2018 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar ChampionshipSports Cars

[Ether]

Man, what a shame. One of the most memorable looking cars on the IMSA grid too. Hope their crew and drivers can find work/a seat with another team in the near future.

It may have been mentioned in the CORE article, but did ESM sell them both cars, or just one? And if just one, I wonder if someone else is in the frame to purchase the second Nissan - maybe Starworks?.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Man, what a shame. One of the most memorable looking cars on the IMSA grid too. Hope their crew and drivers can find work/a seat with another team in the near future.

It may have been mentioned in the CORE article, but did ESM sell them both cars, or just one? And if just one, I wonder if someone else is in the frame to purchase the second Nissan - maybe Starworks?.

It says "DPis" and all spares so I imagine they're taking over the entire running gear.

 

[Ether]

It says "DPis" and all spares so I imagine they're taking over the entire running gear.

Ah, must have skimmed over that too quick - thanks for clarifying 👍

 

[01GTP]

Starworks Peter Baron with driver Ryan Dalziel are headed to GTD class at IMSA. PWC champion Parker Chase joining the Michelin 4 race endurance championship.
2nd full time driver yet to be decided and could be Parker.

 

[-Fred-]

GTD is going to be packed next season!

 

[Northstar]

Compass is coming with a 720S for the sprint races!

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/compass-confirms-mclaren-720s-gt3-for-sprint-cup/

 

[-Fred-]

We're looking at what, nearly 20 cars in GTD?

 

[Northstar]

We're looking at what, nearly 20 cars in GTD?

Not quite there yet, but there's a few teams that have yet to confirm plans.

Confirmed/Highly Likely:

AIM Vasser Sullivan (2 Lexus' full season)
Compass (1 McLaren for Sprint Races)
Grasser (1 Lamborghini for Endurance races)
Herberth (1 Porsche for Daytona)
Magnus (1 Lamborghini full season)
Meyer-Shank (2 Acura's full season)
Pfaff (1 Porsche for Sprint Races)
Riley (1 Mercedes full season)
Scuderia Corsa (1 Full season, possibly a second for the NAEC races like in 2018)
Starworks (1 Audi full season)
Wright (1 Porsche full season)

Total: 9 full season, 11 for the Sprint Cup and 10 for the NAEC.

Unknown's:

3GT - Stated they wanted to continue, but nothing has been announced (and I doubt there will be)
Flying Lizard - Lots of rumors about them and McLaren, nothing announced yet.
CJ Wilson/Gradient Racing - Gradient formed by former CJ Wilson employees, no word on plans for either team yet.
HART - Status unknown
Land - Ran a few races in 2018, I doubt they return though given their issues.
Paul Miller - Announced a switch to BGT America, but with Snow gone that may change.
Park Place - Recently moved to a new shop, no word on a GT3 program yet though.
Turner - They always seem to be a question mark at this time of the year, hopefully they wind up doing a full season again.

 

[-Fred-]

Hmmm, I thought there were more entries for the full season. Could have sworn I read somewhere (or it might have been Hindbaugh during the broadcast) that most of the 14 cars that were at Petit would come back next season.

I do know Motorsports In Action (the guys that ran the 570S GT4 in what's now known as Michelin Pilot Challenge) have acquired a 650S GT3 because I've seen it in the flesh, but what they intend to do with it I do not know, especially since it's a bit ancient by now.

 

[Northstar]

Hmmm, I thought there were more entries for the full season.

Admittedly I've forgotten about a few teams:

GMG - Bought a new Porsche GT3 but haven't said where they are racing it.
Moorespeed - Doing the Sprint races in a Porsche, they haven't ruled out doing the full season though.
P1 Motorsports - Apparently they did the NAEC races this year and are considering a full season entry for 2019 with a Merc.
Plus the possibility of a wild Aston Martin GT3 hasn't been ruled out for later in the year.

We still have a month before the Roar though so I'm guessing we will have quite a bit of news over the next couple weeks. Maybe we'll even find out what happened to that Transformers team!

Could have sworn I read somewhere (or it might have been Hindbaugh during the broadcast) that most of the 14 cars that were at Petit would come back next season.

I'm sure most will, I just didn't want to count them if there was a chance they wouldn't be on the grid.

I do know Motorsports In Action (the guys that ran the 570S GT4 in what's now known as Michelin Pilot Challenge) have acquired a 650S GT3 because I've seen it in the flesh, but what they intend to do with it I do not know, especially since it's a bit ancient by now.

According to their Facebook they also have an MP4 GT3.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

I really hope that Joest cleans up the pit miscues in the offseason and gets a win for Mazda. It was really surprising that they had as many issues in the pits since their WEC hallmark was pitstop perfection. I distinctly remember ripping RLL because of their pit miscues that costed them GTLM wins in prior years, and it seems like they cleaned up those and have been competitive. I'm going to expect that Joest will clean their act, but again, I was shocked that it was an issue for them to begin with.

 

[-Fred-]

Admittedly I've forgotten about a few teams:

GMG - Bought a new Porsche GT3 but haven't said where they are racing it.
Moorespeed - Doing the Sprint races in a Porsche, they haven't ruled out doing the full season though.
P1 Motorsports - Apparently they did the NAEC races this year and are considering a full season entry for 2019 with a Merc.
Plus the possibility of a wild Aston Martin GT3 hasn't been ruled out for later in the year.

We still have a month before the Roar though so I'm guessing we will have quite a bit of news over the next couple weeks. Maybe we'll even find out what happened to that Transformers team!

On the other hand, I'd rather see quality entries over a massive number of underprepared teams and drivers. There were only 10-12 cars at most rounds this year and on pace, pretty much every single one of them could be in contention for the win.

According to their Facebook they also have an MP4 GT3.

If it's the car I'm thinking about it's actually a Can-Am, which was not GT3 homologated. But then that doesn't really mean anything because they've also got a Nissan Micra Cup car. They're about an hour away from me, really nice guys that take pride in what they do. Been to their facilities a few time, it's a really, really small garage all things considered.

 

[Wiz]

About time to start the 2019 thread, no?

 

[AMPMROCKETFANN]

About time to start the 2019 thread, no?

Why not at this point.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

About time to start the 2019 thread, no?

I mean once the season ended someone could of made a new thread for the upcoming year. The only thing staff seems to not like is when people make threads prematurely for the F1 car releases. Which makes sense because why would you make a thread that has no info for it, and wont until the car is released, right? We have already got plenty of info for the 2019 IMSA season to warrant a thread. Same reason why there are 2019 season threads for other series right now on the subforum. I think no one has done it because it's just easier to throw it in here, but I agree a new thread is better.

 

[01GTP]

GAINSCO sponsorship has ended.