IMSA IMSA : 2019

[Maelochs]

Just got the Michelin confirmation in my mailbox.

"DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 20, 2017) - The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) today announced that Michelin will become the “Official Tire of IMSA” in its premier series – the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and its two major Challenge series – beginning in 2019.

"The multi-year agreement calls for Michelin tires to be on every Prototype (P) and GT Daytona (GTD) race car competing in the WeatherTech Championship in addition to its continued participation in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. The GTLM class will continue to be open to multiple tire manufacturers.

"The 2019 IMSA Michelin SportsCar Challenge will feature the Grand Sport (GS) class for cars built to international GT4 specifications and Touring Car for TCR-spec race cars. The IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda, featuring LMP3 race cars, also will ride on Michelins."

Maybe a bunch of drivers got together and said, "If you want to run a real international-quality series you will need to use real tires."

(I forget which driver said in a post-race interview "In Europe the tires are softer and they last longer.")

This could be really helpful if IMSA DPi rules are going to be folded into LMP1-L rules later on, too ... teams will be able to use the same set-ups on either side of the pond.