GTP – Syndication Server

Potential GTP/Hypercar rule change could alter approaches to mid-season updates

Back in November at the FIA World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain, RACER caught wind of an ongoing debate involving the FIA, ACO and Hypercar manufacturers concerning car updates and the use of performance-related evo “Jokers.” There appears to be a movement towards tightening the regulations to restrict the introduction of Jokers midseason in the FIA WEC and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, in order to aid the Balance of Performance process and in turn, curb the arms race which has been gradually escalating over the past 12 months.

But a number of questions remain. What will the current discussions lead to, when might the new rules/agreements come into play and will they achieve their overarching aims?

A series of enquiries to the FIA, IMSA and a number of manufacturers and suppliers to find out more over the past eight weeks has revealed this to be a complex topic, with a lot to unpack. While a restriction on updates may appear relatively simple at first glance, it’s something which could have a major impact on the category’s future, on track and off.

So what do we know? In recent technical working group meetings, a proposal was made to ban mid-season performance updates to both LMH and LMDh-spec cars. This is a ban that RACER understands has effectively always been in place in IMSA via a collective agreement between the LMDh manufacturers, though it is not written into the rules.

In simple terms, this change would aid the BoP processes that the FIA and ACO employ to govern the Hypercar class. It would also give the rule-makers stability across the cars racing in the Hypercar and GTP categories and reduce the challenges that come with leveling the playing field and homologating a fleet of cars evolving at different speeds.

It may also reduce the level of spending somewhat, allowing manufacturers to plan longer in advance with greater clarity and prepare updates for their cars to coincide with a defined window.

As it stands, the process surrounding evolutions for top-class prototypes is fluid. There are no hard rules that specify when you can and when you cannot develop, test and sign off updates. Instead, it all comes down to debates with the rule-makers and the logistical challenges associated with the packed racing schedule.

There are some guidelines in place, however. Want to bring in a major update for the Le Mans 24 Hours? You’ll be told to have it ready two races prior. What about the Rolex 24 At Daytona? Having it ready in time for the sanctioned test in November is necessary. Beyond that though, it’s all done on a case-by-case basis.

For instance, the manufacturers that have brought significant updates to their cars over the past two years — Toyota, Porsche, Ferrari and Peugeot — have all had to factor in time for simulation work, track testing, discussions with the rule-makers, filing paperwork, wind tunnel testing at Sauber and/or Windshear and supply chain constraints. Trying to navigate all of these phases is extremely challenging.

One interesting example of the challenges that mid-season upgrades pose is Porsche’s planned change to the 963’s crankshaft. It was explored, pitched and developed to be a reliability-focused update before being scrapped.

To negate the impact of the vibration issues which the current flat-plane crank caused for the 963, the German manufacturer developed a 90-degree one. This was not a cheap exercise and required a lot of planning.

For Porsche, calculating the pluses and minuses of Jokers has to factor in the need to supply customer as well as works teams. JEP/Motorsport Images

In Porsche’s case, it also needed to ensure it could develop the update to an agreed schedule and produce kits for both its factory cars in the FIA WEC and IMSA, and its customer cars run by JDC-Miller, Proton and JOTA. It needed to prove to the FIA, ACO and IMSA that this change was being made to improve the car’s reliability and not its performance levels with data too.

As it happened, updates that Bosch made during the 2023 off-season to its off-the-shelf LMDh Hybrid system significantly reduced the aforementioned vibration issues Porsche was looking to solve. This eventually led to it shelving its update plans after the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours.

“It’s (about saving) tokens but to be really honest, it’s even more the money,” Urs Kuratle, the head of LMDh racing at Porsche, told RACER at the time. “If we would have to change the crankshaft for a good reason it will cost us a lot of money because we will have to update the customer cars (at the same time) as well.”

Now, with additional time to think, Porsche is working on updating another area — the 963’s suspension, which it plans to introduce in time for the Rolex 24 later this month. This will be the car’s second evo Joker, as the updates introduced at the start of the 2024 season counted as its first. Thus, with restrictions on updates potentially coming into play, it has acted fast to ensure its car is ready for both the WEC and IMSA seasons.

This is a microcosm of what’s going on across the Hypercar and GTP ranks. Every manufacturer involved is constantly evaluating updates and making the case to their boards for budget, all while trying to work out when it’s feasible to test, develop and sign off each one of its limited set of Jokers. Some, like Porsche, Toyota, Ferrari and Peugeot, have been keen to keep pushing the envelope. Others, like Acura, BMW and Cadillac, have generally adopted a more cautious approach.

In theory, with BoP governing the category, there should be no need to bring regular performance updates to cars anyway, unless your case is extreme. This, at its core, has been a key draw for the manufacturers who have signed up to the current formula. The promise that costs would not spiral out of control was and still is a major contributing factor to the bumper grids we see today. Right now, though, beyond Porsche, a number of the other manufacturers are making moves behind the scenes.

Ferrari is working on a second update for the 499P after its brake cooling change post-Le Mans. Peugeot has been out testing another significant update for the 9X8. Alpine is looking to improve the reliability of its Mecachrome-based engine. Cadillac has played its first Joker by implementing an update to its control system electronics package. BMW has tested new parts for the M Hybrid V8. And Toyota is currently busy planning to transition to hydrogen at the end of the decade, which will include an outline roadmap to the endgame for the GR010 HYBRID.

Peugeot is among those looking to keep pushing the envelope in development of its 9X8 Hypercar. Motorsport Images

But with additional factories on the horizon, the FIA, ACO and IMSA are keen for everyone to take a step back. They feel that the shift to a more structured update cycle, which would see manufacturers handed a single window to bring performance updates rather than multiple across the year, would benefit everyone.

However, it appears that there is no concrete plan or deadline for a final decision on this subject just yet. At the time of writing it’s still under discussion, and it’s still too early for anyone, including the FIA, ACO and IMSA, to comment on publicly.

Multiple sources have told RACER that an official regulatory amendment may not even need to be made anyway for the WEC. Instead, it could all just amount to a “Gentlemen’s agreement.” This is in part because, philosophically, the two governing bodies see things slightly differently when it comes to BoP, upgrades, homologation and technical regulations for their platforms.

An example of where the complexities and nuances lie came in a conversation with a manufacturer source before the race in Bahrain. The source told RACER their understanding was that only aerodynamic updates would be off-limits for teams after the 2025 season starts; everything else would still be allowed. This is in part because of the complications associated with the transition to a single wind tunnel for LMDh and LMH homologation at Windshear in North Carolina for 2026.

The wind tunnel factor is key here. At present, cars racing in both IMSA and the WEC are homologated after being put through both the Sauber and Windshear tunnels. While each car has a single, unique homologation, LMDh cars have slight deviations in bodywork when racing in the WEC and IMSA, due to differences in the homologation process between the two tunnels.

This will change in 2026, though, when the Sauber tunnel will no longer be used. RACER’s source believes the transition to Windshear-only would likely lead to “all the planned aero updates from manufacturers being made in time for 2026.”

Crucially, this would still mean that manufacturers could still introduce updates on the grounds of safety and reliability and for components under the bodywork midseason.

“I think the way it will play out, is that you will be able to bring in software updates as usual, plus any changes to solve any major reliability issues with your car,” the source explained. “I think if you find your car’s rear wing keeps falling off at 200 miles per hour, they’ll let you bring an updated one! It’s just significant aerodynamic updates that will be frozen.”

The expectation is that this year we will see Peugeot, Porsche, Cadillac, BMW and Alpine bring updates, signed off in time for the respective season openers — the Rolex 24 and Qatar 1812km. Ferrari, meanwhile, has made it clear that it plans to start the upcoming season with the current-spec 499P and is unlikely to play any further Jokers until 2026 in light of this ongoing debate.

So, a lot more is up for discussion it seems, as the FIA, ACO and IMSA move toward a calculated decision in this area. What’s most important — and encouraging — though, is that this discussion is taking place at all.

As this remarkable era continues and we edge closer to the end of the current rule cycle in 2029, the priority will need to shift from building grids to sustaining them. Debating subjects such as this one as a collective seems entirely sensible, as it will go a long way towards ensuring that top-level sports car racing remains competitive, affordable and sustainable for years to come.

BMW Hybrids riding performance wave in IMSA and WEC

All of a sudden, things are looking up for BMW’s M Hybrid V8 program on both sides of the Atlantic. With a second-place finish in the WEC race at Fuji and a 1-2 in the IMSA Endurance Cup round at Indianapolis, both WRT and RLL have found form at the …

Two races remain in 2024 — IMSA’s Petit Le Mans and the WEC’s 8 Hours of Bahrain — and they appear crucial for BMW as it sets its expectations for 2025. Are we witnessing a turning point, like the latter part of 2023 was for Porsche Penske Motorsport, or will this month’s results prove a flash in the pan? BMW believes it’s doing the right things to make it the former.

Either way, the standout September for the German brand’s top-class sports car program has been a long time coming. Prior to Indy, RLL had been fighting through a sophomore slump in IMSA GTP, with zero trips to the podium through the first seven races. WRT, meanwhile, had also been waiting for a breakthrough before arriving in Japan, after spending much of its maiden Hypercar campaign playing catch-up with its new package.

So, what has changed? According to BMW, what we are seeing are the results of incremental updates to the car.

In the current era — with manufacturers desperate to keep budgets under control — once an LMDh like the M Hybrid V8 is homologated, your options to take strides in performance and reliability terms are limited. The rule-makers must approve all updates and any changes to improve a car’s raw speed are unlikely to be granted as Balance of Performance — in theory — serves as a backstop.

As a result, manufacturers must develop their cars through marginal evolutions rather than frequent major updates and tread carefully when deciding which areas to spend their “Joker” tokens on. In both the WEC and IMSA, ensuring your car can look after its tires and maintain a steady pace over multiple stints is the key to success.

And that’s exactly what BMW has done with WRT and RLL over the past two years. Like the other LMDh manufacturers, when it comes to bringing evo Jokers, it has been apprehensive. But that doesn’t mean it has been twiddling its thumbs.

Andreas Roos, the head of BMW Motorsport, told RACER last month at Circuit of The Americas’ Lone Star Le Mans weekend that no major updates were in the pipeline. Instead, BMW has an off-season test plan mapped out and will stick with what it has for 2025.

“We are not where we want to be but there is room left in our package,” he said. “So we are trying to optimize this.

“The performance has spiked, like at Le Mans. So we know the potential is there, we just have to be more consistent and quick under all circumstances. But it’s clear with all these manufacturers that it’s not that easy to make steps.”

That begs the question: where exactly are the gains being made? According to Valentino Conti, BMW’s head of track engineering, much work has gone into fixing vibration issues that impacted a number of areas through the first season of the M Hybrid V8’s life.

He reveals that a change in engine concept from the current P66/3 eight-cylinder turbo (based on the DTM unit used in 2017-18) was even considered at one stage. But, like Porsche, BMW has decided to stick rather than twist, holding off on a major change. It’s also understood that developments from Bosch — the hybrid unit supplier for all LMDh cars — have made a big difference in this area and played a part in both BMW and Porsche’s decisions.

“We have had vibration issues not only affecting the hybrid system, but various other parts on the car,” he says. “We did a thorough analysis and we were thinking of a change (like Porsche) on the engine concept, but we identified all the areas and found solutions, which means we can stick to the concept.

“We never had many issues with the MGU; it was other parts of the car where we had issues that we had to fix. One part was the steering wheel. We were analyzing vibrations in the whole car, and one part was the steering wheel.”

Software is another area in which BMW has made progress with the M Hybrid V8. The complex systems behind the current set of LMH and LMDh cars can be tweaked and refined pretty freely. And, as Conti explained, there’s far more to it than just updating the car’s traction control.

“TC is one part for sure; you can always work on that and improve, and that’s critical for us,” he says. “But there are other functions on the car that you want to develop. You can influence the balance and also its performance under braking because it’s hydraulic, it’s in combination with the hybrid system and the re-gen. You want to play with these areas.

“You also have a power curve which you have to follow and with vibrations and oscillations, and it’s very hard to match the power. Sometimes, you overshoot, you undershoot, and you have to work out the margins and reduce them. Software never ends.

“And on this car, opposite to Formula E, it’s very aero-driven, and this is where we have to learn. The aero is frozen but you have to find the optimal window to run the car on the track and the differences here are the three types of tires and sometimes it’s not clear.”

Managing tire warm-up is a critical part of the performance equation in both IMSA and WEC. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

As BMW and its teams have learned more about the M Hybrid V8, they have found ways to improve tire warm-up, too.

With no tire warmers in either IMSA or the WEC, every manufacturer has had to find ways to get their cars up to speed as quickly as possible after each pit stop, to avoid bleeding away time on out-laps. There is still room for improvement in this area, though.

“Tire warm-up is a big thing,” Conti stresses. “With LMH and LMDh, there are differences because they have the MGU at the front and when they get away they can spin the front wheels, so for us bringing the front wheels up to temperature is still a struggle. And that’s not the only advantage.”

So while no evo Jokers are expected anytime soon — in part because the M Hybrid V8’s reliability is “knock on wood, OK” and in a “stable window” according to Conti — there’s cause for optimism. There is the belief that this uptick in form from BMW can and will carry over to the 2025 season, where expectations will be even higher.

Will we see BMW challenge for titles and major race wins at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans? Taking that step, according to Roos, is going to take “something from everyone to give the drivers what they need to be consistently fast.”

Beyond convergence: How IMSA is raising sports car racing’s profile

Sitting in the press conference room at Daytona back in January of 2020, when IMSA and the ACO first revealed the global LMDh concept, paving the way for the “convergence” of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship’s top categories, it was hard to imagine how it would play out. It all sounded great, but would it work?

That day, senior representatives from the sport’s governing bodies and manufacturers described the LMDh reveal as a “game changer,” “a sensible approach,” “enormous,” “huge” and “historic.” Yet nobody truly knew where things would lead, or whether manufacturers would come in numbers when when the ruleset debuted globally.

Fast forward four years and we have a growing IMSA GTP field that will feature six factories next year and a WEC Hypercar grid with almost 20 full-season cars from nine manufacturers. It’s taken off and the task at hand is now very different.

Before, the focus of the rule-makers was to build the grids, attract new manufacturers and encourage investment for the future. Now, it’s about sustaining what we have and building an audience for on-track products that have never looked better.

Looking specifically at IMSA, it’s fair to say that within the castle walls the level of growth that the WeatherTech Championship is experiencing is currently exceeding all expectations. IMSA President John Doonan is buoyed by recent progress, yet remains far from complacent.

This astonishing era of convergence in sports car racing is peaking, and fast. Crowds are attending races in record numbers on almost a weekly basis and broadcast viewing figures are on an upward curve globally.

But Doonan knows as well as anyone that it can all change in a heartbeat. This is an area of motorsport which is cyclical by nature, with manufacturers coming and going as rulesets evolve. Right now we are in the midst of an era that will be looked back on fondly for decades to come, yet champagne celebrations are not a weekly feature at head offices. Nobody at IMSA is under the illusion that it will last forever.

As a result, the hard work hasn’t stopped and is ongoing behind the scenes to build the audience for IMSA’s WeatherTech Championship and its support series. The foundations are important — they need to be as strong as possible so any and all future storms can be weathered.

IMSA’s revitalization in the LMDh era has gone hand in hand with a concerted push into digital media. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

A great example of IMSA’s forward thinking came back in March, when it began streaming races for free on YouTube at Sebring for fans outside the U.S. IMSA didn’t promote this addition to its broadcast offering that week; instead, it was a soft launch. The powers that be wanted to see what would happen if broadcasts were placed on its channel — which has a following of more than 350,000 people and potential for growth via “the algorithm” — with no promotion.

It was, quite literally, an overnight success. The live race broadcast for the 12 Hours now sits on the IMSA Channel with 542 thousand views and prompted the decision to add YouTube as a permanent home for race broadcasts alongside its desktop platform and app.

With moves like this, IMSA is seizing the moment. The WeatherTech Championship may be based in the U.S. (with the exception of the annual race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park), but the “I” in IMSA stands for “International” and as time goes on, growing and servicing the championship’s global fan base is becoming more of a priority.

“With convergence, sports car racing is in the spotlight more than at any point we’ve seen in our careers,” Doonan explains to RACER. “When we moved to YouTube at Sebring, for the oldest endurance race in America, we had about 500,000 viewers live at the peak during that broadcast. We had high hopes, but that was beyond what we thought was possible.

“The North American market is incredibly important to our OEMs, our drivers, and our partners. IMSA is the largest ‘international’ racing series in North America. Those two points, coupled with the fact that we have 18 manufacturers choosing to compete with us and dozens of drivers from all around the world on our grid, means that getting our IMSA product and broadcasts in front of a growing international audience is incredibly important.”

Balancing the needs and expectations of fans alongside those of OEM principals like GM’s Todd Christensen *(right)* is critical to the growth strategy being executed by IMSA President John Doonan. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

Post-Sebring, the data has continued to provide encouraging signs. The audience outside the USA didn’t just tune in for the race with the highest profile and bolt. Instead, Doonan revealed, fans have stayed put, making for a remarkable statistical jump year on year.

“We had 4.3 million hours watched on YouTube in 2023, and through the year to date so far we’ve had 15 million hours watched. It’s a special opportunity for us and we’re really happy,” he says. “It’s making our manufacturers and partners happy too. The North American market has been named by almost every single manufacturer as the most important market for them when it comes to growing a brand.

“But with 18 manufacturers, their global headquarters may not be in the USA — they may be elsewhere. So, giving their executive teams — and people in the boardroom who agree racing is a proper marketing tool and an R&D tool — an easy way to view the races and see their return on investment is critical.

“Alpine (a target for IMSA in GTP going forward) is a tremendous example. They want to come to the U.S. and sell road cars. If you bring the racing program as part of the brand launch, it’s an authentic way to launch a brand. To do that you need lots of elements, retail locations and a distribution network, but you need awareness more than anything else. What better way to get that than via showing the public what you can do on track?”

Pages: 12

IndyCar vs IMSA GTP hybrids: The cars and components

RACER’s Marshall Pruett breaks down the similarities and differences between IndyCar’s new supercapacitor-based hybrids and IMSA’s lithium-ion-based hybrid GTPs with a first installment focused on the cars and components.

Heart of Racing readies for next step to GTP/Hypercar

Heart of Racing has already sealed its place in North American sports car racing history, but the team could be on the cusp of creating a worldwide motorsports dynasty. Heart of Racing returned to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition …

Heart of Racing has already sealed its place in North American sports car racing history, but the team could be on the cusp of creating a worldwide motorsports dynasty.

Heart of Racing returned to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition with Aston Martin in 2020, starting with a single Vantage GT3 in the GTD class. Since then, the team has expanded to a second car in IMSA running GTD PRO, into SRO Pirelli GT4 America and GT America, the FIA World Endurance Championship, and even the 24h Series, drifting, and Fun Cup.

Next year, however, is when the team will make its mark in the top level of sports car racing, running Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercars in WEC and the WeatherTech Championship GTP class.

“I’m living my dream,” says team principal and driver Ian James. “Even when we started and we had one GT car, that was an amazing feat. It was just an amazing realization of getting a team up and running and competing. To have two cars here, to have one car in WEC this year, to have the GT4 program — and I’m very proud of our female initiative — running some Creventic races … and in all those arenas, typically running towards the front with some of the mainstays of GT racing. So I’m very proud of the men and women of the team that that make this happen. And to be breaking into the top line, it’s just an amazing feeling. I feel very honored and proud and lucky to be able to spearhead that effort.”

In its four years of IMSA competition with Aston Martin, there have been numerous wins for the Phoenix-area-based team, including double GTD PRO and GTD victories at Watkins Glen in 2022 and Lime Rock Park in 2023, and wins in the big bookend races of the season, the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Motul Petit Le Mans. HoR secured the GTD team championship and the driver championship for Roman De Angelis in 2022.

In 2024 it introduced the Vantage GT3 Evo to competition, and while the transition to the new car hasn’t been flawless, the team took a strategy-fueled victory for Alex Riberas and Ross Gunn in last month’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. Gunn and the team are solidly in the GTD PRO championship fight — Riberas is doing double duty in WEC and has missed some IMSA races — sitting third in the points ahead of the race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

“I would say it’s without a doubt one of my proudest wins, because it was such a big team effort,” said Riberas after the Glen victory. “We were down for a bit. We did some mistakes. And I would say that that really is a test for the team. It’s never the first mistake that is the costly one. It’s always the second and the third mistake, and today we didn’t let the first mistake dictate our fate for the rest of the race. We stayed together. We didn’t point fingers or panic. We stayed focused on controlling what we could control and making the most out of it. Ultimately, that ended up leading to making a decision that had a big impact in the outcome of the race. And with the luck on our side, we ended up in in victory lane which is really amazing.”

Heart of Racing’s GTD PRO victory at Watkins Glen with its Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo was a testament to the team’s character, says Riberas. Richard Dole/Motorsport Images

In other arenas, Riberas, James and Daniel Mancinelli were running second in LMGT3 at Le Mans when Mancinelli had to go off the dry line on Sunday morning to avoid contact and ended up sliding off track and into a tire barrier at Indianapolis corner, ending their chances. Hannah Grisham and Hannah Greenemeier have an Am victory in Pirelli GT4 America in 2024, although that series changed driver rankings mid-season and moved them to Pro-Am, where Gray Newell and De Angelis are third in the points.

And then there’s the VW Fun Cup, where Grisham and Greenemeier recently ran a four-hour race at Le Mans. Based (loosely) on the Volkswagen Beetle, the Fun Cup has become quite a phenomenon. The series runs it own 25-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps, and Heart of Racing has used that race to provide a unique experience for guests.

“Last year we did the Fun Cup, the 25 hours and we run the two seater car there. It’s a chance to move 30 to 35 guests through a car and actually participate in a race in the passenger side,” says James. “So we’re familiar with that that car and then when the Fun Cup race came up at Le Mans, it was a chance to get the two Hannahs in there. Our goal is to try and promote them as far as we can, so as long as they keep delivering, which they are and they’re doing a great job. I’d like to think one day we can get get them to Le Mans.”

And in all this, the team has continued to pursue what team founder Gabe Newell envisioned from the start, raising money for Seattle Children’s Hospital. That amount is somewhere north of $10 million.

The Valkyrie is a natural next step for HOR’s partnership with Aston Martin.

The future certainly holds a host of unknowns for Heart of Racing as it expands into GTP and Hypercar. The short term future, though, is going to be quite busy as the team and Aston Martin try to form the Valkyrie into a fast and reliable race car, and on-track testing is expected to begin this month, first in Europe out of its base in Brackley, UK and later in the U.S. as the weather changes.

“We’ve gone through the mule testing stage and verification of a lot of the systems. The design is basically finalized. All the wind tunnel and CFD work is is complete. I believe most of the sign-off stuff is done with the ACO and FIA and we should have the first car on the ground in July for its for its rollout,” James says.

When the Valkyrie makes its competition debut, Aston Martin will be one of the few manufacturers to have nearly every level of sports car racing covered. For James, its a source of pride that Heart of Racing is representing them on the worldwide stage.

“If you look at Aston’s commitment, they are one of the only manufacturers that has every tier of sports car racing covered when the Valkyrie comes online — GT4 all the way to Hypercar,” he says. “It’s a small brand, but motorsport is a big part of their identity. So I’m grateful that the leadership there has that, and with Gabe’s help we’re managing to race all around the world and represent them.”

Meyer Shank confirms IMSA GTP return with Acura in 2025

Meyer Shank Racing is returning to IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2025 with a resumption of its factory hybrid GTP program with Acura and Honda Racing Corporation US. The new multi-year deal also adds a second Acura ARX-06 to its …

Meyer Shank Racing is returning to IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2025 with a resumption of its factory hybrid GTP program with Acura and Honda Racing Corporation US.

The new multi-year deal also adds a second Acura ARX-06 to its stable. As revealed by RACER in May, the Ohio-based MSR emerged as a surprising top candidate to take the Acura program from Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti after losing its single-car factory deal to WTRA for 2024.

With its contract with WTRAndretti up at the end of the year, ongoing talks with multiple teams took place, and with WTRAndretti and Cadillac having agreed to reunite in 2025, which remains unconfirmed, Acura’s two-car ARX-06 effort needed a new home. And with MSR’s championship-winning IMSA DPi run for Acura in 2022 and its front-running efforts in 2023 amid its tire-pressure cheating scandal at Daytona, the Japanese brand had a turnkey, title-contending solution at its disposal with MSR.

“First, on behalf of everyone at Meyer Shank Racing, I want to express our gratitude to David Salters and everyone at HRC and Acura for giving us this opportunity,” said MSR co-owner Mike Shank. “We are supremely grateful to have earned this new opportunity and everyone on the team is looking forward to day one in our new relationship with Acura, and the new role we’ll be playing in HRC US’s IMSA program.”

Along with co-owner Jim Meyer, Shank built MSR into an IMSA powerhouse as the team delivered a pair of GTD championships for Acura in the GTD class and added a prototype title in 2022. The relationship with Acura/HRC US will expand under the new agreement as MSR will run both cars on behalf of the company and welcome a race engineering team from the brand to lead one of the ARX-06s.

“Running our own GTP car is the next, exciting step for our associates at HRC US,” said HRC US president David Salters. “We race to develop our people and technology and we are thrilled to be partnering with MSR to race our ARX-06 against some of the world’s best sportscar teams. This is why the next logical step for us is (to) race engineer our own car: buckle-up HRC boys and girls!”

No drivers were mentioned in the announcement, but RACER understands MSR’s effective duo of Colin Braun and Tom Blomqvist will be reunited in one car. Candidates for the second car can be found throughout the GTP paddock as the Cadillac Racing duo of Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande are in search of new opportunities once their Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac program heads to WTRA at the end of the season.

Action Express Racing’s Pipo Derani is a new free agent, and at least one driver from Porsche Penske Motorsport is expected to be on the move after the October 12 finale at Motul Petit Le Mans.

WTRAndretti team principal Wayne Taylor expressed his gratitude for the time spent representing Acura.

“We have had a successful run with HRC and Acura these past four years,” he said. “When it came to renewal, we listened and took their future plans into serious consideration, but in the end, felt we needed to go in a different direction moving forward. With three key races left in the season, our plan is to continue to focus on winning more podiums and races for Acura and to end the year strong. We are looking forward to announcing our plans for 2025 in the very near future.”

IMSA season preview: GTP

Year two for the Grand Touring Prototype category looks very similar to year one in terms of cars, teams and drivers. But it should be vastly different. In its inaugural season, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s new GTP class had its …

Year two for the Grand Touring Prototype category looks very similar to year one in terms of cars, teams and drivers. But it should be vastly different.

In its inaugural season, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s new GTP class had its teething pains. The cars had some reliability issues, teams struggled to come to grips with all the new tools they had at their disposal, and sometimes those tools were a hammer when they needed a fine screwdriver. It was a season, as Pipo Derani put it, that no one wanted to win. So how differently could the sophomore season pan out?

“There will be tracks that some other manufacturers will be better and we really have to maximize the ones we have a better chance — and I’m sure they’ll be doing this on their side,” said Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Felipe Nasr. “But I just feel, if you look half-season to the end, everybody was operating better. Everybody was understanding the car better — drivers making less mistakes, drivers making the most of the car and the understanding clearing traffic, because the difference of speed is different. I think one year under our belts makes a big difference, not only for us as Porsche Penske Motorsport, but I guess everybody else now has a better understanding of the series, the rules, the running of the car. You put that all together I think everybody’s going for another level of competitiveness.”

[lawrence-related id=345479,345605,345440]

Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti doubles up with a second Acura ARX-06 this season. Richard Dole/Lumen

As differently as the season may unfold, the cars and teams look very similar to last year. The big change is Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti running the second Acura ARX-06 that was the purview of Meyer Shank Racing last season. The team brought Jordan Taylor back to partner last year’s third driver in the No. 10, Louis Deletraz, who is relishing his new full-season role in the No. 40 Acura.

“Confidence is high. I’m very happy to be here this way because it’s my first [full season] in GTP and I’ve been the last three years very successful in prototypes,” the 2023 WEC LMP2 champ says. “It’s the step I was waiting to do. So I think I couldn’t be in a better position in the factory Acura team with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, Jordan as a teammate… we have a top lineup, no ego, a lot of experience between him and me, and still young and fun, so I’m really excited.”

Colton Herta will be the third driver in the No. 40 Acura for the Michelin Endurance Cup events. The driver lineup for the No. 10 retains its core of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor, with Brendon Hartley in for MEC. The team had its first winless season in more than a decade last year, though they still managed to finish second in the championship. But now running both Acuras should definitely bring WTRAndretti some wins in 2024.

BMW M Team RLL had a rough start to the season, but regrouped quickly. The big change for the team is swapping Augusto Farfus for Finnish driver Jesse Krohn in the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8. Farfus will join in for the longer endurance races. Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly continue together in the No. 25 M Hybrid V8, Maxime Martin joining them at Daytona, Sebring and Petit Le Mans. The No. 25 squad inherited the win at Watkins Glen last season, and scored another five podium finishes to head into the finale with a shot at the title. They’ll be looking for more this season.

“In general, I feel so much more prepared than than this time last year, but I guess it’s true for every driver,” says Yelloly. “We know we’ve had more mileage, we’re more relaxed in the procedures, how it’s actually going to be racing into Turn 1 and how a double stint is going to feel. So in that sense, I feel like the racing will probably be brought even closer together throughout the whole manufacturers and drivers through the year, and it’s going to be pretty exciting to watch.”

Yelloly is counting on a year’s worth of experience to bring BMW’s M Hybrid V8 further into the GTP mix. Jake Galstad/Lumen

Cadillac claimed the manufacturers’ championship last season, with the Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing squad grabbing the inaugural GTP title with Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims, helped along by exceptional reliability. Sims has moved back to racing a Corvette Z06 GT3.R in GTD PRO, so the team has elevated last year’s endurance addition, Jack Aitken, into the full-time position with Derani, and added Tom Blomqvist to the roster for endurance events. The team is off to a great start, Derani putting the No. 31 V-Series.R on pole for the Rolex with a new track record.

“It feels pretty natural,” Aitken says. “I was lucky enough to join the team last year for the endurance stuff and already felt pretty comfortable. It’s just a small step and I have continuity with the team, with the car, with Pipo as my teammate. So it’s all kind of laid out in the best way possible.

“I think they say in sport, the hardest thing to do is to repeat, right? So it would be great if we could have the same level of competition that we had last year, between all the manufacturers and the teams, and I think we will. I think it’s going to be incredibly hard and not as forgiving of mistakes as it was last year, because people have refined their programs now. But I think we’ve got as good a chance as anyone. We’ve got one of the strongest lineups on the grid. I know the car is strong, the team is strong.”

Chip Ganassi Racing keeps one of the longer partnerships in IMSA going, Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande continuing to driver the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R. The team struggled a bit last season, but both drivers say the issues are sorted and they feel ready to go. Scott Dixon will join the team for the MEC events.

Porsche Penske Motorsport has made a driver swap between its IMSA and World Endurance Championship squads, bringing Dane Cameron back to run the North American series with Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche 963, and sending Matt Campbell to WEC, although Campbell will still be in the car for endurance events.

Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy scored two victories last season; had they not had the issue with a too-worn skid plank on the No. 6 963 in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, they would have been champions. They continue as the full-season drivers in the No. 6, joined by Kevin Estre for the endurance events. With the success they had last year, you’d think Jaminet would be optimistic, but he has some reservations.

“I hope it’s going to stay extremely close, and that everybody’s going to get a shot at winning pretty much every race like we saw last year. But on the other hand, I’m a bit worried that one car could really dominate,” he said. “If we look at the season, in terms of pure speed, I think one car has an advantage, or seems quite strong on every track, and this is the Acura,. There were a lot of failures; they had a lot of mistakes as well. I’m pretty sure if they sort this out, they will be the team to beat and the cars to beat. Hopefully it’s not the case and we have a championship which is super open. And because of the IMSA dynamic of races, I’m sure it’s going to still stay open for for a while, because there is always drama happening.”

The two privateer Porsche 963s seem on more solid footing than last season. JDC-Miller MotorSports continues with Tijmen van der Helm, replacing now-Mustang driver Mike Rockenfeller with Richard Westbrook in the No. 85 963. Proton Competition will run Gianmaria Bruni and Neel Jani in the No. 5 963, now in Mustang Sampling colors.

GTP then vs now: Bobby Rahal and Wayne Taylor on past and present

GTP – it’s a name that is designed to reflect the past while looking to the future. The past was a time when the likes of Porsche, Jaguar, Nissan and Toyota dueled it out on America’s great racetracks and a few city streets. But there were also …

GTP — it’s a name that is designed to reflect the past while looking to the future. The past was a time when the likes of Porsche, Jaguar, Nissan and Toyota dueled it out on America’s great racetracks and a few city streets. But there were also chassis from Spice or Intrepid mated to Chevrolet and Cosworth engines.

Where today we have drivers the likes of Filipe Albuquerque, Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Sebastien Bourdais, Connor de Phillippi, Pipo Derani, Mathieu Jaminet, Felipe Nasr, Ricky Taylor, Renger van der Zande, back then it was Derek Bell, Geoff Brabham, Juan Manuel Fangio II, Al Holbert, Chip Robinson … and let’s not forget Bobby Rahal and Wayne Taylor.

Yes, two of IMSA’s current GTP team owners were there for the original GTP, which had its last race in October of 1993 at Portland International Raceway. The original GTP had lasted for 12 years. Thirty years after its demise in favor of the World Sports Car formula, GTP was reborn in IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship comprised of LMDh cars and, should they choose to join, FIA Hypercars. How do they compare, and is the current battle of Acura vs. BMW vs. Cadillac vs. Porsche worthy of the GTP name?

“They’re, relatively speaking, the most sophisticated [sports racing cars] just as the old GTP cars were,” says Rahal. “The cars were much simpler than they are today, but just the fact that they were very exciting cars to watch, and exciting cars to drive. Fast, obviously. Great names like Porsche, Jaguar, March — it wasn’t obviously a production car manufacturer, but still produced great race cars. It was just an exciting time, back in the ’80s, with GTP. And here we are, 30, 40 years later, and resurrected the class again. The fans certainly love them, because they’re very dynamic cars to watch. Aside from that, they look right, they’re fast, they tick all the boxes — very similar to what the the original GTP cars did.”

Having witnessed both eras of GTP, Bobby Rahal appreciates the finer points of each. Motorsport Images

Rahal may have cemented his reputation as one of America’s great racing drivers in Indy cars, where he won three CART championships and the 1986 Indianapolis 500. But after his fledgling open-wheel career, and before and during his IndyCar years, he raced sports cars to great effect, including stints in Can-Am, GT and culminating in GTP. Since 2008 he has been BMW’s partner in IMSA, with the Z4, M6 and M8 GT3 and GTLM cars, and now the M Hybrid V8 GTP cars. The Nos. 24 and 25 are campaigned full time by Philip Eng/Augusto Farfus and Connor de Phillippi/Nick Yelloly.

Wayne Taylor, on the other hand, has made his fame in sports car racing, first as a driver and now team principal of Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, which fields the No. 10 Acura ARX-06 for son Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque. Most of his success as a driver, including a pair of championships, came during the World Sports Car era. However he had many years in GTP cars, most notably the Intrepid RM-1 Chevrolet, in which he scored the only victory for the car in New Orleans. If there’s one glaring omission for Taylor from the original GTP era to today, it’s the fact that a car like the Intrepid couldn’t exist in the modern world of factory-supported prototype racing.

“But then again, you couldn’t make this happen then, right?” he says of the current LMDh cars. “Now with the amount of technology and aerodynamics, these cars are clearly better cars than those cars were. But if you think that was, what, 1991 — some 30 years ago — to do the speeds that we did in those cars, compared to today is pretty amazing.”

Wayne Taylor and the Intrepid RM-1 Chevrolet on the streets of New Orleans in 1991. William Murenbeeld/Motorsport Images

The original GTP was mostly privateers until Nissan with Electramotive and Toyota with Dan Gurney’s All American Racers began dominating with factory efforts — the thing that effectively killed the class, along with GTP-similar Group C fading in the FIA World Sports Car Championship. Today all but JDC-Miller Motorsports and, soon, Proton Competition, are factory-backed teams.

“There really weren’t factories involved in the ’80s, until probably the Electramotive showed up, and that was clearly funded by Nissan,” notes Rahal. “And, of course, then Toyota came in with Gurney, same thing. Those were factory efforts similar to what we’re doing with BMW and Wayne and Mike [Shank] are doing with Acura, and now we’re factory efforts. And, you know, that kind of killed IMSA originally, because there was maybe only one or two factories involved, but now you’ve got five or six.

“I know, they’re supposed to be able to be run by privateers and what have you, but knowing what I know about these cars… it’s a very different level of expectation now, because of the complexity and the fact that the factories are actually designing and building these cars. We have BoP now, which we never had back in those days. And I’d love to see a series without BoP but I guess that’s just not going to happen anytime soon. So that just comes down to hoping that the regulators are able to rule fairly and ensure that there is competition within the category. But for the first year, I think GTP has been unqualified success.”

Wayne Taylor has seen both sides of GTP as a driver and now as car owner for son Ricky and Filipe Albuquerque. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

Both men tasted success in the original GTP era, although neither claimed a championship during the period. While most of Taylor’s success as a driver came in the World Sports Car era that followed, he looks back on the GTP days, and especially the Intrepid, as a great — if dangerous — time.

“The intrepid was a very special racing car,” Taylor remembers. “It had over 750 horsepower normally aspirated. It had 4000 pounds of downforce on the nose at 150mph. At Lime Rock through Big Bend, you could literally go flat through there. Because of the G forces, I remember that we had to strap our legs up, me and Tommy Kendall, because we physically couldn’t hold our legs up because of the speed.

“But in those days, we had no telemetry, we had no track overlays, we had no electronics. Although when we were doing it at the time, we thought, ‘Wow, this is like really modern stuff,’ you know. But now, when I look back, compared to what my sons are driving today, it’s so, so different. And so much more input comes from the driver — the driver has many more tools inside the cars to make them faster and make them do different things for them. Whereas in our day, you know, we had a steering wheel (and) a gear lever. We had no paddle shifters, we had no HANS devices, we had no no-lift shifts. And the engineers and the mechanics had to believe what we told them. Today you can’t just tell them you’re flat through that corner … they look on the computer and they can see, ‘Well, no, he’s talking BS.’”

Rahal’s best GTP moments came in what is arguably his best season as a race driver, 1987. A victory at in the Twelve Hours of Sebring, plus wins in his hometown and at his home track, coupled with his second of three Indy Car Series titles, made it a most memorable year.

“Winning Sebring in ’87 with Jochen Mass in the 962 Porsche, which was a fantastic race car,” he recalls. “In ’87 I did five IMSA races and I won three of them and I was second in the other two. So winning in Columbus, winning at Mid Ohio … that was a special year, special season, special summer, because in ’87, I also won my second IndyCar championship. So we won a lot of races that year, and three of them in the 962. That was just a wonderful car to drive and Bayside Disposal was a great team, good people.”

Bobby Rahal’s first IMSA GTP era exploits included a memorable stint in the Bayside Disposal Racing Porsche 962 in 1987. William Murenbeeld/Motorsport Images

The original GTP era, as Taylor notes, is one to remember: “It was certainly an era that people won’t forget, because there were some beautiful cars. Racing against Geoff Brabham and Chip Robinson I remember was fantastic. We had a lot of great fun together racing against the Toyotas, Dan Gurney’s All American Eagles. It was really good racing.”

The first four races of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship — with four different winners across three marques — suggest that this era of GTP, as different as it is from the first, may be remembered just as fondly.

OPINION: GTP is fulfilling its promises

Can you name the last time neither a Cadillac nor an Acura were on the podium of an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race? After Saturday’s Porsche-BMW-Porsche result at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, I asked that question myself, and it …

The satisfaction of Saturday’s result comes not in the failure of those stalwart competitors who have stuck with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and whose immediate commitment to the LMDh formula that makes up the Grand Touring Prototype class was a big boost to the idea, but rather the diversity of competition. And let’s be clear, Acura has clearly built the best-out-of-the-box GTP car in the ARX-06, and Wayne Taylor Racing should have won on Saturday. But in three races, there have been three different manufacturers on the winner’s roster, and had things gone a little differently at Long Beach, it could even have been a BMW victory. While it seemed nearly impossible at Daytona, it’s likely there will be a BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 win before the end of the season.

Four manufacturers that are each capable of winning on any weekend, run by world-class teams with some of the best sports car drivers on the planet. That’s a promise fulfilled. Even if the promise was unspoken, when IMSA chose to bring back the GTP name, it was implied. Harkening back to the days of the Porsche 962s, the Jaguar XJRs, the Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo, and the all-conquering Eagle Toyotas was no accident. It was an era of intense manufacturer-based competition, where anyone could win, and did — even Wayne Taylor in a Chevrolet Intrepid. True, there were periods of domination, but there were more periods with a variety of teams and manufacturers winning each weekend. It was the era that sparked my love of sports car racing and captured the imaginations of many.

BMW M Team RLL drivers joined those of Porsche Penske Motorsports on the Long Beach podium, demonstrating the rapid gains made by both makes. Motorsport Images.

BMW and Porsche have some catching up to do in order to match Acura and Cadillac on outright pace, but the gap seems to be closing quickly. Porsche Penske Motorsports won on clever strategy, with help from misfortune and error on the part of some of the key competitors. An error-free run by WTR would have brought almost certain victory. But a win is a win, and sometimes the winner is just the one that makes the fewest mistakes and has the least trouble.

While Ricky Taylor going full-send in the closing laps of the Long Beach race wrecked WTR’s Acura — for the second race in a row after Filipe Albuquerque did the same toward the end of the Twelve Hours of Sebring — and did some damage to WTR’s title chances, it also demonstrates the importance of victory to these drivers and teams. While they may play the points game later in the season, right now it’s about standing on top of the podium. Winning is paramount.

There is part of the promise of GTP unsatisfied, however. While convergence between LMDh and Hypercar is playing out in the World Endurance Championship, where on Sunday the podium for the 6 Hours of Portimao was Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar, Ferrari 499P Hypercar and Porsche 963 LMDh, that hasn’t yet come to fruition in the WeatherTech Championship. But it’s likely the call of competing in the U.S. will prove alluring to the likes of Toyota and Ferrari.

Could we see 15 or more GTP cars at the 2024 Rolex 24 At Daytona? Yes, that’s a real possibility, with Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and Toyota all lining up, and perhaps even Peugeot and Alpine running as other brands their parent companies sell in the North American market. It’s an exciting proposition.

GTP is already fulfilling some of its promises. We can’t wait for its full potential to be realized.

Preview: IMSA GTP gets first sprint test at Long Beach

After the “36 Hours of Florida,” the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship heads west this weekend to join the NTT IndyCar Series at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The first sprint race of the year after 24- and 12-hour races — and in 2023 the only street circuit on the calendar — the 100-minute race around the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street course almost always produces some surprises.

In 2022 it was Sebastien Bourdais making a minor error in the Hairpin while leading in his Chip Ganasssi Racing Cadillac. He fell from his pole position start (pictured above) to last, and had to make his way through the field, getting back into the lead before handing over to teammate Renger van der Zande to drive it home for the win.

“I had the best time of the year, to be honest — the car was just amazing,” Bourdais recollects of the victory. “Our Cadillac DPi was was on rails, and it started off great in in qualifying with a new track record and and then, yeah … it was a very unorthodox way to win the race. Just a little mishap going down the side, got caught out a little bit with a GT going into the Hairpin. And then I figured out too late that the DPi wasn’t quite the radius maker as the Indy car, and I found myself running out of room and stopped it in the exit wall. So had to overcome a 20-second deficit or something like that and pass every single car to make it back to the lead. But nevertheless, that’s that’s how good the car was that day.”

Bourdais, who also has three straight Indy car victories at the circuit, and van der Zande will be looking for their first victory of the season to try to close the gap on Sebring winners and points leaders Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R. Derani won the race in 2021with Felipe Nasr — now racing in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 — and would love to repeat. But it may be a harder task than in recent years. In the DPi era, Cadillac had an edge on bumpier tracks, including the street circuits, but with the new Grand Touring Prototype cars, the gap to the others appears to have shrunk and perhaps disappeared. With eight GTP entries — two each from Cadillac, Acura, BMW and Porsche — it could be wide open.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]

“I think it will be way more competitive across all the manufacturers,” declares Filipe Albuquerque, co-driver of the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06. “I think we’ll be way closer. I don’t know who’s going to be the the leading manufacturer or the one that is going to be dominating it, but I’ll take those chances because it’s way better than any of them before. Coming over the last two years I was happy because it’s a nice event — it’s a nice town, a nice area. But then we knew that we were always struggling whenever we were putting on the helmet. That’s not anymore the case, so we are optimistic for that.”

Albuquerque and Taylor are second in the points, ahead of the No. 01 CGR Cadillac of Bourdais and van der Zande.

Whatever the class of car, the walls are never far from playing a key role at Long Beach. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Accompanying the GTP cars will be five GTD PRO and 15 GTD entries, racing amongst themselves, often while having to deal with fights in the other GT class, and the GTP cars coming through to lap them.

“This is 100 minutes of threading the needle through the walls,” says Bill Auberlen, who will be driving the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GTD entry with Chandler Hull and has two class victories at Long Beach. “You have the most skilled drivers in the world, and to be on the track with them is great fun. But I’m in a different category than the prototype cars, so while they are having this incredible race, I’m in a GT car just trying to keep it off the walls, trying to win this thing.

“It’s a lot of work. But when you get it right, you basically are grazing the walls with your car and you’ve pushed it to the maximum and you get on that top step of the podium, there’s nothing better in our season at all.”

Last year it was a BMW, but not Auberlen’s, that took the GTD class victory — although Auberlen did receive his place on the Grand Prix of Long Beach Walk of Fame a few days earlier. Instead, Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow took the win on their way to the GTD Sprint Cup championship for Paul Miller Racing. Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas won GTD PRO in the most improbable manner: Chasing the No. 3 Corvette before the single pit stop, the Corvette crew lost a wheel nut that ended up in the radiator of the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche. Corvette Racing received a penalty, allowing Gunn and Riberas to take victory in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

[lawrence-related id=293081]

Naturally, then, Gunn is looking forward to returning to the circuit with its signature Hairpin. And while the Hairpin that leads onto the long Shoreline Drive “straight” is certainly one of the track’s defining characteristics, Gunn has a special appreciation for the series of turns through the roundabout in front of the Aquarium of the Pacific, along with the dolphin fountain at its center.

Watch out, flowers — here come the GTs. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

“The Fountain section is probably the part of the track that is the most picturesque, and for the GTP guys, they maybe don’t take so much curb there,” Gunn explains. “But in GTs you can really use a lot of the curbs and sometimes destroy the flowerbeds. So that’s probably the fun part of the lap where you you can sometimes gain time and lose time as well.

“And yet the Hairpin, it’s also super special because it’s super-low speed and sometimes you concertina right when you’re in traffic and you can gain time or lose massively on competitors around you. One of the special things about Long Beach as well is the track evolution; it changes so much throughout the two days that we’re running because IndyCar are there and they’re putting lots of rubber down and the track is different every session. That’s one of the the enjoyable parts about driving at Long Beach, is each session you just find grip every every time.”

Gunn and the rest of the drivers will have a couple of practice sessions on Friday to sort their cars in order to prepare for qualifying at 5:15pm Pacific time/8:15pm ET. Qualifying will be carried live on IMSA.tv as well as IMSA Radio, while Saturday’s 100-minute race will be on USA Network beginning at 5pm ET. The green flag is scheduled for 2:05pm local time.