2018 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar ChampionshipSports Cars 

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What a super finish, so close on the line, Dumas was a man on a mission in those last few laps, and crazy to nick it from the #6 on the line :eek:. Feel for Montoya, hard to tell whether Dumas got a mega run out of the last corner, or whether the #6 ran out of fuel or similar, superb race either way.

Huge congrats to JDC and the #99 red Dragon, cracking move by Simpson for the lead in the, really does serve as redemption after being so close last year.

Great to see a Ford take the win in GTLM, great drive and strategy by the #66 to take it, feel for #67, was a bit unlucky in the end perhaps. 3 different manufacturers on the podium shows how tight it was between Chevy, Ford and Porsche in LM. The BMW's were quite a way off, they had their issues, clearly progress still to be made there.

GTD feisty and great to watch as always, fantastic win by the #96, came out of nowhere to take the win really :lol:. great to see the #86 bring it in 2nd, once again closely followed by that #48, means the championship battle is tight as ever. Silly in the end from #29 and the rest of the Land guys, their fault at the end of the day.
 
Just got back. What a hot great race. Tons of action everywhere even with taking a few extra breaks to find shade and go back out to the car for sunblock. Really tempting to get an infield parking pass for next year. 9:30 in the morning is WAY too early to start a race though. I know people have to get home afterwards, but people have to drive a few hours to get there too. We got lucky and made it just in time to get out of the car for the anthems and rush to the grandstands for the second warmup lap.

Worth the price of admission just to hear all 4 Corvettes and Porsches running in lockstep for so much of the race. That's a combined sound I'll not soon ever forget. When all 6 of the top GT cars were together it even made the Fords sound a little less horrible. You can't even hear the big BMWs though, that's no fun. I could have probably enjoyed spending the entire day in the narrow strip between the entrance and exit of the boot without even watching a single car go by, just listening.

Glad to see the 99 get the win, almost like old times. I'm just going to assume the Ford cheated somehow because Ford. :P It was really nice to see all three(it should be at least five, come on IMSA) GTLM makes take turns looking dominant even if the wrong one took over at the end. Was a bit surprised to see Turner take GTD but good for them. They're occasionally quite competitive.

The place was fairly busy but not as packed as sometimes, might have been the heat keeping people away... but there were a lot of people hiding in the shady areas and under the grandstands. If anybody did stay home they missed a good one. The track keeps adding upgrades, building this and that here and there. They've added some TVs under the main front stretch grandstand and the turn 10 grandstand now which was a really great addition for this race when people were taking shelter... might be a bit iffy in the rain though. And they still haven't updated the 70's era scoreboards that only show the top 4 overall that I've been complaining about since my first race. :)

And whatever argument Land might have over the rules, that was a pretty poor way to express themselves. Wouldn't be surprised if we don't see them again any time soon.
 
Meanwhile, I have a nice long 4 hour ride back home, with air conditioning, of course. Man, today was brutal. Apparently walked about 6 miles around the track snapping pictures and taking in the sights and sounds.

Action was awesome, battles for the lead and everything, it was a really great race. Watkins Glen never disappoints!!

I’ll probably upload the 200 good photos out of the 1500 I took to Flickr sometime during the week, once I go through all of them. :lol:
 
Yeah I keep thinking I should get a gadget to check my walking distance, It's a good hike around there. I don't travel quite as far as I used to though, I generally go with my father and he's not able to keep going quite as well these days(neither can I it seems). We can still usually hit most of the general areas of the track in 6 hours though.

And I keep saying I should get a photography device, never happens. And a backpack.
 
Morgoth_666
Yeah I keep thinking I should get a gadget to check my walking distance, It's a good hike around there. I don't travel quite as far as I used to though, I generally go with my father and he's not able to keep going quite as well these days. We can still usually hit most of the general areas of the track in 6 hours though.

And I keep saying I should get a photography device, never happens. And a backpack.
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Yeah, actually I just had my phone in my pocket and it did it’s magic! And a camera is definitely worth it if you have some money laying around.

I went all the way from the top of the Turn 1 grandstands to the Bus Stop to the toe of the Boot. Really did a number on me though. :lol:
 
GTRacer22
Yeah, actually I just had my phone in my pocket and it did it’s magic! And a camera is definitely worth it if you have some money laying around.

I went all the way from the top of the Turn 1 grandstands to the Bus Stop to the toe of the Boot. Really did a number on me though. :lol:
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Nice. You really can't realize just how far out there the Toe is until you've gone out there a couple times. It's a fun place to watch from but unless you park right by the tunnel it's a hell of a hike. It's too bad there's no shortcut into the boot from the outer loop though, if you go out that far it's a long way back.
 
Getting to the toe is actually pretty easy, a brisk walk would have you there from pit lane in about 10 minutes, maybe less. Tunnel under 11, tunnel beneath the straight between 8 and 9, and if you want to go to the outside of the toe, about 3/4 of the way there, there is another tunnel on the sole. It's a very easy track to get around when compared to Mosport.
 
It's not bad. It's still a long ways to walk, particularly after already walking 4 or 5 miles. The very edge of Pit Lane to the Toe in 10 minutes might be doable as long as the garage shortcut is open(I think they usually leave it open) and you walk really fast. Chicane to the bridge to the nearest parking lot for a break and some water and then back to the turn 11 grandstand usually works out to about 30 minutes, at least with a senior citizen in tow. :)

It just always feels like forever when I've tried to get from the Outer Loop to anywhere inside the boot. Walking all the way back to the vehicle tunnel(and then getting from there in any direction to anywhere you can see) is what always gets me. Most anywhere else I can get from spot to nearby spot without feeling like I'm missing half the race. The trick is to realize that even though it's just a few hundred feet on track from turn 5 to turn 6, it's not actually a "nearby spot" on foot. It's not bad if you stop at the top of turn 9 though, you get a great vantage point across the valley from there.

I'm not actually complaining, I'm just tired and babbling. And I wish there was a shortcut under/over the Nascar section. Or just take that part out, it's not needed anyway. :)

Walking racetracks a great way to find out how fast the cars are actually going. If you don't stop to watch you'll probably get passed by the same cars 6 or 7 times walking from the esses to the chicane. The length of the Boot itself seems about the same as that.
 
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GTRacer22
I went all the way from the top of the Turn 1 grandstands to the Bus Stop to the toe of the Boot. Really did a number on me though. :lol:
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I made the same mistake the first time I visited for the 6 hour and was equally beat from the walking. Since then, I always brought my dad's old bike to scoot around on - Something I wouldn't mind having stolen. With that, I could get just about anywhere around the track in 10 minutes or less. I'd definitely recommend it for those of us who like to get around quick and not feel drained by day's end.

Speaking of feeling drained, I had a 4 hour trip home as well :yuck: I spent about a third of the race under the turn one grandstand watching the jumbo-tron to avoid the sun, but it was totally worth attending regardless it as this proved to be one of the best 6 hours I've witnessed 👍
 
This immediately came to mind when reading that.

I really hope they use this as inspiration if they pursue such a path. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't this be the first Korean backed/built LMP car ever to compete in any national series?

Hyundai-N-2025-Vision-Gran-Turismo-Concept-06-800.jpg
 
Ether
This immediately came to mind when reading that.

I really hope they use this as inspiration if they pursue such a path. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't this be the first Korean backed/built LMP car ever to compete in any national series?

Hyundai-N-2025-Vision-Gran-Turismo-Concept-06-800.jpg
Click to expand...
Id say you are right on the money with that. Truth be told, the only real "prototypes" Hyundai was even involved in were the Pikes peak cars Rhys Millen drove:
01-hyundai-genesis-rmr-pm580-t.jpg

genesis_pm580_6.jpg
 
Performance Tech has taken some big hits in the last few weeks, on top of not being all that competitive. Better to take the time off to get everything sorted again.

As for SunEnergy, they've always been a rolling chicane, so there's one less safety car. :lol:
 
Ether
This immediately came to mind when reading that.

I really hope they use this as inspiration if they pursue such a path. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't this be the first Korean backed/built LMP car ever to compete in any national series?

Hyundai-N-2025-Vision-Gran-Turismo-Concept-06-800.jpg
Click to expand...
GTS livery creators; you know what to do. Also, wasn't this one of the teams that complained about "disparity" between DPIs and LMP2s and then promptly went out and beat the factory teams at Watkins Glen? Meet the new boss/same as old boss, pot calling kettle black et al is what I'm seeing here.
 
I could see them using the turbo 3.3 from the Stinger/G70 as a basis for their race engine. Paint it N blue like the Veloster/i30 and we're all set.
 
-Fred-
I could see them using the turbo 3.3 from the Stinger/G70 as a basis for their race engine. Paint it N blue like the Veloster/i30 and we're all set.
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I don't see why they'd stop there, the engine is a long derivative of the Lambda series to begin with and from the same family as the 3.8. Also they've done the 3.8 as a race engine before in images of a couple cars posted on this page. I could see them easily going back to that if need be rather or take what they learned from that and apply it to the 3.3 instead. However, the 3.8 seems like a viable option.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
Funny you mention that too, because those cars started out from Daytona Protos and were then modified further by RMR with Hyundai backing.
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Now this is quite interesting. I feel this increases the chances of their involvement given they're somewhat familiar with modifying prototypes.

AMPMROCKETFANN
Also, wasn't this one of the teams that complained about "disparity" between DPIs and LMP2s and then promptly went out and beat the factory teams at Watkins Glen? Meet the new boss/same as old boss, pot calling kettle black et al is what I'm seeing here.
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JDC I believe is one of the only teams still clamoring to have LMP2 and DPI remain as a single class long term. And yes, they did complain about BOP as one would do if you believed DPI and LMP2 should remain a single equally competitive class (whether you agree or not BOP wise). JDC's decision to potentially pursue a new DPI with Hyundai in 2019 was probably spurred on by the news that LMP2 and DPI will likely be separated to some degree in 2019.

Personally, I think separating LMP2 from DPI is a good idea. Forget what the ACO is pursuing at the moment, to offer manufacturers the chance to compete at the top level of sports car racing in North America with their own specially built/branded prototype for roughly $5,000,000 a year is a pretty damn good deal considering big name brands spend billions on marketing each year. I think LMP2 could become a pro-am class and or simply phase it out and have customer DPI cars from the four current makers on hand for privateers. IMSA has a great platform, but a good few manufactures are on the fence about creating their own DPI because they don't like the thought of being beat by an LMP2 car (Bentley and Alfa Romeo were/may still be on the fence). Anyhoo, that's my 2 cents.
 
I think DPi would be a great place to start for a manufacturer with minimal Motorsports experience. The foundation of the car is already done so all they would have to do is a few body pieces and the engine.

The only thing that I could see being an issue is I’m not sure how much experience JDC has developing cars so it could be a repeat of Mazda’s foray into prototypes with SpeedSource.
 
Northstar
I think DPi would be a great place to start for a manufacturer with minimal Motorsports experience. The foundation of the car is already done so all they would have to do is a few body pieces and the engine.

The only thing that I could see being an issue is I’m not sure how much experience JDC has developing cars so it could be a repeat of Mazda’s foray into prototypes with SpeedSource.
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But Hyundai don't have minimal experience Motorsports wise.
 
Northstar
Apart from the new TCR and short lived Genesis in PWC have they done much else not rally related?
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Keep in mind Hyundai owns a good chunk of Kia, who has a pretty decent amount of TC experience as well. They're still young from a motorsports perspective, but I think they've got a good pool of knowledge to draw from.
 
Northstar
Apart from the new TCR and short lived Genesis in PWC have they done much else not rally related?
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They've done touring car stuff even before TCR with both Kia and Hyundia. As for seemingly not wanting to count the years of rally experience, I'd question why that is considering that those events are quite long, and difficult to overcome and yet Hyundai are arguably the best group. It's also the second biggest racing series it could be said that the FIA has and the racing experience gained from it would be useful for a manufacture expanding their efforts.

I mean look at a group like say Toyota, who expanded from a dominant rally effort into a strong Sports Car effort right after. Others I can think of are Audi and Peugeot. So I think that having that knowledge will be to the benefit of Hyundai if they proceed forward.
 
Anyone know if us North Americans will be able to watch CTMP live? I noticed that FS1 is broadcasting a tape delayed version of it at 4PM EST, and the only way to watch it live is on IMSA TV which is almost always geo-blocked here in NA. Might it be un-blocked in the US given there is no live version on air?
 

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