TBK-Light.com

Not just IMSA. All motorsport.

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2018/07/1 ... -2018.html

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"Many people ask me why I always sign off Till We Meet Again, because goodbye is always so final. Goodbye Dan Wheldon." -Marty Reid

Prototype will split into 2 classes (DPi & LMP2) for 2019. GTD will have it's own sprint cup championship for their 7 regular distance races. CTSCC's new name for 2019 is the Michelin Pilot Challenge. Street Tuner will be discontinued as expected for that series. All IMPC races will be broadcast live on IMSA.tv & tape delayed on NBCSN. On top of using the FIA driver rating system, IMSA has created their own driver rating review panel.


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No major changes on the 2019 IWSC schedule from this year, only race subject to approval is Belle Isle which is waiting for final approval from the city government along with IndyCar. 3 races will be on NBC (Mosport, Laguna Seca, and a portion of Petit LeMans), the rest will be on NBCSN while Sebring will be partly on CNBC.
https://www.imsa.com/news/082018/2019-i ... ility-date
https://racer.com/2018/08/03/imsa-relea ... -schedule/

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IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge will retain the same schedule lineup again in 2019. The two 4-hour endurance races will be at Daytona & Watkins Glen.
https://www.imsa.com/news/082018/imsa-m ... asses-2019

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IMSA Prototype Challenge will have two 3-hour endurance races next year, along with the standard 1 hour & 45 minute races. Mid Ohio has also been added to the calendar
https://www.imsa.com/news/082018/schedu ... nge-season

DPi/P2 split is a dumb move.

- less incentive for European teams to enter the NAEC races since they can't win overall
- development costs in DPi might increase since DPi is now bopped against itself and not against the global LMP2
- <10 car top class and ~3 car secondary class no one cares about. YAY.

Seems like a short term solution with potential negative long term effects because they "couldn't" solve the BoP of the combined P class.

It was going to happen eventually, either with the split classes by IMSA or ACO & WEC doing it's usual politic game on their end of the stick. It sucks for the fans but it is what it is.

It seems IMSA has a stick up their arses when it comes to falling in line with the rest of the world and adopting LMP2

First they persisted with the ugly as sin DPs for too long, then tried to BOP them ahead of LMP2, now they want their own series for them?

Woop de do, now we'll have 5 cars in each class....great.

Splitting apart when its better to stand together, classic.

_________________
RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

IMSA wanted their top class to be able to race at the big dance in France. When the ACO announced the new rules that made the divide between IMSA and ACO bigger, or at least did nothing to close the gap, I think IMSA said fuck this shit and went full tilt their own way. Now they can take the reigns off the DPi's. They won't lose any of those guys. All the DPi's are factory backed.

It's not much different than it was back in the LMP1/LMP2 ALMS days where the P2's could fight for a win outright under the right conditions.

Why would IMSA force all of their DPi OEM's to either leave or switch to GTE or GT3 when they currently support over half of the full-time Prototype car count & give the series funding under the marketing fee all because the ACO only wants OEM's in the super expensive LMP1-H class in terms of Prototypes with the factory teams getting exposure at LeMans (instead of Daytona or Sebring) in which nobody on this side of the pond can afford to race in (both manufacturers & teams)

Even without the class split, the LMP2 side was possibly going lose a car or 2 as JDC-Miller was rumored to move up if they found the budget

But this has little to do with current situation. Look at the spit of DPi and LMP2 entries especially in the NAEC races.

It is ironic that the series that prides itself on successful BoPing is now throwing in the towel. They have tried to fix the BoP but they're refused to look in the direction of the actual problems. Continous work on e.g. suspensions is allowed on DPi, but not allowed on LMP2.

This now mean DPi is unlikely to grow much more unless some OEMs start providing more "customer cars". ESM losing its main sponsor puts those 2 entries in jeopardy with Nissan already being the least invested OEM.

I get what you're saying and JDC had a good point in the Racer article. Why run in a second tier class when it costs top tier money?

If IMSA leaves the DPi's alone as they are then I agree, this is stupid. If, on the other hand, they make them a defacto P1 class, by which I mean they are significantly faster than the P2 cars, then it does make some sense. I don't think I'm explaining what I'm thinking right.

I know what you mean though as the P2 cars make up a good part of the overall Prototype grid and splitting the class dilutes the overall field.

Complete summation of the problem: this series has too many acronyms.

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Ford & Ferrari both has exited the Hypercar / GTP regulation meetings that the ACO has held. While that part of the article is not related to IMSA itself but it gives some context on the possible DPi project that Ford is working one. Also in the article, it states that Ford is only interested if the possible class is run across both IMSA & WEC.
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/for ... car-talks/

booooo

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"An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped by any army or any government"


3x TBKL rFactor Hillclimb champion

Subject: 2017 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship and Supports



Yay more flying cars (last time IMSA took the reigns off the DPi's one almost ended up in the front stretch grandstand at Daytona lol).

Aren't you talking about the pre-LMP2 DPis?

Probably.

There was one Daytona Prototype that did a complete backflip at Daytona in 2004 or so, but as usual the cameras missed it until well after it had landed

Is one of the mystery blowovers no-one talks about, however

_________________
RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

https://sportscar365.com/industry/exclu ... aks-cover/

Mid-engined Corvette spotted.

Corvette fans such as myself at this moment

Splitting the classes is a good idea. Balancing the DPi and LMP2 was never going to work. First DPi won everything, now LMP2 is winning all the time.

I lost interest in LMP2 when it because a 1 engine, 4 chassis class. That was stupid, imo.

_________________
"Many people ask me why I always sign off Till We Meet Again, because goodbye is always so final. Goodbye Dan Wheldon." -Marty Reid

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