[IMSA Weathertech Sportscar & GT Championship 2018]

[erwin greven]

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[erwin greven]

Airborne Accident for Mazda DPi Ends Practice 3

Rene Rast involved in dramatic airborne accident in Practice 3 at Watkins Glen…



Saturday’s third and final IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice session at Watkins Glen International came to an early end following an airborne accident for the No. 77 Team Joest Mazda RT24-P of Rene Rast.

Rast’s Mazda DPi came to a rest upside down at the exit of the Esses, which brought out the session-ending red flag with less than five minutes on the clock.

The German was evaluated and released from the infield care center although the cause of the accident remains unclear.

The No. 6 Team Penske Acura ARX-05 of Dane Cameron led the way in the session with a 1:32.975 lap.

GT Le Mans was led by the No. 67 Ford GT of Richard Westbrook, with Kyle Marcelli pacing GT Daytona in the No. 14 3GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3.

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/airb ... ractice-3/

[erwin greven]

[erwin greven]

Continental Tire 240 At The Glen
https://imsatv.imsa.com/

[erwin greven]

Meyer Shank Confirms No. 86 Acura, Legge for Rest of Season

Meyer Shank Racing has committed its second Acura NSX GT3 for the remainder of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

The Ohio-based team initially planned to enter the No. 86 car in just the four Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup rounds but has made additional race starts following several strong results.

Katherine Legge and Alvaro Parente have shared the car for most of the season so far while Trent Hindman, AJ Allmendinger and Mario Farnbacher have also made appearances behind the wheel.

Legge is currently second in the GT Daytona drivers’ standings and will continue for the rest of the season although her co-driver is currently yet to be announced.

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/meye ... of-season/

[erwin greven]

Rules & Regs In Europe Are Spoiling Racing “Big Time” For Vanthoor

Porsche's Belgian ace reveals why he's enjoying racing in IMSA more than over in Europe

Porsche factory driver Laurens Vanthoor says he now prefers racing in the USA over Europe, becuase the influx of rules and regulations that have been injected into European sportscar racing have taken away some of its allure, and purity.

Speaking to DSC, the 27-year-old Belgian explained that given the choice, he’d rather race full-time in IMSA with Porsche, than over in Europe in series like the FIA WEC or Blancpain GT Series. And this year he’s done just that, competing alongside Michael Christensen in the #912 Porsche 911 RSR in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship all season long, and raced in the FIA WEC just once, at Le Mans.

“Without talking bad about anybody else, I was asked whether I would want to do WEC,” he told DSC’s Editor at Watkins Glen. “There were rumours that I wouldn’t work with Gimmi, and I decided that I prefer to stay in the USA. I wasn’t sure in the beginning, but eventually, I decided and I’m happy to be back.

“Racing here (in the USA) is just a lot more pure. It’s not just the WEC, I’m not just pointing fingers at that, it’s racing in general, also Blancpain. There are so many rules and restrictions, with stint limits, and stuff like that. I mean, in Blancpain you have five minutes to change your brakes, you also get a drive-through for spinning your wheels even just a little bit when you leave your pit box. We’re racing cars here… I don’t understand it.

“It’s also from a driving point of view. If you dive your nose in, you’re not scared that you will get a penalty if there’s contact. In Europe, you push somebody off, or you have contact while overtaking in something like DTM, sometimes you have to give positions back.

“Here it’s just racing. You leave the pits with a pile of smoke, you crank the full engine open. You get an applause here.”

Vanthoor also feels that with the increase in track changes, particularly at tracks like the Circuits de la Sarthe, on the grounds of safety, that some of the enjoyment behind the wheel has been lost. It’s clear that he’s not happy about the direction modern motorsport is going in Europe.

“Every track (in the USA) is a lot more pure,” he explained. “Here (in the USA) if you drive there’s no room for error, you’re so tense. Even Le Mans doesn’t offer that anymore. It’s only two corners at the Porsche Curves. Then after that everything is open. If you brake late at the chicane you go straight, if you miss your point at Tertre Rouge you have a massive run-off.

“Is it spoiling it for me? Yeah, big time.

“I love things like the Nurburgring, Macau, Bathurst, the GP loop at Brands Hatch. Even Lime Rock. Because you can’t make a mistake. If you do you’re punished. It’s about drivers who are daring, it’s not just about being able to drive quick, it’s about having ‘balls’, taking risks.

“That’s what made racing great in the past.”

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2018/07/1 ... thoor.html

[erwin greven]

SRO Motorsports Group and Pirelli World Challenge Present 2019 Season Plans

Pirelli World Challenge announces its future plans in Portland…



On Saturday night, Pirelli World Challenge President and CEO Greg Gill presented teams with the expanded 2019 program and race formats.

The three major PWC series will continue in 2019, with GT World Challenge, GTS World Challenge and TC World Challenge all remaining pivotal to the organization as it enters its 30th year.

What’s more, the addition of two new regional series – GT4 America East and GT4 America West – will combine the growing popularity of the GT4 category with the appetite for road racing in the U.S.

The enhanced programs were formed by an extensive survey that drew opinions from the paddock, prospective drivers and teams, and sponsors.

The changes presented will strengthen Pirelli World Challenge’s status as a leading GT production-based road racing series in North America by drawing on the successful format used by SRO Motorsports Group in Europe and Asia, and retaining the key elements that have made PWC a success for three decades.

The GT Pirelli World Challenge will compete at a number of North America’s premier road racing venues in 2019. The refocused seven-race schedule will draw on the best of the current calendar while also adding a new exciting finale.

GT Pirelli World Challenge will also adopt a new race format extended to 90 minutes that differs from the one used in GTS Pirelli World Challenge.

Grids will consist solely of GT3 cars, each featuring two-driver pairings. Events will be reduced to a maximum of three days, offering drivers more time behind the wheel and less time away from home and business.

GTS Pirelli World Challenge will continue the tradition of the PWC as a one-driver sprint competition. A 50-minute format will be retained, with drivers up to Gold classification eligible to compete in the series.

Next to the overall podium, Silver and Bronze drivers will be awarded with separate podiums.

The 2019 calendar is set to feature eight race weekends. A number of these will be shared with Pirelli GT World Challenge, including the season finale.

The recent global success of the GT4 format, combined with the need for a more regional, cost effective offering has led to the creation of two new series for 2019.

GT4 America East and GT4 America West will provide time efficient options for teams and drivers based on both sides of the United States, each consisting of five race weekends.

They will use the SprintX format and be reserved for two-driver Pro-Am (silver/bronze) and Am (bronze/bronze) line-ups. Each region will award its own title, with no overall championship available.

The introduction of the TCR class has proven popular with competitors, fans and manufacturers alike. This success will be built upon in 2019 with an expansion to seven race weekends, while the customer sport nature of the three TC classes – TCR, TC and TCA ­– will be enforced.

Having already produced excellent racing, SRO Motorsports Group and WC Vision now wish to give the TC categories a chance to flourish with a distinctive identity and marketing.

The 2019 Pirelli World Challenge schedule reflects feedback received from the teams. SRO founder and CEO Stephane Ratel will announce the full calendar (including the California 8-Hour event, the North American round of the Intercontinental GT Series) during the annual press conference at the Total 24 Hours of Spa on Friday, July 27.

“This is an exciting time for the Pirelli World Challenge as it becomes more closely integrated with the global SRO Motorsports Group platform,” said SRO CEO Stephane Ratel.

“I believe that what we presented today reflects the wishes of our drivers and teams, while also retaining the fundamental values that have made the series popular with fans across America.

“By delivering on the feedback that we received and using our own experience, I am confident that we will see the Pirelli World Challenge grow even stronger in the years to come.”

“Heading into our 30th year, we have listened to the teams’ feedback on the classes of racing they wanted and the venues where they wish to compete,” added WC Vision President and CEO Greg Gill.

“We will honor our Pirelli World Challenge heritage with single-driver sprint events in the GTS class while attempting to grow the GT3 category at the forefront of American motorsports.

“We will also expand the GT4 format to regional East and West categories, which I am certain will attract more local drivers to become part of the Pirelli World Challenge family.”

https://sportscar365.com/world-challeng ... son-plans/

[erwin greven]

Patron Tequila ending sponsorship after 2018.

[erwin greven]

DPi, LMP2 Split Confirmed for 2019

DPi, LMP2 will be separate categories in WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next year…


The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will return to a four-class format, with confirmation of seperate DPi and LMP2 classes in 2019.

IMSA President Scott Atherton made the announcement Friday evening in the sanctioning body’s annual ‘State of the Series’ address at Road America, which also included confirmation of next year’s schedule.

Under the new format, DPis will become the new premier class, with the global-spec LMP2 cars to fall under a new Pro-Am enforced class.

Additionally, Atherton indicated that DPis will be restored to its initial performance levels, after having faced repeated slowdowns to the top-performing LMP2 car, which had been the class performance baseline.

DPis will now be subject to a class-specific Balance of Performance process managed by the IMSA technical committee, similar to the GT Le Mans and GT Daytona classes.

As initially reported by Sportscar365, a class separation had been under discussion since the launch of the joint DPi-LMP2 regulations last year.

The majority of teams with LMP2 cars had been in favor with the proposed change.

LMP2, which will run to the same technical regulations seen in the FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series, will require at least one Bronze or Silver-rated driver per lineup.

However, in a change for both LMP2 and GTD next year, maximum drive times for Gold and Platinum-rated drivers will be limited.

The criteria for the Jim Trueman Award, meanwhile, has also been adjusted, the highest-placed Silver/Bronze driver in the LMP2 championship winning the award and invite to the following year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Previously, points were awarded based on finishing position and drive time.

The same criteria will also apply to the Bob Akin Award in GTD, with ties broken in favor of the driver with the highest season-long cumulative drive time.

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/dpi- ... confirmed/

[erwin greven]

Opinion by: Marshall Pruett

Split decision

It won’t make every entrant happy, but IMSA’s decision to split the Prototype class into separate championships was the smartest option available to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series.

Announced Friday at its State of The Series event, the adjustment comes after two seasons of largely unsuccessful attempts to balance IMSA’s custom Daytona Prototype internationals and the FIA World Endurance Championship-spec LMP2s. With a win tally of 14-3 in favor of DPis, the recent upturn in fortune for the P2s with back-to-back wins wasn’t enough to halt the mounting wave of frustration expressed by the auto manufacturers and teams supporting DPi.

On average, DPis have been responsible for two-thirds of the Prototype grid, giving Acura, Cadillac, Mazda and Nissan (by way of Tequila Patron ESM) a strong voice when addressing concerns with IMSA. Citing the endless Balance of Performance restrictions applied to the DPis in an effort to give the P2s a shot at winning, something close to a mutiny formed leading into the May race at Mid-Ohio.

With a quick brokering of peace happening before tensions hit a breaking point, the first whispers of the split emerged later in the Mid-Ohio weekend. Adding fuel to the topic in July, DPi manufacturers were less than enthused to see Pro-Am privateer P2 teams come out on top at Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. For the sake of unity and positivity, a split became inevitable.

The last note, if not the entire premise of DPi entrants being displeased with the BoP restrictions and losing to P2s, has been a source of amusement for some of the Pro-Am entrants.

“Didn’t they sign up in the beginning knowing they’d be balanced with us?” one team owner said on the condition of anonymity. “How can anybody be upset since they knew what they were getting themselves into?”

It’s a completely valid point, and speaks to the shared disenfranchisement on both sides of the Prototype divide. A promise that P2s would be able to vie for victories was not delivered (barring one race) in 2017, and has only become a reality in the middle of the 2018 championship. For those who bought P2s with the expectation of giving its drivers and sponsors regular visits to the podium, the promise will finally be fulfilled at every round once the new season arrives.

And how many Pro-Am P2 teams will sign up for the new class next year? That’s going to be the big topic to follow as the Rolex 24 At Daytona approaches in January.

Some P2 entrants like United Autosports have made use of all-pro lineups, and going forward, it will not be an option if they wish to continue using their Ligier JSP217s. To race with Pros, UA and every other team with that aspiration will need DPis. It takes us back to the old question of whether privateers will be granted access to buy factory-blessed prototypes.

UA owner Zak Brown has the type of connections to land DPis. Through new sponsor/partner Bob Stallings, the JDC-Miller Motorsports team could be closing in on a DPi if the extra funding can be found.

If they’re unsuccessful, will they come back to P2? Will an AFS/PR1-Mathiasen Motorsports or a Performance Tech Motorsports do the same? That’s the adjustment P2 entrants will need to make. Without divine intervention, overall wins will not be possible as DPis are set to have the BoP shackles taken off.

Can P2 owners find enough non-pro drivers with deep pockets to sign up for running behind DPis? The class split was never going to be a cure-all. It’s freed the majority of the Prototype entrants — the well-funded factories — from the areas that created constant grousing. But will it open up new problems for P2 entrants if they can no longer offer headline-making wins to its customers? And will there be enough P2 cars on the grid to keep two classes afloat?

Daytona 2019 will be a mightily important State of The Series update for IMSA’s privateer P2 owners.

https://racer.com/2018/08/03/pruett-split-decision/

[erwin greven]

https://imsatv.imsa.com/

Qualification IMSA @ VIR

thread of rain.

[erwin greven]

GTLM class will have to qualify in rain conditions. A lot of rain now at VIR.

[erwin greven]

Awesome qualy!!!

Half wet / half dry!

[erwin greven]

Watching now the CT race at VIR. Its an awesome race because of the changing weather conditions.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Wish the female commentator on the IMSATV broadcast would STFU. Crap like ....''and now the two leaders are 1 & 2'' might be ok coming from Murray Walker but....

[DoubleFart]

You're not allowed to be critical of the way a female commentator delivers lines or the content of those lines as it's sexist, didn't you know that?

We have some dreadful female commentators on the football and they get high pitched and shriekey over a gentle shot from a long way out that's never going to be a goal, but they deliver a line as if it's a rocket. People commented that they didn't sound right for football and it became an overblown mess as the social justice warriors took aim.