2016 WeatherTech SportsCar ChampionshipSports Cars 

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catamount39
Ah okay I see what your saying. Yes that would be an interesting comparison then, as if they're close there is no real reason to go to GS in the CTSCC. One factor that may distance GS and GTD is the distances run/time on the cars overall, WSCC running more and farther than the CTSCC. But CTSCC still puts on quite a few miles, and GS probably leans towards GTD far more than it leans towards GTS. Actually I would wonder if GT in the PWC comes out cheaper than GS in the CTSCC.
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Right, I'd kind of forgot about GT/GTA, that's another one to throw in the mix. Depending on the various costs involved, when evaluating the 4 options to go GT racing in North America, maybe it's undetstandable that there is limited interest in GS.
 
AnthonyD1993
Corvette Racing says they won't initiate payback at Laguna Seca. I guess we will find out if my skepticism of this statement is warrented or not come race day.
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I believe them, this isn't NASCAR where you actively find the ability to spin or wreck someone who's done you wrong. I believe them, because it's a series where the hammer comes down far more quickly and often for retaliations then the sister series under NASCAR's umbrella.

This doesn't change the fact that these are closed top car and bumps and hard racing will happen despite what anyone on here believes about contact. Hell even open wheel has touching that results in nothing more than racing incidents these days.
 
cnd01
Conti is now way too expensive compared to PWC GTS. We can thank GM with that Camaro, Ford with the new Mustang, and IMSA for going to GT4 regs which are much more expensive to make a car for. ST is dying because of the Cayman
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PWC has just adopted gt4, so...
 
A interesting point was brought up by Marshall Pruett this week on MWM is the post race tech at Long Beach was not a smooth process and now it turns out the #90 Visit Florida car raced with no headlights in the nose and only had decals. The same thing is happening today at MRLS with the purpose of gaining a weight balance advantage. The only problem with this it is a direct violation of the rules and the car should never be allowed to exit the pits.

22.1.
Driving Lights
General
Lighting includes head lights, tail lights, and brake
lights.
Headlights, tail lights and brake lights must be fitted
and operational at all times, including when the car is
stopped and/or if the engine is not running; as detailed
in the IMSA Sporting Regulations.
 
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IforceV8
A interesting point was brought up by Marshall Pruett this week on MWM is the post race tech at Long Beach was not a smooth process and now it turns out the #90 Visit Florida car raced with no headlights in the nose and only had decals. The same thing is happening today at MRLS with the purpose of gaining a weight balance advantage. The only problem with this it is a direct violation of the rules and the car should never be allowed to exit the pits.

22.1.
Driving Lights
General
Lighting includes head lights, tail lights, and brake
lights.
Headlights, tail lights and brake lights must be fitted
and operational at all times, including when the car is
stopped and/or if the engine is not running; as detailed
in the IMSA Sporting Regulations.
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I was wondering what was up with the #90's nose at Long Beach, looked different from Daytona ans Sebring.
 
IMSA considering removing PC, putting LMP3 as the top class in CTSC.

GT4 and TCR specs also mentioned.

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/ctscc/imsa-evaluating-lmp3-future-class-structure/

The series bosses stressed that no decisions have been made, but Bennett admitted the P3 platform, at least in its current configuration, may not be well-suited for the WeatherTech Championship, which is largely endurance-based.

“The car really wasn’t necessarily designed to be a 24-hour car,” Bennett told Sportscar365. “This idea of trying to be honest about what the car was designed to do…

“You might ask it to do things it wasn’t designed to do, the further you get away from it’s original intention… There’s pros and cons to everything but that becomes one of the cons.”

Bennett said it could instead be an option in Continental Tire Challenge, which is currently a GT-only series but has a dwindling car count in its top GS class.
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My theories:
  • Prototype Lites gets the axe to force teams to transfer to CTSCC
  • GT4 specs are introduced
  • I wouldn't be surprised to see GT3 Cup cars moved into CTSC as well (especially) if TCR didn't, though certainly not at the expense of a single-make series like Proto Lites
  • WTSCC Gets the rumored P2 based spec car or gets an ACO LMP2 class with enforced Pro/Am for those privateer Le Mans hopefuls.
While this would certainly kill the character of the current CTSCC, I think I would be okay with what would come out of it. It makes a much more attractive package for LMP3/PC/PLites teams, since they'd get a lot more exposure being the top class.

Where ST fits into all this is a mystery. TCR cars might have the pace, for sure, but sharing the track with LMP3's?
 
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Before that this needs to be posted.





Current mandated price for a LMP3 car is 206,000 euro which according to Google is $236,800. No Conti team can afford to spend that much money on a car. Add to that the fact that the new Ligier was 4-5 sec per lap faster than a GTE car in the ELMS Silverstone it would be chaos on a track with GT4 cars that were 12 sec per lap slower than a GTLM car on the same track today.

LMP3 replacing the Lites cars makes much more sense with either a Katech built GM V8 or another OEM's engine adapted to the chassis.
 
IforceV8
Current mandated price for a LMP3 car is 206,000 euro which according to Google is $236,800. No Conti team can afford to spend that much money on a car.
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I'll pretend, for the sake of your argument, that you have a good understanding on what each and every Conti team can and cannot afford. We'll also ignore the possibility of a driver buying the car and having the team run it, which is often an option.

Now I'd like to remind you that I did not say, nor suggest, that current CTSCC teams would be buying LMP3 machinery (Nor did the article). The teams most likely running LMP3 cars are current PC teams and Prototype Lites teams. Not to mention other teams coming from other series and even disciplines. $236k is a bargain in the racing world and rings in below some (if not most) GT3 machinery. Heck, the Porsche GT America (which was considered a bargain in the GTD class) had a base price of $269K USD! And that was just a GT3 Cup with a bigger engine and tweaked suspension bits.

Add to that the fact that the new Ligier was 4-5 sec per lap faster than a GTE car in the ELMS Silverstone it would be chaos on a track with GT4 cars that were 12 sec per lap slower than a GTLM car on the same track today.

LMP3 replacing the Lites cars makes much more sense with either a Katech built GM V8 or another OEM's engine adapted to the chassis.
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The speed disparity is obviously an issue that will need to be resolved if LMP3/GT4 is even considered going forwards. BOP and control tires can only do so much after all. But LMP3 will likely not be warmly received if it's put in it's own little corner at the top of IMSA's Spec-series food chain. If I'm a PC team, or even a P Lites team, I would be seriously irritated, especially if IMSA makes no changes to the media package. If these cars head a rebooted Conti series, they'll get more interest from drivers, sponsors, etc, and that $236k price tag for a car will seem like a no-brainer.

I am all for seeing PC go far far away from the main series, though.
 
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IforceV8
LMP3 replacing the Lites cars makes much more sense with either a Katech built GM V8 or another OEM's engine adapted to the chassis.
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It would actually make little to no sense to replace the Lite cars with LMP3 ones. For starters they are about $100,000 more than a DP02 chassis and I'm guessing the running costs are higher as well.

Secondly it would completely ruin the ladder system for prototypes as PC cars were about 6 seconds faster than Lites around Sebring.

I'm guessing if anything replaces the current Lites car it will be a modified version of Elan's NP01.

Main-photo-for-NASA-Elan-NP01-Page-top-photo-1024x683.jpeg
 
Northstar
It would actually make little to no sense to replace the Lite cars with LMP3 ones. For starters they are about $100,000 more than a DP02 chassis and I'm guessing the running costs are higher as well.

Secondly it would completely ruin the ladder system for prototypes as PC cars were about 6 seconds faster than Lites around Sebring.

I'm guessing if anything replaces the current Lites car it will be a modified version of Elan's NP01.

Main-photo-for-NASA-Elan-NP01-Page-top-photo-1024x683.jpeg
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That's a good looking car!:drool:
 
IforceV8
Beetle bumper cars again.
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Beetles are feeling feisty today, somebody put some hot sauce in their schnitzel and coffee this morning at breakfast.

Meanwhile the Ferrari and Ford are picking up from about 50 years ago.
 
Was kinda hoping the NASCAR race rained out by now to watch this unusual race.

 
Mazda's day going down the tubes, and now the #70 is probably done. In car audio makes it seem like the engine died.
 
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