2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar ChampionshipSports Cars

[AnthonyD1993]

Major changes at Joest for the Mazda program according to Marshall Pruett. The changes include Jan Lange taking over as the director of the effort for Joest on the Mazda, David Wilcox as the engineer of the 55, and Leena Gade as the engineer of the 77. Brad Kettler will be a consultant for the Rolex 24, and Chris Mower has been brought in to be the team coordinator.

https://racer.com/2019/01/02/major-changes-ahead-for-mazda-team-joest/

 

[TheElbows]

Huh...that's a bizarre change, in a very good way. I know Brad Kettler was supposed to be close-lipped about what he was doing "next", but I don't know if this is what he was talking about. Gade is always great to see back in the pit. I think everyone was a bit mystified by the sub-par performance of the Joest backed effort this year.

I'd like to see them become properly competitive. They had a few moments this last year when the BoP seemed to finally stick.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Huh...that's a bizarre change, in a very good way. I know Brad Kettler was supposed to be close-lipped about what he was doing "next", but I don't know if this is what he was talking about. Gade is always great to see back in the pit. I think everyone was a bit mystified by the sub-par performance of the Joest backed effort this year.

I'd like to see them become properly competitive. They had a few moments this last year when the BoP seemed to finally stick.

I don't see the blunders the few people who claim they had, were at. I see a team again, that was debugging a car that was never debugged or tested well under Speed Source. And yet in that short time they did take over and work on the car, the car had viable chances to win. I think the biggest issue was pit lane errors.

 

[Dotini]

All I know is that Mazda supports US motorsports at many levels. For their top level effort to look like an also-ran is unacceptable to Mazda fans and management alike. They need to do better. But maybe their hands are tied with their little engine. Maybe they need a V-8?

 

[LongbowX]

Retro Wynn's livery for the 33 for IMSA's 50th. It better be using those BBS-inspired wheels for the races, because they are glorious.

Based off of Hotchkis Racing’s Porsche 962 in the late 1980s. This specific livery is most closely resembles 1987's.

 

[TheElbows]

Man, those retro-BBS are the life. Yes, please. Other than that, not a particularly beautiful livery - but much more simple and identifiable than the usual photoshop mayhem we get.

 

[TheHun99]

Just wanna say hello to everyone here! Recently turned back to racing and racing games and planning to visit a few events this year that aren't too far from us. As far as sportscars go, I'm thinking either Watkins Glen or Mid-Ohio, depending on how we can manage (plus Dover for some NASCAR and Poconos for IndyCar). Gotta be honest, the names are all strange for me, last time I attended a GT race was back in 1999-2000 or so on the Hungaroring - as in I saw the CLK GTR, the 911 GT1 and the Panoz in action along with the GT2 Vipers etc.

I just checked that depending on the track there will be GT4/TCR racing, Porsche Cup, Lambo Cup and LMP3 racing. Seems like a decent amount of action for a weekend, definitely looking forward to it (plus my A3 Sedan is somewhat similar looking to the RS3 to warm my heart LOL). I'm a bit sorry that I won't see the LMP1s like the R18 or the 919 but still looking forward to it!

 

[TheElbows]

You came back at an excellent time, and as far as racing in the US is concerned, the Weathertech IMSA series/weekend is the one to go to. The series itself is excellent, and its support races are superb (notably the GT4/TCR support series - newly named...Michelin Contact Sportscar Challenge or something for next year). I haven't been able to attend one live (yet), but the collected series that attend these weekends are superb. If you follow any racing at all - anywhere in the world, you're likely to see some familiar names on an IMSA weekend.

IMSA has a fantastic YouTube channel which puts up all of the races in their entirety (the support races don't seem to do a full calendar, so they're...hit or miss) and the support races are added after they air on local TV, so it can be a week or two delay. However, visit the official IMSA YouTube channel if you feel like catching up anything.

My personal favourite of the bunch is the main support series (currently Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge - but again it's getting a name swap next year as Michelin is the new predominant tire sponsor/supplier). I'd say it has some of the best racing - even edging out the top class in many instances and on many tracks.

Speaking of seeing the Panoz live, sadly Dr. Don Panoz passed away late this season. He was a real driving force behind a lot of what we've lucked out with.

 

[LongbowX]

@TheHun99 I echo what was said above - IMSA racing is very strong right now, which means it's fantastic time to come back to sports car racing. I will likely be at Watkins Glen as well. I've been going to it for a number of years now, and it's a great track, in a beautiful area. Last year it was sweltering hot, but other than that, it was a very enjoyable weekend.

I also echo the recommendation to catch up with some of the racing on their Youtube channel if you want to familiarize yourself with the series in terms of drivers and venues before you start following the series more.

 

[Leadfoot530]

Trying to put some plans together myself to get out to Mid-Ohio for my first race. If there was any time to plan on going to one, this year is the time to do it, eith the fields scheduledto be as full as they are.
Now that I've seen one, I need more GTP era liveries on modern GT cars.

 

[05XR8]

Retro Wynn's livery for the 33 for IMSA's 50th. It better be using those BBS-inspired wheels for the races, because they are glorious.

Based off of Hotchkis Racing’s Porsche 962 in the late 1980s. This specific livery is most closely resembles 1987's.

I wish. Might not, if they weigh more than the current wheels. I don't care, but I bet the engineers do.

 

[AMPMROCKETFANN]

All I know is that Mazda supports US motorsports at many levels. For their top level effort to look like an also-ran is unacceptable to Mazda fans and management alike. They need to do better. But maybe their hands are tied with their little engine. Maybe they need a V-8?

I say rebadge a Toyota 1-UZ based motor or a Judd or Cosworth block and call it a day

 

[LongbowX]

@05XR8 I'm sure there are other considerations as well, like the homologation of the car. Obviously wheels are one of the most important aspects of a car, so I do kind of doubt they'll be used. But I am going to hope anyway, because who cares about all that, they look darn cool.

 

[FutureF1]

Anyone know if there’s gonna be RLM coverage or something similar for the roar?

 

[Wiz]

Anyone know if there’s gonna be RLM coverage or something similar for the roar?

Looks like it, yes.

Edit: Scratch that, looks like it's only the Prototype Challenge race is being broadcast. Guessing the other stuff will be radio/audio only.

 

[LongbowX]

Leigh Diffey, Calvin Fish and A.J. Allmendinger will be your NBC commentators for the season.

Content to see Fish still there in the mix, although of the commentators on Fox I think I enjoyed hearing Tommy Kendall the most. He had some great insights (and stories).

Still no deal in sight for Canadian viewers though. We don't have access to NBC Sports (although a great deal of us didn't have access to Fox Sports Racing either, a channel that previously showed the IMSA races). It's disappointing to hear that they were working on it when the deal with NBC was announced and still...nothing. I guess it'll just be watching it through Youtube for us - which is certainly nothing to complain about since it's commercial-free - although you do have to wait for the race to be uploaded a few days after the event.

It's doubly disappointing as Discovery Velocity also did not cover the WEC races for us this year, even though they said that it would (and the WEC app is geo-blocked here). They did cover one race: Le Mans. Every other race was ignored.

Hopefully, something similar doesn't happen here for IMSA in Canada.

 

[fortbo]

These cars are going to be quite a bit faster than last years's machines. Mazda already set the fastest time in testing with a 1:35.989 which is already faster than last year's pole time which was a 1:36.083...

 

[Wiz]

I guess it'll just be watching it through Youtube for us - which is certainly nothing to complain about since it's commercial-free - although you do have to wait for the race to be uploaded a few days after the event.

Canadian folks can watch it live on IMSA TV with RLM commentary, commercial free. Best way to watch it in my opinion.

 

[LongbowX]

@Wiz That is true, we can. But I don't necessarily want to watch it completely live, I would like to watch it later that day perhaps rather than the middle of the day or whenever the races are on(timezone and TV-demanded schedule dependent). I don't mind the few days of waiting after - it's certainly better than waiting months for the WEC to upload.

Although I will say that I'm not a huge fan of the IMSA Radio/RLM team. Except for Shea, she's a great pit-lane reporter.

 

[TheHun99]

Is the IMSA TV live an option for the US or I should just be patient for the YouTube upload? I'm a cordcutter per se (never had any cord to cut - apart from the ones in the hospital's delivery room ) - to begin with but that's what it's called I think), no antenna, no cable, no dish, no YouTube TV, just YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime and whatever else is freely available.

 

[Jezza819]

Is the IMSA TV live an option for the US or I should just be patient for the YouTube upload? I'm a cordcutter per se (never had any cord to cut - apart from the ones in the hospital's delivery room ) - to begin with but that's what it's called I think), no antenna, no cable, no dish, no YouTube TV, just YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime and whatever else is freely available.

IMSA TV is not available in the US. Last year I waited until the Youtube upload showed up because with Fox shifting coverage all over the place to FS2 which I don't have. Plus Fox on my cable system had a bad problem where the race was very quiet but the commercials would blast at a high volume. I expect I won't have a problem with NBC because I like Leigh Diffey and Calvin Fish isn't that bad. AJ I don' know anything about yet.

 

[Wiz]

You can watch IMSA TV in the USA if you use a VPN. Don't bother with free VPN's, they pretty much all suck. You can get a decent VPN for $40/year.

LankyTurtle footage from the Roar



And MidKnightR1

 

[Northstar]

For those who want some proper racing action at Daytona, the first round of the Prototype Challenge (LMP3 cars) series is today at 12:15PM EST and will be streamed on IMSA.tv.

https://imsatv.imsa.com/

 

[twitcher]

Just going off the Wikipedia entry for this year’s race...

Albuquerque
Barbosa
Conway
Fittipaldi
Curran
Derani
Nasr
Cameron
Montoya
Pagenaud
Casteoneves
Rossi
Taylor
Alonso
Kobayashi
Taylor
van der Zande
Braun
Dumas
Duval
Bomarito
Pla
Tinknell
Bernhard
Jarvis
Nunez
Rast
Barrichello
Garcia
Magnussen
Rockenfeller
Fassler
Gavin
Milner
Mostert
Zanardi
Blomqvist
Makowiecki
Pilet
Tandy
Bamber
Vanthoor
Cassidy
Mies
Vanthoor
Bleekemolen
Legge
de Silvestro
Buhk
Long
van de Linde
Auberlen

and Maldonado

Just some of the drivers in this year’s event who stand out to me

Cadillac, Mazda, Acura, Nissan, Ford, Chevy, BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, Audi, Lambo, Mercedes

Not a bad time to be an IMSA fan

 

[sumbrownkid]

The all white throwback livery the Ford GTs are running look much better than the standard one.

 

[LongbowX]

I feel like some additional retro details to the Ford GTs would make it better tribute livery, even though I do like the white look.

I would go with these two, if we're going white (from 1966's 24hrs of Daytona):

Also, seeing video and pictures from the track confirm that the #33 Wynn retro livery is not using the BBS-style wheels for the actual racing - as kind of expected.

We still have some retro liveries coming though, with Acura Team Penske and Porsche GT Teams to run them as well, but they haven't been revealed yet.

 

[Dotini]

These cars are going to be quite a bit faster than last years's machines. Mazda already set the fastest time in testing with a 1:35.989 which is already faster than last year's pole time which was a 1:36.083...

Yet it's almost amazing that the track record set way back ('93?) still stands.

 

[twitcher]

More footage



Garage tour of the prototype fields with Marshal Pruett

 

[Northstar]

The all white throwback livery the Ford GTs are running look much better than the standard one.

Is that the livery they are running or just a test livery?

Speaking of throwbacks, I wonder if this will be the inspiration for the Acura's?

 

[sumbrownkid]

@Northstar It's the livery they are gonna run at Daytona 24 hours.

Not sure if they gonna run rest of season and Le Mans with it, but I'm inclined to believe they will.