IMSA 2021

[NaBUru38]

South Virginia is rather hot in June, I guess...

[TheMightyM]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

South Virginia is rather hot in June, I guess...

It can be but that's not a given. Using the temperature for Danville, early June (say the 5th, with an average high of 81°F) is cooler than late August (say the 28th, with an average high of 84°F.)

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

South Virginia is rather hot in June, I guess...

Relative most of the country not too bad, and on par with the temps for both other races in June. VIR isn’t a particularly hot part of the state but not cool, definitely not the humidity of couple hundred miles south though.

[WyldStallion]

I don't agree with the VIR scheduling like I said before but the dates are what they are now.

However I could see one more change happen. Laguna Seca (Califonia) is only 2 weeks after Le Mans. Might not rule out seeing GTLM be cancelled for Laguna with both P&M and Weathertech racing at Le Mans.

[fieldodreams79]

I've not been paying one bit of attention but is pushing everything back seem like a first / knee jerk solution to anyone else? Things went really quick. It's March. Maybe give it a week; maybe 2 for Fsake? To ponder? Or has IMSA been in the know so as soon as announcements went out from the ACOOOH, they had this locked and loaded?

And at this point, the weather is an outlier. Mid to late Nov through Feb is a NO GO anywhere outside of South Florida. Aside that? Squeeze it in however they want to!!

Never snows in Georgia in Nov but throw a race I go to in the mix; you've just increased the chances greatly! Yeah, that's BS. The Earth is hot now, so it'll be 80.

Or a glacier.

[sceptic]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

There are 2 races in June including the 6 hour at The Glen. Adding another round would be tougher there.

Possibly better to have held it in hand and await any announcements regarding Mosport on July 4. BUT running on July 4 was terrible for Indy at The Glen so maybe better to leave that for Canada and we can watch in the US

IMSA almost certainly won't be going to Canada at all this year, so you can cross that date off in your diary.

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

I've not been paying one bit of attention but is pushing everything back seem like a first / knee jerk solution to anyone else? Things went really quick. It's March. Maybe give it a week; maybe 2 for Fsake? To ponder? Or has IMSA been in the know so as soon as announcements went out from the ACOOOH, they had this locked and loaded?

Yeah, they've known about this for a while.

[WyldStallion]

I predict they could run a 2nd Watkins Glen race. 2 hours 40 minutes on the short course the following week after the 6 hour as a plan B. Canada might have the world's strictest travel restrictions right now. That one is slated for CTMP with DPI, GTLM, LMP3, GTD Sprint.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

I've not been paying one bit of attention but is pushing everything back seem like a first / knee jerk solution to anyone else? Things went really quick. It's March. Maybe give it a week; maybe 2 for Fsake? To ponder? Or has IMSA been in the know so as soon as announcements went out from the ACOOOH, they had this locked and loaded?

And at this point, the weather is an outlier. Mid to late Nov through Feb is a NO GO anywhere outside of South Florida. Aside that? Squeeze it in however they want to!!

Never snows in Georgia in Nov but throw a race I go to in the mix; you've just increased the chances greatly! Yeah, that's BS. The Earth is hot now, so it'll be 80.

Or a glacier.

Yeah, France has a few problems with sht talking politicians screwing things up, wait that sounds familiar. I would assume IMSA has been talking to the ACO and knew it was coming so they could announce with the ACO date change

[S griffin]

IMSA knows Le Mans is king when it comes to Sportscar racing, so would have to be flexible with it's calendar with regards to Le Mans. There are plenty of IMSA teams that have and will again take part at Le Mans, so they can't go up against it

[belt driven]

Went to VIR in 2016 Aug 27/28. Got there Sat around 1:30 just after the start of Pilot Challenge. It had just rained. It was murderous.

Checked WU stations nearby when I got home. It was 91 Saturday and 88 Sunday. Humidity was 100% from arrival to 1030AM Sun. In the evening if you got out of your chair for a minute you had to wipe it off.

Back when Nascar released attendance figures they used to get 30,000 LESS fans at 'Dega end of July compared to late April.

Might go back to VIR.

[WyldStallion]

Do we know the qualifying sked for Sebring yet? The IMSA web site just lists "IMSA Qualifying" for an hour and half block or so. But no break down of the format. My guess its 1)GTD (AM driver) 2)GTLM/GTD (pro driver) 3) LMP3 4)DPI/LMP2. Could be wrong though.

Still maybe somebody knows for sure what it is.

[PointDSM]

https://www.imsa.com/competitors/

Always check the competitor page, link is in this page for Sevring with a full breakout of qualifying.

[WyldStallion]

Originally Posted by PointDSM

https://www.imsa.com/competitors/

Always check the competitor page, link is in this page for Sevring with a full breakout of qualifying.

Cool than you for the link. Never seen that before. You are right. Found it...initial guess turned out to be right for once.

11:15 am - 11:30 am Qualifying - WeatherTech Championship (GTD Position - Silver/Bronze only)
11:40 am - 11:55 am Qualifying - WeatherTech Championship (GTD Points - Any Driver)
11:40 am - 11:55 am Qualifying - WeatherTech Championship (GTLM Position and Points)
12:05 pm - 12:20 pm Qualifying - WeatherTech Championship (LMP3 Position and Points - Silver 0/Bronze only)
12:30 pm - 12:45 pm Qualifying - WeatherTech Championship (LMP2 Position and Points - Bronze only/DPi Position and Points)

[WyldStallion]

Heard this on today's MP/GG podcast...no Ferraris in either GT class will be on the Sebring entry list :-(

[WyldStallion]

Sebring entry list has revealed a potential weakness in the GTD grid. Did not thin we would lose that many entries from Daytona and we gained a 2nd Hardpoint entry at that. No Ferraris nor Audis either.

Sebring GTD to Sonoma GTWC comparison:

Sebring: 13 cars, 7 manufacturers (Lexus only unique one)
Sonoma 14 cars, 7 manufacturers (Ferrari only unique one)

Who would have thought they'd on equal footing in terms of numbers. Driver quality tilts towards GTD still though looking from front to back as a whole.


side note: Had some lazy time this evening. I spent it doing this: I recommend go watch the 2019 IMSA Lime Rock race on youtube. Dang that was one of THE best races in the Weathertech series era going back to the 2014 merger. A major showcase to the glory days of the GTLM/GTE Pro era in sportscars racing.

[seanyb505]

Originally Posted by WyldStallion

Cool than you for the link. Never seen that before. You are right. Found it...initial guess turned out to be right for once.

You must not click on the schedule links in race threads

[WyldStallion]

Originally Posted by seanyb505

You must not click on the schedule links in race threads

Yes, but the Sebring thread has not been posted as of mid day Friday. Look forward to it. Especially weather forecast. Ideal weather for me Sebring week is for it to be clear and sunshine the entire time until sunset Saturday evening. Then let the drivers deal with rain for the last 3 hours! Not speaking from perspective of a spectator at the track though.

[broadrun96]

Might be a bit early to open the 2022 thread, but interesting to follow during the season.

Pfaff considering GTD Pro with their Porsche relationship from MP

https://racer.com/2021/03/12/pfaff-m...ering-gtd-pro/

[WyldStallion]

The Pfaff article also said the wish was to keep GTD Pro and GTD Am regs the same. I think this will be the case including tires.

Things they could still do though

1) Could IMSA mandate the cars be a year old make. For example if that is the case the M4 GT3 could not run in 2023 in GTD Am.

2) Will GTD Am become bronze driver mandate? If that happens it will force Sellers/Snow to GTD pro or force them to split up and have different co-drivers.

3) Could a team conceivably run in GTD Pro in the sprint races but GTD Am in the NAEC in the same year, since for endurance races you can add a 3rd or 4th bronze driver. Could easily see this for Sellers/Snow team.

4) I imagine bronze drives will have to start the race. That way seeing them mix with pro cars will be limited.

5) Could do other "minor" things like GTD am having less fuel capacity, which would work in line with the bronze driver mandate anyway.

6) Could GTD Am increase the minimum drive time. GTD currently is 50 minutes out of a 2 hour 40 minute race. Kind of small I think. They could bump that to 60 or 70 maybe.

[broadrun96]

Sellers and Snow won't split up for different codrivers, Snow brings the rest of the budget so the team can race. More likely they would run Pro in your scenario if regs are same, or leave as he did before when he was promoted by IMSA and couldn't run GTD. You could possibly see Madison run with brother McKay if they needed a lower classified driver but not sure if he's even still driving in Porsche Cup so he may have stepped away.

Drive time would likely remain, the Ams want the time in the seat but the Pro to do the heavy lifting late.

Likely to continue with the Am starts the car and qualifying so yes, you'd see the Pros build a gap before the stops.

Adding new tech regs or BOP to the car seems a step too far even for IMSA. Maybe set the GTD tires and Pro gets a choice of 2 or 3 compounds over the season and Am gets the same as this year, one tire have fun.

No M4 in Am would be a kick in the face of Turner. Will there be a fight between Turner and RLL for the supported car is the story but Turner has had old Billy for years ago I'd give them the nod, could see a Pro and Am car for them.

[broadrun96]

Sounds like a no to changes tech regs or BOP for the GTD-Pro guys. Tires to still be decided but sticking with the same tech regs makes everything easier and cheaper for the teams.

https://racer.com/2021/03/17/imsa-gt...-taking-shape/

[WyldStallion]

Sked changes are coming folks. My uneducated guesses are this:

1. We know Detroit moves to June 11 weekend, not a guess there.
2. GTLM class added to Detroit
3. GTLM class moved off of Road America
4. CTMP is replaced by Watkins Glen race for 2nd week in a row but using the short course.

[krzysiek_aleks]

Originally Posted by WyldStallion

4. CTMP is replaced by Watkins Glen race for 2nd week in a row but using the short course.

That would be totally crazy - I'm in!

[WyldStallion]

I think GTD at Sebring is close to what we will see for rest of year. Just swap 75 SunEnergy Mercedes for Gradient's Acura...which Gradient was running for the SunEnergy at the Florida enduros. Add that Audi sprint up only effort and that is it.

Will look a lot better if somebody can pony up some cash to help get Scuderia Corse Ferrari back going. Too good of an operation not be running. So yeah somebody with cash step it up and go to them for a run. I guess Scuderia Corse was caught out by the late Weathertech switch to Proton Porsche. GTD also lost a team or two to LMP3.

[S griffin]

I don't think we will see massive entries, like we have in the past, but should have enough on the grid to keep it going. There should be plenty to keep us interested. It's a shame we haven't got more in GTD, but that's life

IMSA had a good few seasons, now it's struggling, but it should survive. Fingers crossed