I wouldn’t say IMSA needs to “make its own mark” by separating itself from ACO ... I’d say that what it has always needed to do, and also has been trying to do, is create a prototype class which suits both its fans base and its teams.
I don’t think any of us are going to watch or attend or not, based on links to ACO, at this point. We really haven’t had an ACO-relevant top class in so many years ... as long as we have decent racing, that is a step up.
I also don’t think sponsors care about an ACO link. The manufacturers who want to contest Le Mans, do, and the sponsors who want to sponsor Le Mans teams have lots of options.
From some points of view, the current IMSA course makes a lot of sense. They maintain enough link with the ACO to stay friendly, but also enough independence that they aren’t tied to every bad decision ACO makes (I could posit reasonably that it was ACO’s constantly changing P1 regs which drove the class out of North America—only the biggest factories could afford major redesigns of chassis and/or engine every season.)
IMSA needs a top class which is Not spec (Rolex proved that) and Not astronomically expensive (ALMS proved that.) It also needs a top class which allows whichever domestic manufacturers who are interested to play a role without making a huge investment—the past several years have shown that most U.S. manufacturers simply aren’t that interested in prototype racing.
If IMSA really can get a few manufacturers onboard (GM and Mazda seem committed already, and maybe others are interested) then DPi should be a decent compromise: not all the cars will look and sound exactly the same or have exactly the same chassis or motor—much like Rolex—but the cars won’t be decades-old throwbacks.
To me the biggest improvement will be an end to the BoP BS. Right now I cannot say that ESM won the first two races ... any more than I can say AXR won the last to championships. I can say that <asterisk> those teams won, the asterisk noting that the rules might have favored those cars to the point where they would have won if they didn’t crash, regardless of the opposition.
That takes a lot of the post-race pleasure out of the series for me. it’s great to see who wins and places, but then the analysis starts, and ... No one like watching events which are fixed.
Hopefully 2017 will be the end of intrusive BoP.