From Ewan Wane, the story of the 2012 American Le Mans Series race at Road America. This one was and is an absolute classic!
Friday, August 4, 2023
EDITORIAL: My ideal IMSA schedule
If I, Clifford Joseph “Skip” Bruber, were hypothetically, the President of the International Motorsports Association, here is how my schedule for the championship might look.
Round 1: Rolex 24 at Daytona *
Round 2: 12 Hours of Sebring *
Round 3: Long Beach Grand Prix (Prototype only)
Round 4: Laguna Seca Raceway (Prototype only)
Round 5: Barber Motorsport Park
Round 6: Pocono Raceway (500 kilometers)
Round 7: Detroit street course (GT only with Michelin Pilot support race)
Round 8: 6 Hours of Watkins Glen*
Round 9: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
Round 10: 4 Hours of Montreal (Gilles Villeneuve) *
Round 11: 8 Hours of Road America *
Round 12: Brainerd International Raceway doubleheader 2x 2-hour races. GT only on Saturday & Prototype only on Sunday.
Round 13: Virginia International Raceway (GT only)
Round 14: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Prototype only)
Round 15: Petit Le Mans *
I would keep all of the endurance races as they are now because of tradition and include, as Off in the Esses did, two more enduros. A 4-hour race up in Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on the St. Lawrence River and the Isle Notre Dame. This Would come right after the sprint race at Mosport and then, still in endurance mode, I would make the Road America race (like this weekend’s example) an 8-hour enduro for all five classes. But it would have to be totally in the daylight as Road America has no trackside lighting that I know of.
Start the race at 10AM and end it by dinnertime at 6PM. The Montreal 4 Hours enduro would also be on the schedule and maybe start and end in the afternoon. The Petit Le Mans would be the same as it is. 10 hours in duration from morning until night. It would be the finale, for obvious reasons. The sprint schedule is interesting. I would have the Long Beach Grand Prix and Laguna Seca’s 2 hour and 40-minute race, be slated only for prototypes, only for GTP and LMP2. Then, I would take IMSA to Barber Motorsport Park in Birmingham, Alabama. The Grand Am series raced there for a number of years and that is a regular IndyCar venue these days.
It would be great to see GTP race there and add LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD as well, for a sprint. The next race after that would be a rekindling of an event from the 1980s and the original GTP era at the oval an road course of Pocono International Raceway and why not include all classes in prototype and GT for a sprint of 2 hours and 40 minutes. Then, take IMSA back to the new downtown Detroit street course but make it a GT only event and include as a support race, a standalone event (like it was this year), for Michelin Pilot Challenge. Maybe, squeeze both races in on the same Saturday before the IndyCar race on Sunday.
Mosport Park in Canada would still be a sprint for all classes. Keep that as it is and do not change it. A twist, (although this is extremely unlikely), is to bring IMSA back to Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota, a track they have not raced on in over 40 years, since 1982. That said, there are obstacles. The track, I don’t know if it is fully up to current spec and would need either gravel traps or paved runoff. I think it is a lot like another track I will get to in mere moments, at Virginia International Raceway and the only runoff anyplace is grass. But, if it were up to snuff, I would split the weekend into two different races and have a two-hour race for the GTD Pro and GTD cars on Saturday, and then another two-hour race for prototypes (GTP and LMP2) on Sunday and include either VP Challenge or Michelin Pilot as a support series.
Keep Virginia International Raceway as a 2 hour and 40-minute sprint and make it only for GT cars and the final sprint race of the year would be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Battle on the Bricks, for all classes. So, there you have it. My version of what my ideal IMSA WeatherTech Championship race schedule would look like if I ran the series and were series President. We will see what the actual 2024 schedule looks like, and break it all down, later today, or this evening.
IMSA Heads to Road America!
From Off in the Esses.
IMSA heads to Road America for the next round of the Weathertech Championship. Here's everything you need to know!
From the official IMSA Website
From the official IMSA website, more news as we look ahead to racing at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, this weekend.
Entry List Notebook - IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America
'What the Award Embodies Is Really Special', says Trueman Frontrunner Kurtz
Be on the Hunt for WTRAndretti's Sustainable Collector Coin
Welcome (Back) to Indianapolis, IMSA!
Some Like It Hot! Teams Make Most of Indy Track Time
Thursday, August 3, 2023
NEW GTP TEAM! IMSA Road America Preview
From Ewan Wane, a preview of this weekend's IMSA WeatherTech Championship race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
More WeatherTech Championship headlines
Looking ahead to this weekend's action at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, here are more WeatherTech Championship headlines to be aware of.
Hinchcliffe Tests Kellymoss with Riley Porsche at Indianapolis
Jr III Racing Expands into Two-Car LMP3 Effort
Proton Porsche 963 in 46-Car Road America Entry
De Philippi Quickest in Two-Day Indianapolis Test
The latest Michelin IMSA Insider looks back at the last decade in the world of sports car racing. Hard to believe it has almost been that long, since I personally began seriously blogging and writing about the sport as well.
Michelin IMSA Insider: Ten to Today
Editorial comment. It was the merger to create the present form of IMSA, that inspired me to create and post on this blog in the first place.
Taylor: GTP Title Prospects Focused on "Risk Management"
Tincknell Looking to Build on Proton's Porsche 963 Debut
AWA Moves to GTD With Two-Car Corvette Effort
Road America Thursday Notebook
Selection of Future LMP2 Powerplant Underway
2025 LMP3 engine believed to be Toyota-based unit.
https://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/08/02/selection-of-future-lmp2-powerplant-underway.html
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