2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar ChampionshipSports Cars

[-Fred-]

Just catching up on the Japanese manufacturer discussions:

- Honda/Acura is already in
- Nissan/Infinity also in
- Toyota/Lexus not in according to the article
- Mazda also in

That leaves Mitsubishi, Subaru and Suzuki. Out of these I just can't see Suzuki doing DPi. As far as I know - that's not exactly much, let's be honest - Mitsubishi isn't really a known quantity in road racing, at least for me they're more rally and rally raid-oriented (I want those 1992-1993 Pajero T1s in FM7). Of course, stuff can happen but I'd say Subaru would be more likely. Hopefully we will know more soon.

Can't be Suzuki, they stopped selling cars in North America in 2012...

 

[TheHun99]

I believe the video was filmed after the teams finished unloading and going though tech inspections for the start of the test.

In the few IMSA races I have attended, I've seen the teams rolling the cars to and from places in the paddock on a set of old rain tires.

ah, this makes a lot of sense, thanks for this info!!

 

[TheHun99]

Can't be Suzuki, they stopped selling cars in North America in 2012...

LOL I didn't add 2 and 2. There used to be a Suzuki dealer a few minutes from us but it's a Alfa and Fiatdealer for quite some time now - I guess I just didn't pay attention. Despite coming from a a country with significant Suzuki car manufacturing I don't care much for their cars, never missed them really (OK, I'd love to have a Suzuki Capuccino, you got me there )

 

[Northstar]

I hope that reports of more manufacturers is true, but it makes me kind of skeptical of things they report for the foreseeable future after getting that story wrong.

I usually take these types of articles with a grain of salt since a manufacturer showing interest could mean pretty much anything (as we've seen from the multiple NASCAR and IndyCar "interest" stories over the years). I certainly hope Ford and "mid-size Japanese brand that's probably Subaru" join, but I won't be surprised if they never materialize either.

Can't be Suzuki, they stopped selling cars in North America in 2012...

And Mitsubishi is pretty much Nissan now so that basically rules them out as well. So Subaru is pretty much the only option left, which would be interesting since they don't have much circuit racing presence outside of Super GT and the Nurburgring.

 

[twitcher]

The all white throwback livery the Ford GTs are running look much better than the standard one.

The throwback white really suits the Ford's, cleaner than the standard livery, shame it'll probably only be for Daytona.

Anywway, really looking forward to this season, looks like it's going to a good'un with the growth in DPi, will be keen to see how Mazda do with the BoP improvements and team/management changes made. They showed flashes of genuine pace last year so things could be promising fingers crossed.

The Fords look great at night too!

 

[Michelin Man]

They really do, they looked fantastic all light up at night at Le Man with the different colours for each car. Though I'd say they look fantastic in the day-light too .

 

[DesertPenguin]

What's different other than just being all white?

 

[05XR8]

Subarus have been racing for years in the Super Taikyu endurance series. I think the cars(BRZs and WRX) still have factory support.

Subaru also racing in BTCC might be a good reason for them stepping up globally. They also run a Subaru TCR. We'll see, if it's Subaru at all.

 

[01GTP]

Maybe if it's Subaru then I wonder if Tech Sport Racing would be the team to go with. They again won the Team Championship as well as the Manufactures Championship last year running the BRZ and Nissan 370. They developed the BRZ for homologation in PWC and you can go to them to buy the car and/or kits if you like. I imagine they would not manufacturer the car/chassis. It would be a huge step to DPi, but remember what has happened to CORE Autosport.

 

[Northstar]

Subarus have been racing for years in the Super Taikyu endurance series. I think the cars(BRZs and WRX) still have factory support.

Subaru also racing in BTCC might be a good reason for them stepping up globally. They also run a Subaru TCR. We'll see, if it's Subaru at all.

Admittedly I was just going off their site. Glad to hear they have a little more presence than i thought.

 

[twitcher]

They really do, they looked fantastic all light up at night at Le Man with the different colours for each car. Though I'd say they look fantastic in the day-light too .

Ford is one of the few teams that get the LED colour lighting right imo. I don’t really like the green or orange that they ran a few times, but the red and blue lights that they run on at least 2 of the cars always looks great.

I really really like the cars where the LEDs match the livery, like the Montplace by Land Audi, white and green livery with green lighting. Or some of the Black Swan AMGs with the almost black-light looking purple. Then you see others though, where the lighting completely clashes with the livery, and those ones drive me bonkers

 

[-Fred-]

Then you see others though, where the lighting completely clashes with the livery, and those ones drive me bonkers

Literally every Ferrari.

 

[Leadfoot530]

Ford is one of the few teams that get the LED colour lighting right imo. I don’t really like the green or orange that they ran a few times, but the red and blue lights that they run on at least 2 of the cars always looks great.

I really really like the cars where the LEDs match the livery, like the Montplace by Land Audi, white and green livery with green lighting. Or some of the Black Swan AMGs with the almost black-light looking purple. Then you see others though, where the lighting completely clashes with the livery, and those ones drive me bonkers

P1 Motorsports ran a purple and silver AMG last year with either purple or green lights; can't remember which to be exact, but it looked phenomenal.

Update on the rain tires folks saw yesterday: in the GTLM garage tour video from Marshall Pruett, he states the teams fit them in the garage and roll the cars out to the pits where they change to slicks. The garage area is filled with people and the teams worry about running something over that could puncture a tire; better to lose a rain tire than a sticker set of slicks.

 

[Ozzoky]

Holy South America Batman! Was thinking about the Cadillacs from Action Express after that video from Pruett

Pipo Derani
Felipe Nasr
Christian Fittipaldi
Joao Barbosa
Albuquerque

I didn't even see the other drivers, but it's like a South American friggin' powerhouse. Shame Rubens didn't hop in for the endurance drive.

I agree with you on the high number of (good) south american drivers but you copy/pasted two european drivers in your post...

 

[Organ-Donor]

I dont know maybe it's just me but I'm not digging Fords white livery. I was on the fence on the half red/blue until they made it chrome. But I'd really like to see one in the red hertiage edition (I took those pics at Sebring last year. Looked stunning) or red/ white stripes and the sister car blue with white stripes.

 

[TheHun99]

Update on the rain tires folks saw yesterday: in the GTLM garage tour video from Marshall Pruett, he states the teams fit them in the garage and roll the cars out to the pits where they change to slicks. The garage area is filled with people and the teams worry about running something over that could puncture a tire; better to lose a rain tire than a sticker set of slicks.

I really need to watch that video with sound on thanks for the info!

 

[TheElbows]

I agree with you on the high number of (good) south american drivers but you copy/pasted two european drivers in your post...

I always see them jaw-jacking with the other Portuguese speaking drivers, but you're of course right - I assumed they were all Brazilians as well. That ruins my appreciation of Action Express now. Tsk tsk.

 

[Organ-Donor]

I hate playing the waiting game. I'm so pumped to go every year that the few weeks before drags out so long. I'm going to Mecum auction this weekend in Kissimmee so that will help a little bit. Tic toc...
I'm going to embrace every second of the C7.R and soak it all in. I dont want it to go . Call it a dinosaur or whatever but I still love the looks, and the thunderous roar of the C6.R and C7.R is unmatched. It literally gives me goosebumps every single year I go. The #3 and #4 racing each other nose to tail for the win in 2016 was amazing and something I'll never forget, and neither will my blown out eardrums

 

[01GTP]

I hate playing the waiting game. I'm so pumped to go every year that the few weeks before drags out so long. I'm going to Mecum auction this weekend in Kissimmee so that will help a little bit. Tic toc...
I'm going to embrace every second of the C7.R and soak it all in. I dont want it to go . Call it a dinosaur or whatever but I still love the looks, and the thunderous roar of the C6.R and C7.R is unmatched. It literally gives me goosebumps every single year I go. The #3 and #4 racing each other nose to tail for the win in 2016 was amazing and something I'll never forget, and neither will my blown out eardrums

Have a great time.
I will be making the usual rounds to Lime Rock and Watkins Glen, but I have to wait till July.
Trans Am series will help over Memorial Day weekend, but not really.

Hopefully the next (C8.R ?) Vette will be just as thunderous.

 

[Wiz]

Ford liveries for the 24 - https://www.imsa.com/news/012019/fo...aT7AX1uMuOgTJ4tcaoBr3hkFkP0ssICIX7Z_EMDcsYAok

 

[LongbowX]

I kind of figured they wouldn't run just white. Was hoping for the 1966 Daytona 24hrs cars, but a 1985 Motorcraft Mustang IMSA GTO tribute car is not bad. In fact, it looks quite good. Won't complain either about a Castrol livery, even though it's not for a specific car. I like seeing something different.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Green and red? I thought they were doing old school stuff and would have been happy with a simple white with blue stripes and blue with white stripes. Could they do Gulf colors without using the Gulf logo just for the colors? Didn't Porsche do that with the Rothman's at Le Mans but it didn't have Rothman's logo on the side?

Sorry for not knowing what car this livery originated from. I don't know IMSA history

 

[LongbowX]

@DesertPenguin It's just a generic Castrol livery, it's not paying tribute to any particular car. It says "Castrol" on the side, you just can't really see it in the photo.

I don't really need to see a Gulf livery on any car ever again. I've seen it enough.

 

[Michelin Man]

I kind of figured they wouldn't run just white. Was hoping for the 1966 Daytona 24hrs cars,

Was kind of thinking same, in that it'd end up looking like the '67 Dumay/Greder GT40 for example, with the way they were looking. Still, the Motorcraft and Castrol liveries look fantastic, really liking the #66. Can't wait for race day, seems ages away.

 

[TheElbows]

I think it looks better than the one they've been using - looking forward to seeing them in motion.

 

[Wiz]

Acura Livery

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Pic of the original livery on a GTP for reference.

 

[CodeRedR51]

They don't look anything alike. Color shade is different too.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Looks more like this one in the comments:

 

[Downhill Dino]

What did I miss? Good amount of teams doing throwbacks!