2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar ChampionshipSports Cars

[JohnBM01]

I unfortunately did not get to see the conclusion of the 2020 24 Hours of Daytona. I do want to say, of course, is congratulations to the winners overall and in class. Most of what I saw was some of the first hours of the race and then most of the action from 11:00 PM (Eastern Time) Saturday on to 3:00 AM (Eastern Time) Sunday. A lot of the other time was time spent at the 2020 Houston Auto Show. I did not exactly follow all of the action, but I thought it was great to see Corvette Racing rock the new C8.R in the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Now for some off-topic bits. Outside of seeing the coverage of the 2020 24 Hours of Daytona, it was great for Brian Till to be back commenting. B. Till had a fight with cancer and was able to beat it. Hearing his commentary was a welcome deal. And of course, very proud for one to beat cancer. I am hoping the same for Bob Varsha, as I once read recently he is battling prostate cancer. B. Varsha is an inspiration to me on many levels and one of the finest motorsports announcers.


Once again- congratulations to all of the winners of the race, overall and in the different classes. Surely looking forward to the next round in the 2020 season of IMSA sportscar racing!

 

[FutureF1]

 

[Nielsen]

Good one this year.

 

[Granadier]

 

[Organ-Donor]

Sound comparison between the C7.R and C8.R



Music to my ears

 

[AMPMROCKETFANN]

I'm actually starting to get used to the C8.R. Although part of me wishes it sounded more like an old indycar

 

[Wiz]

Full replay is up on IMSA Youtube channel, in 4 parts.

Part 1 here -

 

[ScottPuss20]

Sound comparison between the C7.R and C8.R



Music to my ears

"That was a Corvette?" I would ask the exact same question.

 

[Organ-Donor]

I'm actually starting to get used to the C8.R. Although part of me wishes it sounded more like an old indycar

I'm not, it's worse in person. The sound is worse than I expected (downshifts are just ok), it sounds generic, and even the AMG GT and Lexus RCF GTD's sound beefier and more throaty which is sad, but still sounds better than the Ford GT's did and RLL BMW's but those sound horrible. And the looks aren't great either imo. I still love the C7.R miles better all around and already miss it. And the C8 road car is worse, I thought in person it would look better in the flesh but it's a nope from me. I know theres only so much you can do from a design standpoint with mid engine but the Ferrari 488, Mclarens (besides the 570), NSX, Lambos, etc all look much better. I know they cost alot more but you can still have an appealing looking car regardless of a 6 figure pricetag. The interior is the only redeeming point, and 0-60 mph just under 3 seconds isnt too shabby for $60k. Maybe if they do a facelift years later will be better. Oh well. Maybe I'm being a bit too harsh.

 

[AMPMROCKETFANN]

I'm not, it's worse in person. The sound is worse than I expected (downshifts are just ok), it sounds generic, and even the AMG GT and Lexus RCF GTD's sound beefier and more throaty which is sad, but still sounds better than the Ford GT's did and RLL BMW's but those sound horrible. And the looks aren't great either imo. I still love the C7.R miles better all around and already miss it. And the C8 road car is worse, I thought in person it would look better in the flesh but it's a nope from me. I know theres only so much you can do from a design standpoint with mid engine but the Ferrari 488, Mclarens (besides the 570), NSX, Lambos, etc all look much better. I know they cost alot more but you can still have an appealing looking car regardless of a 6 figure pricetag. The interior is the only redeeming point, and 0-60 mph just under 3 seconds isnt too shabby for $60k. Maybe if they do a facelift years later will be better. Oh well. Maybe I'm being a bit too harsh.

Sounds like GM needs to bring back this exhaust

 

[Dylan]

Cool article about the struggles of Black Swan Racing during the Rolex 24 weekend.
https://racer.com/2020/02/05/how-massive-daytona-effort-paid-off-for-black-swan/

 

[01GTP]

Thanks for posting that. I was able to talk with Tim Pappas about his recovery during the pit walk at Watkins Glen. Interesting person.
A couple shots of his car from last year too.

 

[Northstar]

Compass has finally announced their 2020 plans.

https://racer.com/2020/02/20/holton-fergus-pair-in-compass-racing-mclaren-for-sprint-cup/

 

[TheElbows]

Finally can hop back onto forums/blogs/podcasts - I just finished watching the 24 hours with my dad (who is ill, so we watch it for an hour or two when we can). Overall; a race saved by a couple of astounding performances.

The battle between the BMW and Porsches was one of the best GT races I've ever seen, sad that they finally broke apart in the last 15 minutes or so. Astounding to see them go 24 hours nose to tail....shame the other BMW wasn't able to partake. Sad to see the Ferrari so off-the-pace due to BOP, etc.

The #5 did far better than I thought possible, but I'm happy to see Wayne Taylor get another win - those guys are the class of the field. Stunning to see Penske screw up the Acuras somehow...the porpoising was bizarre.

LMP2...meh, I rarely pay attention to them, and it was sad to see how fast their field fell down to two competitive cars very early in the race.

GTD, pretty good stuff. Sad to see Pfaff fall off the pace. Great job for Lamborghini and the Italians in general.

Overall, a good race with a stunning pace, and it delivered more than I thought it would with such a small field.

 

[01GTP]

Don't know what the future brings with all the international drivers, teams, etc.

 

[AMPMROCKETFANN]

Don't know what the future brings with all the international drivers, teams, etc.

Sounds like RIP Sebring

 

[TheElbows]

Yep, for both WEC and IMSA I'd imagine.

 

[01GTP]

WEC is cancelled for Sebring.

 

[Dylan]

12 Hours of Sebring postponed. Will now be the season finale.

 

[01GTP]

Very unfortunate. I hope all these cancellations keep the infected numbers down, say below 10 million in the US. I've heard numbers up to 100 million from Dr. Fauci, Director of NIAID. There are not enough tests to confirm those numbers.

 

[Organ-Donor]

12 Hours of Sebring postponed. Will now be the season finale.
View attachment 899202

I went to 24h of Daytona but I look forward to 12h of Sebring every year as well. After hearing the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament was cancelled a few hours ago and now this I'm gutted. I understand why but it still stings. Was really counting down the days till Sebring I guess silver lining is its postponed and not completely cancelled.

 

[JackRyanWMU]

Mid-Ohio is delayed as well. Beyond bummed out right now.

https://midohio.com/news/732-2020-acura-sports-car-challenge-at-mid-ohio-update

 

[01GTP]

Bummed for you and the rest of us fans. Lime Rock has the SRO GT4 and TC classes May 8-9 and Trans Am Memorial Day weekend May 22 - 25. Hopefully both of these happen as scheduled.

 

[AMPMROCKETFANN]

That's super depressing

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Who's ready for some online racing?

https://www.imsa.com/news/2020/03/1...day-march-21-with-imsa-sebring-supersaturday/

 

[Northstar]

Mazda has finally confirmed their split with Joest. From what Marshal Pruett has been saying, they were barely there towards the end so hopefully Mazda will continue being competitive.

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/mazda-confirms-multimatic-takeover-from-joest/

 

[TheElbows]

Yeah, it was my understanding that multimatic "took over" middle of last year, and they were simply riding out the Joest contract/name with them taking a less and less pertinent role in running the team. If anything the car should continue to be competitive or become more competitive because the Joest experiment apparently didn't do anything for them.

 

[01GTP]

Who's ready for some online racing?

https://www.imsa.com/news/2020/03/1...day-march-21-with-imsa-sebring-supersaturday/

Should be interesting. I watched the NASCAR 100 race and it was, interesting.

EDIT:
Along with the links in the above post here are more.

 

[01GTP]

And then there is also this, Pooper Sebring today at 11 AM Eastern



https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIgLph6z7PIBMx7moeXoKCw.

 

[Jezza819]