December 3, 20223 yr New shit starts at post 325 Spoiler WEC season preview: IMSA season preview: Caddy has run a shit ton of testing, sounds amazing firing up from hybrid mode coming out of the box Edited October 18Oct 18 by elfenix
December 22, 20223 yr Not too long now until the Daytona 24 & Bathurst 12H. Awesome race. Edited December 22, 20223 yr by wood
December 23, 20223 yr Author On 12/21/2022 at 7:54 PM, Prepuce of Doom said: he's got an all-time twitter handle
December 23, 20223 yr Oh BTW, Valentino Rossi is now a BMW M Sport factory driver and will be racing Bathurst as his first race in that role.
January 21, 20232 yr Author WEC 2023: Hypercar WEC schedule (watch on motortrend tv, carries the eurosport feed) March 17: 1000 Miles of Sebring, 11 am April 16: 6 Hours of Portimao April 29: 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps June 10-11: 24 Hours of Le Mans July 9: 6 Hours of Monza Sept 10: 6 Hours of Fuji Nov 4: 8 Hours Bahrain Biggest change in WEC is the filling out of the Hypercar field. In addition to the pair of Toyotas that ran full time last season, we're adding a lot of cars for the full season: the pair of Peugeot 9X8s that underwent live testing at the end of last year, a pair of Ferrari 499Ps, a pair of Penske Porsche 963s, a CGR Cadillac V-LMDh. Glickenhaus returns and has committed to running a pair of SCG 007s for the 24. Later in the season we should see two more Porsche 963s in the form of customer cars to JOTA and Proton Competition, though they may not make the 24. ByKolles returns to the top class with the Vanwall Vandervell 680. LMP2's final year in the WEC (not enough pit space or track space at most places, really, and a lot of teams will be following JOTA and moving to customer LMDh cars as I expected) sees 11 entries: 2 each from Prema, United, WRT, and Alpine (back in LMP2 as it awaits its own Hypercar next season), and 1 each from Vector Sport, JOTA, and Intereuropol. LMP2 will continue on as the top class in ELMS and ALMS and will still have slots for the 24 Hours. The second big change is the elimination of GTE Pro from competition, as we are going Am teams only for GTE's final season. 4 Ferrari 488 GTE Evos (3 run by AF Corse and 1 by Kessel); 3 Aston Martin Vantage AMRs (2 by TF Sport and 1 by Northwest AMR); 6 Porsche 911 RSR-19s (2 by Iron Lynx/Dames and Proton, and 1 each by Project 1 and GR Racing). Next year sees GT3 equipment replacing this class.
January 21, 20232 yr Author IMSA 2023: GTP Returns Jan 28-29: Rolex 24, 12:30 pm on NBC and bounces around March 18: 12 Hours of Sebring, 9:05 am on Peacock Premium, comes on USA about halfway through April 15: Long Beach (w/ Indycar), 4 pm on USA May 14: Laguna Seca, 2 pm on NBC June 25: 6 Hours of the Glen, 1 pm on USA (only covers half of it c'mon man) July 9: Mosport Park, 11 am on NBC July 22: Limerock Park, GT cars only Aug 6: Road America, 10 am on USA Aug 27: VIR, GT cars only, 1 pm on USA Sept 17: Indy road course, noon on NBC Oct 14: Petit Le Mans, 5:30 pm on USA, only covers about half of it c'mon man I expect most of these will be on peacock in their entirety. IMSA puts everything on its youtube channel a few days afterward but the quality is not as good as peacock (you also get the IMSA radio broadcast which doesn't always seem to be watching the video feed) The big news for 2023 is the introduction of the GTP class to replace DPi at the top. The other big news is that Detroit and Mid-Ohio have been dropped from the calendar, with a new race on the infield at Indianapolis replacing Detroit (I guess, since Roger is the promoter). GTP features 9 cars on the entry list for Daytona this weekend, 2 Ganassi Cadillac V-LMDhs (the number 2 car will be in WEC this season), 2 Penske Porsche 963s, 2 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8s, one Acura ARX-06 from each of Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyers Shank, and 1 Cadillac from Action Express/Whelen Engineering. Once more 963s are built expect to see entries from JDC-Miller and Proton. LMP2 continues on with up to 10 entries for the 4 enduros, Laguna Seca, Road America, and IMS LMP3 features up to 11 entries for the 4 enduros, Mosport, Road America, and IMS Up to 9 Pro GTDs and 24 Am GTDs fill out the largest part of the grid and, as with previous years, get two races to themselves at Lime Rock and VIR. The Ferrari 296 GT3 replaces the 488 in class. The Pro car is run by Houston's own Risi Competizione. The Corvette C8.R again gets special dispensation to run a GTLM car in a GT3 field. The C8.R GT3 will make its public debut before the Rolex 24, but will not be in competition until next year.
January 21, 20232 yr Author Qualifying for the Rolex 24 will be on IMSA.tv with no geo restrictions Sunday at 12:20 pm Some highlights from Lanky Turtle 296 GT3 sounds really interesting. bmw sounds great. Edited January 21, 20232 yr by elfenix
January 22, 20232 yr Author First angry laps for GTP, MSR Acura on pole followed by the #6 Porsche then the WTR Acura, then the CGR Caddies, then the #7 Porsche which Nick Tandy binned in the Le Mans chicane. All 9 cars in the 1:34s with an 8/10ths spread between them. DPi race lap record was 1:33.724 set last year for reference. The new cars are heavier and run longer stints so use harder tires, but not bad considering this is the first real laps for them. It's also windy as shit which changes the balance, particularly into the Le Mans chicane. The GTPs are nearly 6 seconds clear of Ben Keating's pole sitting LMP2, which was less than 3 seconds faster than the pole sitting LMP3. I wonder if that will allow IMSA to un-nerf the P2s later this year? Edited January 22, 20232 yr by elfenix
January 25, 20232 yr Nine races for GTP, 11 total. Anyone know the reason IMSA has such a limited schedule? In 1987 (when I attended my first race) there were 21 events, 16 involving Prototypes, at just about every popular road course in the US (RIP Riverside). Three street races rounded out the schedule. Looking at the IMSA site they have an article titled “Why Every Race Matters on WeatherTech Championship Schedule” and I just think no, no, no.
January 26, 20232 yr Author 1 hour ago, Duval Street said: Nine races for GTP, 11 total. Anyone know the reason IMSA has such a limited schedule? In 1987 (when I attended my first race) there were 21 events, 16 involving Prototypes, at just about every popular road course in the US (RIP Riverside). Three street races rounded out the schedule. Looking at the IMSA site they have an article titled “Why Every Race Matters on WeatherTech Championship Schedule” and I just think no, no, no. $$$. this is a giant commercial (iow, money being spent) for the car companies and the money isn't there to support more races in the top classes. also there's scheduling conflicts that happen, especially when you look at the crowded GT3 calendar. a lot of these drivers and teams are also running WEC and IGTC. some may even be running in crevantic's 24 hour series. you also came in at the peak of sports car racing's popularity. Group C was just something else (and ACO/FIA missed an opportunity not branding LMH as Group C - IMSA paid attention to its history). that collapsed in the early 90s and there was about a decade of wilderness where ACO struggled to get a touring series off the ground. Edited January 26, 20232 yr by elfenix
January 26, 20232 yr Appreciate all that, I didn’t really consider the other series siphoning off resources. I need a 963 in Lowenbrau colors.
January 26, 20232 yr I'm excited for the Daytona race. I think endurance racing is so under appreciated.
January 27, 20232 yr Stumbled onto the MX-5Cup at Daytona. What a fucking riot. Surprised how fun this race was to watch
January 27, 20232 yr I remember talking to one of the Miata drivers after a spec-Miata race at the Houston GP years ago. He said he liked Miata racing a lot, but his true love was racing karts -- but he had to switch to Miatas because kart racing was too expensive. Edited January 27, 20232 yr by wood
January 27, 20232 yr It's funny how the track seems so big surrounding those Mazdas. But that was fun racing. The comment about the Go-Kart racing being expensive is some serious stuff. Years back, the CART Stars of Tomorrow were racing outside of Pittsburgh at what was then BeaveRun Raceway. Now it's called PIT Race Park, or something like that. It's a nice road course that has different configurations and also a really cool Karting track. Well, they had a celebrity race associated with the CART event and I (quite funnily) was asked to take part. They put me on the pole position, next to the woman who designed the track. She had raced sports cars in Europe so, she was legit. Well, my focus was on keeping my Kart on the track and I just wasn't thinking about Left Foot/Right Foot at the same time. It took me about three laps to really get into it and it was a blast. I did not finish last, and I stayed on the asphalt. Anyway, Juan Montoya's little brother was in that program, as was Graham Rahal. The trailers that some of these kids had were awesome. It was really humorous as well to see little kids in full racing gear working on adjusting their Karts. Karts are fun.
January 27, 20232 yr Author Corvette GT3 takes a bow, available for racing next yearhttps://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/chevrolet-unveils-corvette-z06-gt3-r-at-daytona/
January 27, 20232 yr 29 minutes ago, PittsburghTiger said: It's funny how the track seems so big surrounding those Mazdas. But that was fun racing. The comment about the Go-Kart racing being expensive is some serious stuff. Years back, the CART Stars of Tomorrow were racing outside of Pittsburgh at what was then BeaveRun Raceway. Now it's called PIT Race Park, or something like that. It's a nice road course that has different configurations and also a really cool Karting track. Well, they had a celebrity race associated with the CART event and I (quite funnily) was asked to take part. They put me on the pole position, next to the woman who designed the track. She had raced sports cars in Europe so, she was legit. Well, my focus was on keeping my Kart on the track and I just wasn't thinking about Left Foot/Right Foot at the same time. It took me about three laps to really get into it and it was a blast. I did not finish last, and I stayed on the asphalt. Anyway, Juan Montoya's little brother was in that program, as was Graham Rahal. The trailers that some of these kids had were awesome. It was really humorous as well to see little kids in full racing gear working on adjusting their Karts. Karts are fun. Yeah, don't wanna sidetrack, but karts really are amazing, and lots of pro racers still prefer the pure racing in karting. I dunno if any of y'all went to the Lockhart GP a few years ago, but some of the trailers and huge setups some teams had for that were really eye-opening. There were multi-million $ investemnts all over that paddock, complete with full kart garages, multiple drivers/karts, and multiple paid mechanics for some teams, while some teams were just Mom, Dad, & a kid working out of an old pickup. Same with the vintage car SVRA racing at COTA. Dudes are showing up with huge semi-tent setups and paid mechanics, in the same paddock as guys running everything from the back of their station wagons - for what really amounts to a track day. Must be nice to have that kind of money to just blow on fun shit. Edited January 27, 20232 yr by wood
January 28, 20232 yr Just interviewed a golfer for like 3 minutes, not showing any racing, also showing her highlights ... but the racing? Nah. Then another 5 minute commercial break. Fuck NBC.
January 28, 20232 yr I refuse to subscribe to Peacock because of how shitawful their motorsports coverage is.
January 28, 20232 yr 11 minutes ago, Prepuce of Doom said: I refuse to subscribe to Peacock because of how shitawful their motorsports coverage is. Yep. Fuck the Peacock. And thank goodness NBC lost F1.
January 28, 20232 yr Hey, a lead change during a commercial break! That's the NBC we know and despise!
January 28, 20232 yr The night racing is just beautiful. The GTP cars are so furkin' fast, I'd love to take a lap in one. Here's a live scoring link. Scoring | IMSA Edited January 28, 20232 yr by Bevo&Pevo
January 29, 20232 yr Author can't wait until this leaves USA and they stop showing 3 minutes of ads every 5 minutes
January 29, 20232 yr Author WTF WHY ARE YOU SHOWING PLACEHOLDERS YOU DIDN'T EVEN SELL ADS BUT WE'RE LEAVING THE RACE ANYWAY Edited January 29, 20232 yr by elfenix
January 29, 20232 yr Every year I tell myself I will stay up 24 hours straight to watch it or Le Mans. Definitely will never happen if nbc is showing it
January 29, 20232 yr Author 2 hours ago, Updawg said: Every year I tell myself I will stay up 24 hours straight to watch it or Le Mans. Definitely will never happen if nbc is showing it i think the most i've done of le mans is about 21 hours. daytona maybe 19. nbc audio is now picking up imsa radio instead of nbc hosts. Edited January 29, 20232 yr by elfenix
January 29, 20232 yr 8 hours ago, Updawg said: Every year I tell myself I will stay up 24 hours straight to watch it or Le Mans. Definitely will never happen if nbc is showing it This would be the year to do it. IIRC, it will be the 100th anniversary of LM. So, I finally hit the hay sometime after 0100 and Corvette is down either 1 or 2 laps. Turn on the boob tube this morning just a second ago and they are in the lead. Let's go 'Merica! Edited January 29, 20232 yr by Bevo&Pevo
January 29, 20232 yr 13 hours ago, elfenix said: can't wait until this leaves USA and they stop showing 3 minutes of ads every 5 minutes So many fucking commercials!!
January 29, 20232 yr Don't follow IMSA racing at all, but I absolutely love the 24 Hours of Daytona and watch it religiously the past 10 years or so. Probably helps that it fits my F1 pattern of waking up on Sunday morning and watching before football comes on. The multiple classes on the same track is probably my favorite part, but also seeing names from other series show up and run is really cool too. I could do with less WeatherTech ads but whatever... Digging the new look Cadillacs! Look like the lovechild of an LMP and a Corvette.
January 29, 20232 yr Author IMSA radio pointed out that the P3 cars usually run in either no-pit sprints of 55 minutes or ELMS's 4 hour races. they're not really built for big enduros. which is part of why the lead car is 13 laps ahead of 2nd.
January 29, 20232 yr As of now here's fastest lap per class and lap total. GTP 1:35:616 740 laps LMP2 1:39:205 719 laps LMP3 1:45:078 697 laps GTD PRO 1:45:541 690 laps GTD 1:46:049 690 laps Edited January 29, 20232 yr by Bevo&Pevo
January 29, 20232 yr 2 hours ago, elfenix said: That MSR Acura really takes off on restarts Seems like the Acuras are better on the super speedway and the Caddies are better n the road course. Bummed the Porsches haven’t been competitive.
January 29, 20232 yr Wow, what a finish in LMP2. That was awesome, 0.016 margin of victory. Edited January 29, 20232 yr by PittsburghTiger
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