2016 WeatherTech SportsCar ChampionshipSports Cars 

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I can not see Mazda or GM spending the extra time and money to upgrade P2 cars to race in P1 and be a lower class of OEM. That would be a tough sell to the board to say we are in the top class but have 400hp less and it will cost $250 mil to compete with A/P/T. If Mazda really wants to go then they will use new Rileymatics with Mazda cam covered Gibson V8's and put Zoom Zoom on the fin. I doubt GM will bother.

As far as no OEM's in P2 the Alpine garage at Le Mans is full of guys wearing Renault gear so that should not be a issue.
 
IforceV8
I can not see Mazda or GM spending the extra time and money to upgrade P2 cars to race in P1 and be a lower class of OEM. That would be a tough sell to the board to say we are in the top class but have 400hp less and it will cost $250 mil to compete with A/P/T. If Mazda really wants to go then they will use new Rileymatics with Mazda cam covered Gibson V8's and put Zoom Zoom on the fin. I doubt GM will bother.

As far as no OEM's in P2 the Alpine garage at Le Mans is full of guys wearing Renault gear so that should not be a issue.
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I'm sure GM would want the publicity of having Cadillac and Corvette (Chevy) in the big show even if the former is just a graphics/rebrand package. What would be more likely however is that GM would "release" their teams to run the generic prototypes. However, it wouldn't be the first time Mazda used rebranded cars/engines to get into Le Mans.
 
I don't think GM would be interested since LMP1-L doesn't get attention. Mazda may jump at the opportunity though as they've expressed interest in returning to Le Mans is the past.

The real question I have is how many entries will be granted?
 
At any rate, DPi should definitely have a bright future ahead of itself (I hope). Hopefully 2018 does prove to have 5 manufacturers (Cadillac, Bentley, Mazda, Honda and Lexus I assume, that or Porsche). I am hoping that it becomes our generation's GTP class.
 
After thinking about it a little more, I think the whole DPi based on LMP1-L will really depend on a couple of factors. The big one will be the class rules. With some of the rules changing, the class will be entering a few unknowns itself. If the 2018 rules get locked up long term, it might make the move better and viable for manufactures to consider in the future. The other thing is going to be the fact the DPi itself would need to then work on a BoP for both a P2 and a LMP1-L if teams make the switch. It may be easier to balance cars on similar platforms, but it wasn't always (and still isn't always) great trying to balance two different cars as is.

I think for now, DPi should at least get rolling with P2 cars and consider moving it to LMP1-L later if the demand is there. No sense in making things more complicated then they have to be, but since most of the manufacturers will be partnering with a chassis anyway, they could employ the LMP-1 if they wanted to (but again, don't do it right away.)
 
IforceV8
MP's take. http://www.racer.com/more/viewpoints/item/130881-pruett-rug-pulled-out-from-under-dpi-hopefuls

I would hate to see Imsa regulate the FIA spec P2 cars out of the field and leave that door open for WEC and ELMS teams that want to run at Daytona, Sebring, and Road Atlanta.
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I'm with you there. Telling the teams to just pound sand may cause teams that may look to WSCC or the NAEC as a WEC backup plan won't have a chance to run. Now I could see the global spec P2 being BoPd to hell so they are not competitive to protect the IMSA factory teams, but kicking them out entirely won't really do much of anything good for everyone.
 
***Progress continues on the new Riley Mk. XXX, with further details on the 2017-spec LMP2 car expected to be released in the coming weeks, according to Multimatic Motorsports business manager Stephen Charsley. Charlsey told Sportscar365 that they expect 10 cars to be built by January, and more than half of them racing in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/le-mans-friday-notebook-4/ 5+ XXX's on the grid in Jan. is 👍
 
Once again, the ACO screws over IMSA. The ACO only allows full adherence to their decisions which are about to kill the WEC if/when VAG leaves(especially if they have to pay as heavily as they might with the emissions scandal). I've been saying that IMSA needs to get away from the world specs and focus on its teams here who rent chassis if they want to race overseas anyway
 
The ACO/FIA were never going to adopt anything but the standard ECU and the OEM's here did not want to use the Cosworth system. Once that happened it was all the ACO/FIA needed to tell GM and Mazda to stay home. The reality was they never really wanted to allow OEM's into P2 once they realized that it would quickly turn into a OEM class and bury the cost capped concept.

DPi's will be a good thing, I just hope that they stick to the plan and use the Gibson as the baseline for BOP. They are are near 600hp now and the Gibson is designed to be at that level too so once the chassis rules are stable the cars will be easier to balance. Maybe then they can start working with Continental on improving the tires and make the difference between them and Dunlop and Michelin much closer.

I read that Ben Keating is planning to race one of those Riley P2's next year. Bleekemolen reportedly said that to a Dutch media person.
 
A lot of it seems like the FIA/ACO want them to aim for LMP1-P instead of using a P2 based program. The question there is if the teams would willingly put up that kind of money and if GM, Mazda, and any manufacturers that look at DPi would open their checkbooks down the road to allow that to happen.
 
IforceV8
DPi's will be a good thing, I just hope that they stick to the plan and use the Gibson as the baseline for BOP. They are are near 600hp now and the Gibson is designed to be at that level too so once the chassis rules are stable the cars will be easier to balance. Maybe then they can start working with Continental on improving the tires and make the difference between them and Dunlop and Michelin much closer.

I read that Ben Keating is planning to race one of those Riley P2's next year. Bleekemolen reportedly said that to a Dutch media person.
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DPi is hopefully going to be the rebirth of the Prototype class (not LMP1 but it's still good for a premier class) in North America, and I'm almost ecstatic at how we're only a few months away from seeing them in testing. :drool: The Cadillac DPi with it's Corvette based 5.5L V8(?) already has me drooling. :drool: Hopefully it looks good.

Ben Keating with a Riley P2 eh? Guess that's another explanation (possibly) of him with a LMP2 at Le Mans this year.
 
After this year's Le Mans, IMSA BoP isn't quite as bad as we all think
 
catamount39
DPi is hopefully going to be the rebirth of the Prototype class (not LMP1 but it's still good for a premier class) in North America,
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I'm hoping it becomes a sustainable manufacturer based prototype class. Which is something that hasn't existed for nearly 30 years.

Granted I know it's not off to a strong start with only GM and Mazda committing thus far, but I think now that IMSA has the regulations pretty much done we could see a few more join the party in '17 or '18 (Bentley still seems like an obvious choice as Leena is way too talented to be hanging around GT3).
 
FloodgatesPandorasboxCanofworms_t670_t658.jpg

BOP.................... nope, no way, cant do it.
 
Id prefer to see DPi take the role of developing the second tier LMP1 category, set up a privateer base for teams like Mike Shank and Rebellion where they can either buy or build their own chassis as well as force manufacturers to build their own chassis/ engine combination, and maybe force manufacturers to resemble somewhat of a silhouette road car body, and make them use a road car engine base, it could give BMW, Jaguar, Ford, Chevy the bump in the backside to take a further step forward and take on top level LMP1H
 
TDZdave
Id prefer to see DPi take the role of developing the second tier LMP1 category, set up a privateer base for teams like Mike Shank and Rebellion where they can either buy or build their own chassis as well as force manufacturers to build their own chassis/ engine combination, and maybe force manufacturers to resemble somewhat of a silhouette road car body, and make them use a road car engine base, it could give BMW, Jaguar, Ford, Chevy the bump in the backside to take a further step forward and take on top level LMP1H
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Sadly at this rate the closest will ever get to another Jaguar racecar will be the one in Gran Turismo Sport, the fictional Gr.3 F-Type. :(
 
catamount39
Sadly at this rate the closest will ever get to another Jaguar racecar will be the one in Gran Turismo Sport, the fictional Gr.3 F-Type. :(
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Well Jaguar is coming with a Formula E car(I think they're de eloping their own drivetrain). I'm not sure if they're going into petrol racing anymore though
 
FutureF1
Well Jaguar is coming with a Formula E car(I think they're de eloping their own drivetrain). I'm not sure if they're going into petrol racing anymore though
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Formula E isn't more than a glorified Formula 4 or Formula Ford car. :indiff: It's depressing, since the supercharged V8 in the F-Type R would be on Corvette and Aston GTE levels of insanity.
 
catamount39
Formula E isn't more than a glorified Formula 4 or Formula Ford car. :indiff: It's depressing, since the supercharged V8 in the F-Type R would be on Corvette and Aston GTE levels of insanity.
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How? The Formula E car and lower tier Formula cars are quite different technically. You can say they're comparable in speed but to say that it's a glorified version is strange.
 
Brutaka
How? The Formula E car and lower tier Formula cars are quite different technically. You can say they're comparable in speed but to say that it's a glorified version is strange.
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Agreed. Speed-wise I can see that, but the levels of tech and driver talent is that of a sport between GP2 and F1. Like Super Formula maybe...
 
AnthonyD1993
If somebody wants a DP for a private collection and has a lot of money they want to part with, they may be in luck because Wayne Taylor is putting his Corvette DPs up for sale to get ready for 2017.
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I'm here in NJ in case anyone needs me to head to the dealer for some paperwork... :P
 
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