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IMSA – A New Golden Age?

Perhaps a new Golden Age is coming for IMSA. [Photo by Jack Webster]

Perhaps a new Golden Age is coming for IMSA. [Photo by Jack Webster]

By Jack Webster & Eddie LePine

In sports car racing, we tend to take a look backwards and yearn for what we considered “the Good Old Days” or “the Golden Age”. We think of the classic battles that took place at places like Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen. We look back and think about all the great drivers who were racing back then. We think about the number of manufacturers and different types of cars that were racing.

We just recently looked up the starting grid for what many consider today as the best of sports car racing (in particular prototypes) in the recent past: the 1986 12 Hours of Sebring. In just the prototype class there were 32 entries (in GTP and Lights). Of those, 16 were GTP cars and 18 were GTP-L cars. That is quite impressive.

And that grid was not just bloated for a big event like Sebring. Looking at the grid later in the season at Road America there were 34 prototypes: 16 GTP and 18 GTP-L. That is extremely impressive. Those car counts are for prototypes, and there were many more cars in the GTO and GTU classes.

1986 was perhaps the pinnacle of the GTP era in IMSA sports car racing. The car counts were impressive, the diversity of competitive cars and drivers was outstanding, and the crowds attending the events were never higher.

However, as great as that era was, we think we are on the cusp of a fantastic new “Golden Age” in sports car racing, thanks to the forward thinking of IMSA, which has taken great strides to move the sport forward since the merger of the GrandAm Series and the American Le Mans Series at the end of 2014.

For 2017, IMSA is introducing the new Daytona Prototype International class to the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship as the top class in American sports car racing. Gone will be the Daytona Prototype cars, and the current crop of P2 machinery will be grandfathered in for one more season, to be replaced by the new spec FIA P2 cars, which will all be using the same engine, electronics and body design.

IMSA, however, in a departure from the ACO and the FIA, will permit their new DPi cars (which will use the same basic chassis from the four FIA approved builders: Dallara, ORECA, Onroak and Riley/Multimatic), to use a variety of engines and make changes to the bodywork so that all the DPi cars will truly look and sound different from one another.

As things currently stand, after the ACO and FIA announced at Le Mans that their P2 regulations are set in stone, IMSA DPi cars will not be able to compete at Le Mans. We shall see. We will keep an eye on things to see if this regulation ends up being set in stone or in quicksand.

Although no manufacturer has announced (as of today) that they are building cars for the new DPi class, we see nothing but good things coming down the road. It is pretty much of an open secret that Cadillac is working on a program and last week AMG Mercedes expressed interest in supplying drivetrain packages to privateer teams. Couple that with potential entries from Mazda, Honda and Nissan, prototype racing in the US in the near future looks to be outstanding.

In addition to the obvious manufacturers above, the new IMSA class is sure to attract attention from other car companies as well. How about Audi? Will they continue to spend Formula One money on the FIA-WEC series to compete with their sister brand Porsche in the midst of the huge sums of money being paid out to settle the VW Group problems? We think that they must be giving the IMSA DPi class a hard look.

And what about other potential manufacturers such as Ferrari, might they find a home in IMSA in the top class and not only compete in the GT classes, but the top prototype class as well? Perhaps even Porsche? Toyota? Jaguar? Time will tell.

Then there are the European teams, who we are sure are going to take a close look at the WeatherTech series as a potential US home.

With the current healthy status of the GT classes in IMSA racing and the upcoming rollout of the DPi class next season, we truly believe that sports car racing in the United States is about to enter a new “Golden Age.” It seems to us that IMSA has made the right call, encouraging and inviting diverse manufacturers into the top class of prototype racing in this country. Don’t be surprised to see grids grow to the levels we used to see in the 1980’s

We can’t wait.

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