2016 WeatherTech SportsCar ChampionshipSports Cars 

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catamount39
Audi, GM and the now backing out Bentley probably aren't affected. Audi has LMP1 at Le Mans, GM's got the big Corvette's and Bentley is only interested in overall wins.

For the other rumored or "dream" entries:
Porsche, LMP1 overall and a GT effort again in 2017 so, not affected most likely.
Mazda, probably unaffected but displeased.
Honda, probably just annoyed but will probably go on anyway.
Alfa Romeo, probably very off put.
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From the comments on the site, it seemed like people are angry about something, they might be overreacting by contently bashing the ACO. I don't care what happens because IMSA got the multiple engines and that's all that matters to me.
 
So, that was heart breaking at the end for myself and the whole Lamborghini Squadra Corse crew at the end. Had Justin Marks not taken out the Paul Miller car, we probably would have won easy. Either way, Basseng and Babini put in some star efforts to get that Konrad car even close. That thing was running with 2 amateurs, not 1 like most teams. If only IMSA had given us our normal Gt3 fuel load limit, we would have won that race.

Overall the race was great. I finally got to go and watch, last minute decision to go as Lamborghini wanted to have some meetings with me. Flew from Japan and arrived in Daytona at 1AM Saturday morning. I have one complaint really though. Why does the US have to use different class names to what the cars really are? Just call in GTE and GT3. Please? It's really not that difficult.

P: I think they finally almost got the P class BOP right between the P2's and DP's. Yes, the 1 lap pace of the P2's was on a different level, but in traffic the DP's were equal to them.

PC: Always been a boring and kind of a "who cares" class. But I'll say this. The JDC team ran a team with all quick drivers. And that showed really, when you look at their 20+ lap lead before Koch's incident.

GTLM: Best racing in the world as always. The Ford GT's were quick but unreliable, and I expect them to not be as fast the rest of the season as they were not too quick in the infield. The M6's were disappointing. The cars looks awful through turn 1. They had no rear grip at any point through the corner. Corvettes were a tad too quick I thought. And Gavin moving Bamber out of the way should have resulted in a drive through. Take 10HP away from the Corvettes, and you've got a fight. I don't understand why GTE in WEC is such a snooze fest, yet this is the best racing!

GTD: See what happens when the US decides to use European car classes? You get great racing! Look at GTLM as well! It's the closeness of GT3 racing, brought to the US! Where we have more cars on the lead lap because of the safety car procedures, so we have more cars in the fight at the end! Before people complain that the Lamborghini was too fast. And it was... At Daytona. We have the sleekest car of all the GT3's at the moment, so of course it was so quick at Daytona. It will be even at the other circuits, so IMSA better pay attention and leave the BOP.

I've got a 30 minute video of the sunrise that I recorded with my phone. Will post it when I get time.
 
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FutureF1
So I'm potentially gonna head up to Watkins Glen to watch the race this summer, any tips from people who have gone to see one of these races on where is best to sit and what do do etc.? If i've heard correctly, IMSA tracks are some of the best for viewer experience.
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Defiantly hit the pit walk right before the race. All the cars and most drivers are available to meet and take pictures at/with.
Don't bother with turn 2 to the backstretch. Check out turn 1 as said earlier for the start and make your way back around the track backwards.
Most people avoid the boot area and the bus-stop is a very busy. Cross under the tunnel atop the boot to go inside the track to the bus-stop.
We camp atop the boot for the weekend, hope you make the trip.

There are plenty of bleachers outside of turn 1, front stretch and last turn.
Also inside the track turn 10
GTPorsche
New rules only require 1 lap to be run to be counted as driving the car for the points/results.
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Though a driver is counted as driving a car once he leaves pit road, there are still minimum times for scoring points. Daytona 24 was 5 hours.
If I'm following the discussion correctly.
 
Kamuifanboy
So, that was heart breaking at the end for myself and the whole Lamborghini Squadra Corse crew at the end. Had Justin Marks not taken out the Paul Miller car, we probably would have won easy. Either way, Basseng and Babini put in some star efforts to get that Konrad car even close. That thing was running with 2 amateurs, not 1 like most teams. If only IMSA had given us our normal Gt3 fuel load limit, we would have won that race.

Overall the race was great. I finally got to go and watch, last minute decision to go as Lamborghini wanted to have some meetings with me. Flew from Japan and arrived in Daytona at 1AM Saturday morning.

P: I think they finally almost got the P class BOP right between the P2's and DP's. Yes, the 1 lap pace of the P2's was on a different level, but in traffic the DP's were equal to them.

PC: Always been a boring and kind of a "who cares" class. But I'll say this. The JDC team ran a team with all quick drivers. And that showed really, when you look at their 20+ lap lead before Koch's incident.

GTLM: Best racing in the world as always. The Ford GT's were quick but unreliable, and I expect them to not be as fast the rest of the season as they were not too quick in the infield. The M6's were disappointing. The cars looks awful through turn 1. They had no rear grip at any point through the corner. Corvettes were a tad too quick I thought. And Gavin moving Bamber out of the way should have resulted in a drive through. Take 10HP away from the Corvettes, and you've got a fight. I don't understand why GTE in WEC is such a snooze fest, yet this is the best racing!

GTD: See what happens when the US decides to use European car classes? You get great racing! Look at GTLM as well! It's the closeness of GT3 racing, brought to the US! Where we have more cars on the lead lap because of the safety car procedures, so we have more cars in the fight at the end! Before people complain that the Lamborghini was too fast. And it was... At Daytona. We have the sleekest car of all the GT3's at the moment, so of course it was so quick at Daytona. It will be even at the other circuits, so IMSA better pay attention and leave the BOP.

I've got a 30 minute video of the sunrise that I recorded with my phone. Will post it when I get time.
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Still a great effort by you guys, nothing to be ashamed of, just some rotten luck in what was an extremely competitive event. Great driving by all in the Lambo's. :cheers:
 
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I'm not overly surprised that the IMSA-ACO partnership is falling apart considering they seemingly want completely different things out of the same set of regulations.

IMSA wants a premier class that draws fans as well as manufacturer interest.

ACO on the other hand needs the cars to be affordable for the teams and therefor cheaper for the ride-buyers.

It does kind of suck that international LMP2 teams wanting to cross the pond may be locked out again though (presuming if it does fall apart that WEC LMP2 spec won't be allowed).

GTPorsche
It will however, discourage manufacturers from getting involved if they had plans to go to Le Mans with their DPi project.
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I don't think it will change much really since IMSA seems to be pushing for factory teams, which can't go to Le Mans even if they have an eligible car.

catamount39
Alfa Romeo, probably very off put.
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FCA got offput when they realized they would actually have to spend money on it.:lol:
 
01GTP
Defiantly hit the pit walk right before the race. All the cars and most drivers are available to meet and take pictures at/with.
Don't bother with turn 2 to the backstretch. Check out turn 1 as said earlier for the start and make your way back around the track backwards.
Most people avoid the boot area and the bus-stop is a very busy. Cross under the tunnel atop the boot to go inside the track to the bus-stop.
We camp atop the boot for the weekend, hope you make the trip.

There are plenty of bleachers outside of turn 1, front stretch and last turn.
Also inside the track turn 10

Though a driver is counted as driving a car once he leaves pit road, there are still minimum times for scoring points. Daytona 24 was 5 hours.
If I'm following the discussion correctly.
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4.5 hours now that I see the regs. RLM must have been wrong about that new rule then.
 
IMSA's vision for DPi is better than ACO LMP2...which makes LMP3 look amazing. A bunch of generic cars with 4 different chassis manufacturers sucked into a stupid affair...they might as well drop LMP2 and let us have free reign over it.
Northstar
FCA got offput when they realized they would actually have to spend money on it.:lol:
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"What you mean we can't just sell you engine?! No, we're not interested you blasted Americans!" - FCA xD
 
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I think that most of the manufactures who enter the DPi will be caring more about IMSA than Le Mans anyway. The teams that will get shafted will be the guys like Shank that bought cars solely with the intention of going to Le Mans depending on the P2 package they're running (his will be good, but everyone elses will be up in the air). But I think most companies (I'll use GM as the example here) in particular won't care about sending them to Le Mans because of other cars (Corvettes) or because they don't care about Le Mans anyway (not GM in this case).

I think the real kicker will be the 2017 counts for LMP2 in the WEC and the IMSA DPI count because that will be a bigger indicator as to which method will be the more popular one. But neither series has their 2017 rules officially locked down (at least that I'm aware of), and there is still a lot left in the air until the rules for both are set in stone.

Northstar
I'm not overly surprised that the IMSA-ACO partnership is falling apart considering they seemingly want completely different things out of the same set of regulations.
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It could have been visible from a mile away in my opinion. IMSA went to P2s to expand the international crossover, and as soon as that was announced, the FIA tightened the P2 regs at the exact same time. IMSA using it as the top tier class while the FIA uses it as a Pro-Am meant that it was a kind of flawed marriage to begin with. It probably would have been okay if the spec series wasn't announced, but that to me at least was the nail in the coffin for the harmony that the P2 era was supposed to give before the P2 was even fully ushered into IMSA.
 
To be completely honest, this was my first Rolex 24 that I really followed and I have to say I'm impressed. I've been watching Le Mans for a few years now and in that race, it's still a classic endurance race about who is the most consistent and clean over the course of the 24 hours. As for Daytona, in the true American spirit, POWERRRR is a much bigger deal. You have the guys duking it out putting in fastest laps and running side by side the whole lap. As great as Le Mans is, I think the Rolex 24 seems to capture the essence of modern endurance racing more as it's not about going 24 hours at 80%, it's about seeing who can go the longest at 110% and I love it.
 
http://www.dailysportscar.com/2016/02/01/post-rolex-24-at-daytona-talking-points.html

Either the factory DPi teams have to hire a couple silver/bronze drivers to race at Le Mans or the ACO/FIA will have to create a P2/Pro class for Cadillac, Mazda, Honda, and whoever else has the funds to field a all-pro lineup, even if it is a spec P2, otherwise this vision of the future is dead in the water. Frankly I dont see either one happening.

On the flip side of this it is a opportunity for Imsa to attract a few P2 teams to Daytona, Sebring, and Petit and if they were smart they would create a DPi/Am class for the spec P2 cars. One thing that will be critical is to try and stay close with the BOP on the engine side and not get too carried away with aero kits.

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/daytona-post-race-notebook/

***IMSA has impounded the engines from all five Lamborghini Huracan GT3s, as well as the GTD class-winning Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS and Flying Lizard Motorsports’ previous-generation Audi R8 LMS ultra

Things that make you go hmm...
 
Cut PC, have those teams buy GT3's, and have DPi, DPi/Am, GTLM and GTD and they're all set. :P

V10's all tampered with possibly? Well that sucks. :sick: Though the #98 will move up the order so.............oh well. :sly:
 
catamount39
Cut PC, have those teams buy GT3's, and have DPi, DPi/Am, GTLM and GTD and they're all set. :p
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So you're saying that you want the Am Ferraris to be America's Am Ferraris instead of PC being America's Am Ferraris? :sly:
 
Northstar
They probably got suspicious as the car was somehow still in one piece.:lol:
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"Everything seems normal, let's just do a few more...wait a second..." - IMSA
"What?" - Flying Lizard
"You had Tracy Krohn in this car?" - IMSA
"Yeah why?" - Flying Lizard
"And he didn't break it?" - IMSA
"No he didn't." - Flying Lizard
"Yeah we're going to need to see that engine." - IMSA
"Why?" - Flying Lizard
"That's impossible." - IMSA

xD

AnthonyD1993
So you're saying that you want the Am Ferraris to be America's Am Ferraris instead of PC being America's Am Ferraris? :sly:
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Might as well join the party right? :p
 
catamount39
Might as well join the party right? :p
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But this is 'Murica. We don't do what those stinkin' foreigners do! :p

Really hope the PC update speeds up the PCs. I hope the engine and TC update makes them faster and less spinny because it sucks watching a caution and assuming its a PC. Then again, being that they're our Am Ferraris, the PCs will still find a way to ruin the races by spinning out of nowhere with the Ams behind the wheel.
 
May I point out that we went all 24 hours and Not one single caution was bought out by a Ferrari?
 
To be honest, both IMSA and the FIA/ ACO have to thoroughly investigate their plans moving forward,

My issue is that with getting manufacturers involved in a "Spec" style category could be detrimental, we could end up with a scenario of manufacturers locking out chassis manufacturers, so that could end up locking the category down to 4 cars,

This could lead to either a manufacturer dominance with a chassis because they are willing to throw more money at the project, or, end up with a grid of the same car because its better all round,

Another issue this presents is it could end up taking manufacturer involvement from GTLM/ GTE,

Ideally IMSA want manufacturer involvement in all 3 categories, DPi/ GTLM and GT/D which is stupid! They should expect manufacturer involvement in GTLM only in its current state, GT/D should be left out of manufacturer involvement because its now GT3 spec cars which already have manufacturer input, if they want a diverse grid on GT/D they should make it strictly private, while manufacturers will still get involved in some capacity it will see cars entered by private teams that aren't all 911 GT3' and Ferrari's, I'm sure that if the manufacturer money wasn't required we would have seen a Bentley, GTR and Mclaren in the race this year,
 
ACO already has a series that is successful with p2 being the top class, ELMS and even ASLMS (which has serious potential) my issue with dpi is that IMSA has to keep the privateers happy if they compete with the factory teams, otherwise the privateers will leave for ELMS or even ASLMS.
 
GTPorsche
Sportscar racing should never be a spec series unless it's a one-make championship like Porsche Cup.
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This!

I honestly think @catamount39 said it best,
There needs to be a DPi pro and an AM category,
Manufacturers automatically given pro status, and use the alternative bodywork and engine,
DPi Am teams should be the FIA/ACO regulations regarding the chassis and driver line up, without any manufacturer involvement, if an Am team wishes to use a manufacturers alternative DPi package, then they should be automatically put in DPi pro,

I do see this from the FIA/ ACO side though, I can see the DPi project being rather appealing to almost every manufacturer that wants an overall race winning team, while keeping some sort of relevance to their road car, and it would be a portion of funding to what an LMP1 team require,
 
TDZdave
This!

I honestly think @catamount39 said it best,
There needs to be a DPi pro and an AM category,
Manufacturers automatically given pro status, and use the alternative bodywork and engine,
DPi Am teams should be the FIA/ACO regulations regarding the chassis and driver line up, without any manufacturer involvement, if an Am team wishes to use a manufacturers alternative DPi package, then they should be automatically put in DPi pro,

I do see this from the FIA/ ACO side though, I can see the DPi project being rather appealing to almost every manufacturer that wants an overall race winning team, while keeping some sort of relevance to their road car, and it would be a portion of funding to what an LMP1 team require,
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Now that you say that, that would make perfect sense. It would also probably appeal to the Am teams that run with the FIA regs since their cars will literally be plug and play machines. Plus, they could also have a chance at the overall wins too which could appeal to some teams and also potentially help with PR because an Am team defeated a full tilt factory effort like it sometimes happens in some GT3 series races.
 
AnthonyD1993
Now that you say that, that would make perfect sense. It would also probably appeal to the Am teams that run with the FIA regs since their cars will literally be plug and play machines. Plus, they could also have a chance at the overall wins too which could appeal to some teams and also potentially help with PR because an Am team defeated a full tilt factory effort like it sometimes happens in some GT3 series races.
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It would keep the essence of the FIA/ ACO's intentions of LMP2, and teams like MSR that make the trip to Le Mans would also find themselves reasonably competitive straight off the bat,

The other way they could cut this for the WEC is make it LMP1-E cars apart of the DPi idea, allow those teams to make their own chassis to LMP2 spec, with their own bodywork, and perhaps their own engines,
 
Gosh this whole ACO vs IMSA thing is a mess. Hope they can reach some kind of compromise as far as regulations go. I fear that IMSA could be setting themselves up for a spending contest with dpi, but that's just me.
 
Maybe IMSA should set up a P1 like top category and leave P2 as ACO specification?

They could use the DTM/SuperGT base to create manufacturer specific cars.
 
What would everyone think of this idea?

PP1 - Give the privateer P1 teams that are honestly wasting their time in the WEC a chance to come over here as the premier class. Snag Rebellion and Team by Kolles, I wouldn't be surprised to see them take the bait as it's a cheaper running cost, as well as they would actually have a chance at winning. As far as the current DP teams that could switch over? Action Express could make do if they consolidate to a single car program, then I think allowing Mazda in would be ok as their car is never too competitive or reliable, as well as their chassis is basically just a Lola. It's a small class, but it would give the class the opportunity to grow, rather than be a laughing stock in the WEC.

LMP3 - Same idea as the PC class, just switch to LMP3 machinery as it's equally as cheap and it looks a heck of a lot better. If they'd like to make it one make again, I'd be perfectly fine with that as well. I'm sure one of the engine and chassis manufacturers would love the exclusivity and the business.

GTE - Leave the GTLM class alone. It's perfect.

GT3 - GTD class again, leave it alone.
 
@Kamuifanboy I think there's still a problem with the speed of the LMPC (and LMP3 in Europe) that they get in the way of the faster GTE cars.
 
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