IMSA 2026

Doc Austin said:
Not the same Ford Motor company the broke the bank running GT40s, is it?
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We’ve seen Porsche and now Honda bail out of either championship after unsuccessfully gambling on EVs, and motorsports programs are usually first in line to be cut to try to make up for losses. Ford aren’t immune to that reality. Like I said, I do lean towards them coming, but if it were a sure thing it would’ve been announced parallel to the WEC effort.

What will also be critical beyond the state of the auto industry and the economy will be if and when everybody involved can come to a consensus on the 2030 regs. There’s some rumor that LMH and LMDh evolve into one united platform closer to what LMDh is now, potentially even utilizing the current ‘spines’ supplied by ORECA/Dallara/Multimatic to LMDh programs. Acura’s release characterized their exit as a “pause”, so this may further hint at the program being something that could be revived relatively easily come 2030. And it would also give Ford and McLaren more incentive to join if they know they can get more than two years out of their cars over here, rather than decide whether to join a lame duck class.
 
FLRacingFan said:
There’s some rumor that LMH and LMDh evolve into one united platform closer to what LMDh is now, potentially even utilizing the current ‘spines’ supplied by ORECA/Dallara/Multimatic to LMDh programs.
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Streamlining down to one type of car would certainly make BOPing a lot easier, not to mention probably making the cars more equal. Cutting cost would be another benifit.

Projected budget for an LMH is something like $35 million, which for only 9 races is just too damm much. Going to an LMDH formula would probably take a good chunk out of that. The only thing wrong with the current formula is we need more cars, and making them cheaper to run wouldn't hurt.

And I know I say this way too often, but there needs to be a provision for making cars available to privateers.
 
Doc Austin said:
Streamlining down to one type of car would certainly make BOPing a lot easier, not to mention probably making the cars more equal. Cutting cost would be another benifit.

Projected budget for an LMH is something like $35 million, which for only 9 races is just too damm much. Going to an LMDH formula would probably take a good chunk out of that. The only thing wrong with the current formula is we need more cars, and making them cheaper to run wouldn't hurt.

And I know I say this way too often, but there needs to be a provision for making cars available to privateers.
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The problem with the current arrangement - if you call it a problem, I think you can to an extent - is that it tried too hard to appease everybody. Of course, this was affected in large part by how LMH and ‘DPi 2.0’ (as LMDh was called in the initial working group) began as two completely separate concepts before anybody considered being able to run them together in one class. But the next evolution needs to acknowledge that you can’t make everybody happy and seek out the solution that benefits the most parties. For instance, Ferrari won’t participate if they don’t construct their own chassis. Peugeot won’t participate if you can’t have a bespoke battery.

There will have to be some tough decisions made. But ultimately they will have to find one solution and let the OEMs decide whether or not they want to participate. The good news is that it seems Toyota/Ferrari/Peugeot have already accepted moving from a 4WD arrangement to placing the ERS and MGU on the rear axle in conjunction with the LMDh entrants. More compromise like that will be needed moving forward.
 
FLRacingFan said:
The problem with the current arrangement - if you call it a problem, I think you can to an extent - is that it tried too hard to appease everybody. Of course, this was affected in large part by how LMH and ‘DPi 2.0’ (as LMDh was called in the initial working group) began as two completely separate concepts before anybody considered being able to run them together in one class. But the next evolution needs to acknowledge that you can’t make everybody happy and seek out the solution that benefits the most parties. For instance, Ferrari won’t participate if they don’t construct their own chassis. Peugeot won’t participate if you can’t have a bespoke battery.

There will have to be some tough decisions made. But ultimately they will have to find one solution and let the OEMs decide whether or not they want to participate. The good news is that it seems Toyota/Ferrari/Peugeot have already accepted moving from a 4WD arrangement to placing the ERS and MGU on the rear axle in conjunction with the LMDh entrants. More compromise like that will be needed moving forward.
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There was no other way I think to get the parties to agree other than to do it in the way they (IMSA/NASCAR/ACO/FIA) did it. And ultimately the differences in expenditures and priorities were going to take a toll unless this was a commercial smash hit. I don't know that it really has been even if the interest is elevated; the events outside Le Mans for WEC are all still very much a "good seats still available" situation. IMSA is comparatively successful but even that has limitations when you GTPs are only on track 8-9 times in a calendar year. People complain about the Indycar season breaks but IMSA is basically one 4-6 week break after another.

I've tried to ask questions and search the internet to understand why we don't see more customer entries in the prototype class. Part of it is the existence of LMP2 and LMP3. That's undeniable and also why they exist. But also, they exist in part because the big boy cars at the top end require too much input from manufacturers. The tech things people love about the GTP/LMDH/LMH class are also fundamentally what keep it from being able to fully resemble the great eras of prototype racing past and thus the place for the privateers is in the very class designed for them. You can argue which of "LMP2 draws away privateers" and "LMP2 was designed for privateers because top flight prototype racing couldn't be for them anymore" is the chicken and which is the egg if you desire I guess but I kinda came to my conclusion on that specific topic already.
 
virtualbalboa said:
There was no other way I think to get the parties to agree other than to do it in the way they (IMSA/NASCAR/ACO/FIA) did it. And ultimately the differences in expenditures and priorities were going to take a toll unless this was a commercial smash hit. I don't know that it really has been even if the interest is elevated; the events outside Le Mans for WEC are all still very much a "good seats still available" situation. IMSA is comparatively successful but even that has limitations when you GTPs are only on track 8-9 times in a calendar year. People complain about the Indycar season breaks but IMSA is basically one 4-6 week break after another.

I've tried to ask questions and search the internet to understand why we don't see more customer entries in the prototype class. Part of it is the existence of LMP2 and LMP3. That's undeniable and also why they exist. But also, they exist in part because the big boy cars at the top end require too much input from manufacturers. The tech things people love about the GTP/LMDH/LMH class are also fundamentally what keep it from being able to fully resemble the great eras of prototype racing past and thus the place for the privateers is in the very class designed for them. You can argue which of "LMP2 draws away privateers" and "LMP2 was designed for privateers because top flight prototype racing couldn't be for them anymore" is the chicken and which is the egg if you desire I guess but I kinda came to my conclusion on that specific topic already.
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The part that still kills me about WEC is that the series calendar is bookended by Middle Eastern venues that nobody likes nor cares to attend. Obviously Qatar Airways helps with some of the logistics necessary to run 8 races, but a quarter of the calendar being propped up by a pair of races with completely empty stands makes you question some of the commercial viability of the sport. I would say the European races are all pretty well attended (Imola just drew , and Interlagos and Fuji are pretty solid too. It would be a smash hit for the series if they return to Silverstone for 2027 as has long been rumored. And quite honestly, I wouldn’t at all hate to see them return to China in place of one of either Bahrain or Qatar. There’s momentum building for a Chinese OEM to join the series sooner than later, and there’s already something of a sports car fan base there with GTWC Asia.

I think the level of development is simply too high for privateers to hang with in this age. Zak alluded to it in the article referenced above, manufacturers are bringing Evo jokers every year, and although they’re limited as to how many they can bring over the regulation cycle, it all adds up in terms of expenditure. JDC-Miller are running the 2025-spec 963 because they don’t want to add the six-figure updates that are on the Penske machines this year. Consider that they have one seat filled by a pay driver and can’t keep up on development, and they have their work cut out for them (although Porsche lending Heinrich to them for the sprints is a big coup). What will be interesting to follow is how big of a Hypercar class AsLMS can build with an all-privateer mandate. It already seems like there’s momentum building there where they could have 6-8 customer cars in an environment where it’s based upon gentlemen drivers and not having to compete with factories. Of course, the current political and economic environment could end up squashing that - at the very least there’s a good chance AsLMS will need to move away from a such a heavy diet of races in the UAE.
 
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