IMSA 2023

Yeah it’s a shame both Ford and Corvette have mostly kept their cars to themselves, looking forward to the Mustang and Z06 being run globally though. GT3 is a good change for everyone. It’s crazy how expensive GTE cars got and what some of the manufacturers wanted for support packages. Ben Keating said what he’s paying to run the C8.R in the WEC next year is more than what he’s paid to run an Aston Martin there the last two years combined…I liked the Wynn’s Ford GT he ran at Le Mans a few years ago, pretty much the only customer appearance from that car.
Kiante said:
*Stares at Ford in Ford GT*
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Kiante said:
Interesting development:
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This was always going to be the case, it’s already been done for a couple of years in the WEC. DragonSpeed will run in ELMS where P2 cars can run as is. IMSA and WEC won’t be short on P2 cars in 2023 without them.

Pretty whiny tbh. 2017-spec P2 cars wound up way faster than anticipated and they’ve tried to slow down LMH/LMDh from LMP1. The 2026 set of P2 regulations will likely be slower than they are now too.
 
FLRacingFan said:
This was always going to be the case, it’s already been done for a couple of years in the WEC. DragonSpeed will run in ELMS where P2 cars can run as is. IMSA and WEC won’t be short on P2 cars in 2023 without them.

Pretty whiny tbh. 2017-spec P2 cars wound up way faster than anticipated and they’ve tried to slow down LMH/LMDh from LMP1. The 2026 set of P2 regulations will likely be slower than they are now too.
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There will be about 10 or so LMP2 entries, which is more than enough. I can see it as being whiny and ELMS is where the LMP2 category is the star of the show. What lever works for Julian and his organization is all that matters to me. Just a shame after an all-star performance being put on last year. I enjoy seeing teams come back to defend championships.

Show goes on without them.
 
Kiante said:
There will be about 10 or so LMP2 entries, which is more than enough.
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That isn’t even including the P2 teams left on the reserve list either.

It’s certainly a bit disappointing both that they’re acting like this and that they’re not entering since they have a solid history here and usually bring strong lineups with them. I’m hoping they’re not burning any bridges on their way out, that sort of stuff won’t make any friends in Daytona.

I think many underestimate just how quick this set of P2 cars are. 2020 Le Mans pole time was a 3:24.5, the last year of the previous regs in 2016 was a 3:36.6! Even this year the “nerfed” P2 pole time was a 3:28.3. For comparison, the 2020 figure would’ve been good for overall pole in 2011, the last year of the LMP1 diesel wars. The 2022 figure would still be good for overall pole in 2006, ahead of the R10 TDI. Pretty incredible for what’s essentially a spec class.
 
Of course, if anyone wants to pinpoint and blame the source of the domino effect that actually led to this, blame Aston Martin.
 
Michael using money from his possible F1 program to make this happen? This is wild, I wonder what Michael has in store for this in the future.
 
Kinda disappointing Andretti couldn’t put their own program together. If they can help put the second GTP entry together for 2024 and work with Honda to get to Le Mans it’d be nice. Wayne doesn’t have anything left to accomplish besides Le Mans and so far the decision to move from GM to HPD to accomplish that isn’t aging too well.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Wayne doesn’t have anything left to accomplish besides Le Mans and so far the decision to move from GM to HPD to accomplish that isn’t aging too well.
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The move to Acura baffled me too. The Caddy program was going so well why change?


We're getting an extra car out of the deal, but I'm greedy and was hoping Mikey would run more cars. He's certainly capable of it.
 
Doc Austin said:
The move to Acura baffled me too. The Caddy program was going so well why change?


We're getting an extra car out of the deal, but I'm greedy and was hoping Mikey would run more cars. He's certainly capable of it.
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Andretti is already spread thin in some areas.

I think this is a good enough situation for them. Not sure why Wayne switched, but maybe because of the fact Chip was coming back and recieved Cadillac/GM factory support? At least IMHO.
 
Doc Austin said:
The move to Acura baffled me too. The Caddy program was going so well why change?


We're getting an extra car out of the deal, but I'm greedy and was hoping Mikey would run more cars. He's certainly capable of it.
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HPD was offering more support than GM was at the time - not a full factory effort like it was previously with Penske, but still - and had made a commitment to LMDh, with an eye towards Le Mans, while GM hadn’t decided their future yet. Of course, things changed pretty quickly and a few months later GM signed Ganassi as a factory team and committed to LMDh shortly thereafter. Now Acura are the only manufacturer without any confirmed WEC/Le Mans programs while Cadillac are probably looking at three cars on the grid next June.

Andretti and WTR need to get Japan on board to get a WEC program going in some capacity, or else that Le Mans ambition is never going to materialize.
 
Kiante said:
Andretti is already spread thin in some areas.
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He's expanding pretty big with that new facility. I'm sure they will have the resources.
Kiante said:
I think this is a good enough situation for them. Not sure why Wayne switched, but maybe because of the fact Chip was coming back and recieved Cadillac/GM factory support? At least IMHO.
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Apparently, they will expand to two cars next year, so that's another good car.

I'm pretty sure at least one of the Taylor brothers (if not both) will get an Indycar test soon. It would be cool if we had more crossover between IMSA and Indycar.
 
FLRacingFan said:
HPD was offering more support than GM was at the time - not a full factory effort like it was previously with Penske, but still - and had made a commitment to LMDh, with an eye towards Le Mans, while GM hadn’t decided their future yet. Of course, things changed pretty quickly and a few months later GM signed Ganassi as a factory team and committed to LMDh shortly thereafter. Now Acura are the only manufacturer without any confirmed WEC/Le Mans programs while Cadillac are probably looking at three cars on the grid next June.

Andretti and WTR need to get Japan on board to get a WEC program going in some capacity, or else that Le Mans ambition is never going to materialize.
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Mmmmm. That does seem like the major question in play. If the execs in Japan give the Acuras the nod to play in WEC or possibly rebrand to Honda would be huge.
 
Doc Austin said:
He's expanding pretty big with that new facility. I'm sure they will have the resources.

Apparently, they will expand to two cars next year, so that's another good car.

I'm pretty sure at least one of the Taylor brothers (if not both) will get an Indycar test soon. It would be cool if we had more crossover between IMSA and Indycar.
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I'm not sure, I feel as the IndyCar program has suffered so much after Michael started to focus on different ventures. However, he's taken risks and has found a method to make money racing. I'm not sure about Ricky or Jordan testing, I'd honestly love to see Jordan in a NextGen car.
 
Kiante said:
Mmmmm. That does seem like the major question in play. If the execs in Japan give the Acuras the nod to play in WEC or possibly rebrand to Honda would be huge.
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Rebrand to Honda would probably be necessary since Acura is pretty specific to North America, but the rebranding between the two for the NSX is pretty seamless so I think it’d be pretty reasonable to pull off.
 
Michael is pretty great at putting together commercial packages - a lot like Zak Brown - but I do wonder about spreading focus thin beyond a certain point. They definitely have to clean up their act in Indy.

I’d actually bet Ricky will get an IndyCar test again someday, he got one with a Penske Chevy after winning the Rolex with GM back in 2017 and supposedly Bobby Rahal was interested in him recently too.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Rebrand to Honda would probably be necessary since Acura is pretty specific to North America, but the rebranding between the two for the NSX is pretty seamless so I think it’d be pretty reasonable to pull off.
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Good to know.

Also, there were rumors that Jarett Andretti was moving to GTD with Aston Martin. I guess that will change now with this agreement.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Michael is pretty great at putting together commercial packages - a lot like Zak Brown - but I do wonder about spreading focus thin beyond a certain point. They definitely have to clean up their act in Indy.
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Teams get good and then they suck, and then they get good again. Mikey's Indycar team is just in that sucky transition period, but they will get better. It's all cyclical. Between working this merger with Taylor and trying to put an F1 deal and team together, I'de say the one thing you'de have to worry about spreading too thin would be Mikey himself.

Mikey got to the point where it was "expand or die," so he's expanding. You gotta admit Mikey has built a formidable business.
FLRacingFan said:
I’d actually bet Ricky will get an IndyCar test again someday, he got one with a Penske Chevy after winning the Rolex with GM back in 2017 and supposedly Bobby Rahal was interested in him recently too.
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Mikey's team is full, so I wouldn't expect much more than just a test. However, seeing Ricky or Jordan at the speedway would be pretty epic.
 
Kiante said:
Good to know.

Also, there were rumors that Jarett Andretti was moving to GTD with Aston Martin. I guess that will change now with this agreement.
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I believe I read in Racer that Jarret will be racing in P3.

racer.com

Wayne Taylor Racing teams up with Andretti Autosport in IMSA

Former American Le Mans Series powerhouse and current part-time IMSA LMP3 contender Andretti Autosport has purchased an ownership stake in Wayne Taylor Racing and formed the new Wayne Taylor Racing…
racer.com racer.com
 
Kiante said:
Good to know.

Also, there were rumors that Jarett Andretti was moving to GTD with Aston Martin. I guess that will change now with this agreement.
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LMP3 Endurance Cup and Aston Martin GTD Sprint Cup is the rumor. Jarett’s program is separate from the WTR alliance and based out of the Andretti shop.

I believe the GTD Endurance Cup NSX program with Ashton Harrison falls under the alliance/WTR shop.
 
Good to see the privateers being taken care of by Porsche. We knew that would happen, especially with Porsche, but now the rest need to cough up some cars if we want an epic sport.
 
Soon.

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West said:
I guess those are harder to come by these days if they need to advertise.View attachment 67283
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I mean LiquiMoly and H&R usually sponsors Turner, but things can change overnight sponsor wise.

They are essentially asking for a pay driver to cover enduro events for them. That is a lot to ask about three in a half weeks before the Rolex 24. Hopefully, they are able to find said driver.
 
West said:
I guess those are harder to come by these days if they need to advertise.View attachment 67283
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A bit strange as there should really be plenty of funded silvers/bronzes in theory…also, Turner are a great team, and anyone with money would find a great home with them.

They’re expanding from one to two GTD teams so I guess if all else fails they’ll run one car the whole season and the other for the Sprint Cup.
 
Maybe Christian Fittipaldi would be interested, I noticed that I inadvertently caught him in the Turner Car photo 😎

IMSA C. Fittipaldi.JPG
 
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