mentioned that the program is open for both the WEC and IMSA. I'm assuming that they would lease a car or two to somebody wanting to do the 36 Hours of Florida in the GTLM class. No its not likely because GTLM is all-pro, but I'm overly hopeful for some more entrants in GTLM.

(Like my daft delusion that one day somebody will run a privateer C7.R in GTLM and not in yellow...possibly blue or black...or red.... ).

 

[Mike458]

Interesting news, the Porsche 911 GTE is going to become available to privateers, and the customer program mentions both the WEC and IMSA. Just speculation, but a customer entry or two in GTLM perhaps?

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/porsche-closing-in-on-customer-gte-program/

Where can I buy one? (loljk, but nice to see that we could get more competitors...)

 

[catamount39]

JOEST IS TAKING OVER THE MAZDA DPi...I REPEAT...JOEST IS GOING TO TAKE OVER THE MAZDA DPi! Change is effective immediately, Speed Source will not participate in the remaining races this year as Joest takes full control of the program. Driver line-up will remain same for tests as Joest and Multimatic improve the car, but is TBA for next year.

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/joest-to-take-over-factory-mazda-dpi-program/

Mazda could be a scary in the coming years.

 

[DesertPenguin09]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[AnthonyD1993]

It may not have been the manufacturers that everyone expected it to be, but we're going to get the fabled Joest/Penske match up that everyone wanted in 2018 in IMSA!

 

[Eh Team]

Cool story bro, the car will still be crap sadly.

The car will continue to be powered by the AER-tuned Mazda MZ-2.0T engine

 

[sumbrownkid]

Cool story bro, the car will still be crap sadly.

Yeah but with Joest and Multimatic taking over, perhaps they can find the solution to the AER engine. Or maybe are in better position to convince Mazda to fit a better turbo engine.

 

[Roger the Horse]

Getting Joest onboard suggests Mazda is taking things seriously, perhaps a precursor to another run at Le Mans in 2020? How embarassing that could wind up being for Toyota.

Otherwise, having fallen out of the loop with IMSA in recent years, I caught some of the action at Watkins Glen and Mosport, and I have to say I was really impressed with the DPi's. I know people are saying that they wouldn't be appropriate for the WEC or whatever, but honestly, I'm not so sure I agree.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Getting Joest onboard suggests Mazda is taking things seriously, perhaps a precursor to another run at Le Mans in 2020? How embarassing that could wind up being for Toyota.

Otherwise, having fallen out of the loop with IMSA in recent years, I caught some of the action at Watkins Glen and Mosport, and I have to say I was really impressed with the DPi's. I know people are saying that they wouldn't be appropriate for the WEC or whatever, but honestly, I'm not so sure I agree.

Let's see how fast the ACO changes their tune to allow DPi if Porsche indeed announces a withdrawal from LMP1H, leaving only Toyota, and no confirmed LMP1L team if I'm not mistaken?

 

[catamount39]

Let's see how fast the ACO changes their tune to allow DPi if Porsche indeed announces a withdrawal from LMP1H, leaving only Toyota, and no confirmed LMP1L team if I'm not mistaken?

Correct on that. Everybody in the "LMP1H/L will live!" camp has forgotten that nothing is confirmed at all, and that Rebellion themselves also have stated that they're taking a wait and see approach. Porsche is most likely going to pull, I believe, simply because their management isn't happy with the costs and I think we could already see signs of that when they entered this year with essentially a dressed up 2016 car.

Plus the new LMP1 regs will be adding ridiculous, pointless features that will jack up costs even further (movable aerodynamic devices is NOT going to end well), and I really do not foresee that leading to more interest in LMP1 by manufactures.

 

[sumbrownkid]

I wish rational folk headed up the ACO. Honestly if I really wanted to show the performance benefits of LMP1H I'd allow LMP1L teams to have around 800 horsepower. Make it a game of outright speed versus efficiency. Is it too late for the 2020 regulations to be amended?

If not, guess GTE will be the star of the show as they should be.

 

[catamount39]

I wish rational folk headed up the ACO. Honestly if I really wanted to show the performance benefits of LMP1H I'd allow LMP1L teams to have around 800 horsepower. Make it a game of outright speed versus efficiency. Is it too late for the 2020 regulations to be amended?

If not, guess GTE will be the star of the show as they should be.

The FIA/ACO seem pretty sure of the regs at the moment, though I assume they aren't stupid enough to make the mistake of changing things if manufactures don't show up.

Maybe it'll be another version of the 90's, and it'll be GTE-Pro, LMP2 and GTE-Am. *just a delusional dream*

In all seriousness, DPi seems like a better idea for a privateer LMP1 class than LMP1L, and it should be allowed to compete unrestricted for the the overall win in the WEC.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Well with the way things are going, ACO should swallow their pride and just allow DPi as P1 entries. Give them a boost of power too so they have some leverage over LMP2.

 

[RACECAR]

Abit of a shocker. Here is the article from Racer, which includes this interesting bit not seen in the other:

In assuming full responsibility for the RT24-P, Joest will work directly with AER and Multimatic (which parted ways with Riley Technologies on the DPi/WEC P2 program) to find the speed and reliability that has been elusive since the car's introduction in December

I'm even more convinced Riley barely had ANY involvement. Where have we seen Bill? On the pit box of a certain Merc, nowhere near a LMP2 car or even the Mazda DPi.

 

[catamount39]

Abit of a shocker. Here is the article from Racer, which includes this interesting bit not seen in the other:



I'm even more convinced Riley barely had ANY involvement. Where have we seen Bill? On the pit box of a certain Merc, nowhere near a LMP2 car or even the Mazda DPi.

So now the proper name would be the Multimatic LMP2 and not a Riley I assume then? Maybe this is a good thing, Multimatic have done well with the various Ford's they've built/worked with as of late.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

I wish rational folk headed up the ACO. Honestly if I really wanted to show the performance benefits of LMP1H I'd allow LMP1L teams to have around 800 horsepower. Make it a game of outright speed versus efficiency. Is it too late for the 2020 regulations to be amended?

If not, guess GTE will be the star of the show as they should be.

I've personally thought that manufacturers should be allowed to run LMP1-L programs for a while. Mazda has wanted to go back to Le-Mans for a while now but can't afford to run a H program. Allowing L or DPi would give manufacturers without the funding of Toyota and Porsche's factory budgets a chance to run at Le-Mans with a reasonably competitive package without being forced to commit to the big budgets that come with the hybrids. Of course, costs could easily skyrocket in the future since the manufactures will still spend whatever they deem necessary to win, but either option would help the ACO if they could figure out that not everyone who races can afford the hybrid tech or wants to race with hybrid technology.

 

[sumbrownkid]

I've personally thought that manufacturers should be allowed to run LMP1-L programs for a while. Mazda has wanted to go back to Le-Mans for a while now but can't afford to run a H program. Allowing L or DPi would give manufacturers without the funding of Toyota and Porsche's factory budgets a chance to run at Le-Mans with a reasonably competitive package without being forced to commit to the big budgets that come with the hybrids. Of course, costs could easily skyrocket in the future since the manufactures will still spend whatever they deem necessary to win, but either option would help the ACO if they could figure out that not everyone who races can afford the hybrid tech or wants to race with hybrid technology.

I think ACO bumping up the Megajoules Hybrids can run and then enforcing fuel flow, even for privateer LMP1L, didn't encourage those with hopes to beat the likes of Porsche and Toyota.

 

[catamount39]

I think the biggest endorsement of DPi is Joest joining and pairing up with Mazda. That speaks for itself really.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Marshall Pruett just put up this article on Racer. This quote below from Ralf Juttner really opens up a bunch of questions if it the quote from the article below wasn't misquoted:

"DPi is a much better prospective than anything else we could do," he said. "What about the WEC? Porsche is done. Toyota is done. Audi's pulled out. So what should we do? Buy two LMP2s and look for pay drivers? Not a chance."

Assuming their pull with VAG is still strong given their tenure with Audi (which it probably is), Porsche is really withdrawing and Toyota will soon give up afterwords. If they actually bounce, Joest's options would be to either choose to race for a factory squad in IMSA or run a spec P2 program, and they chose to run with IMSA for "long term" (put in quotes because any program and motorsports ruleset can die at any time) success. Clearly, Joest feel that they will fair better here than the WEC will in when long term stability is factored in.

It also says that Mazda is in this for the long haul now because Joest doesn't like to partner up with someone unless they're going to stick around for a while. The more I thought about Joest/Mazda, the more I realized it makes sense. Mazda's been kind of a joke of recent with cars that are woefully slow and unreliable (Dieactive diesel, I'm looking at you) and poor execution in the pits. Given that Speedsource couldn't get the job done and the team that is without question the best prototype prototype team in the past 20 years is looking for something to do, Mazda reaching out to Joest was a no-brainer. Joest wants to win. Mazda wants to win. And if anyone can turn around Mazda's flagship motorsports program, Joest can and probably will.

 

[IforceV8]

Bookmark this day when we look back in a few years when the DPi class costs have spiraled out of control and all the Pro-Am entries are long gone and somebody asks how did this go wrong.

For now enjoy Penske vs Joest vs WTR vs AXR vs ESM vs whoever that new mystery OEM is.

 

[Northstar]

Bookmark this day when we look back in a few years when the DPi class costs have spiraled out of control and all the Pro-Am entries are long gone and somebody asks how did this go wrong.

I'm already building a collection of "Told you so" images for that occasion.

I know there is BoP and everything, but if there is one thing race teams are universally good at, it's finding things to spend money on.

 

[GTRacer22]

For now enjoy Penske vs Joest vs WTR vs AXR vs ESM vs whoever that new mystery OEM is.

And I believe VFR is going to the Cadillac for next year, so add them to the mix. Probably under the Spirit of Daytona moniker.

 

[Snaeper]

Pretty savvy move for Mazda to nab Joest's services before someone else did. That is not a team Id want to go up against (especially with Penske returning and the Caddy's strong).

I'm willing to bet that this is also why Brown got out of the Nissan. Derani is fast and I doubt they would want to lose him to another team. Having him in the car will seriously help development and give ESM a fighting chance.

 

[catamount39]

BMW's new GTLM toy is gorgeous!

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/bmw-m8-gte-revealed/

Its a big large, but it's sleek and should be rather interesting. Is the M8 only going to be a GTE, and the M6 going to remain the GT3?

 

[Mike458]

BMW's new GTLM toy is gorgeous!

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/bmw-m8-gte-revealed/

Its a big large, but it's sleek and should be rather interesting. Is the M8 only going to be a GTE, and the M6 going to remain the GT3?

Will it be capable of going more FAST than the M6?