HUGE IMSA Weekend Coming up: Motul Petit Le Mans At Road Atlanta
- Thread starter Tbear
- Start date
I'll believe these 2020 regs when I see them on track as I said
Me too. Main interest in WEC for me is GTE-Am. Prototypes go through these phases though, hopefully this won't be as long as the Audi R8 period where nothing else won for half a decade.
Actually most of 2020 looks solid enough to start sketching out, except the rather odd aero rules. You'll get a max cD and max downforce figures, but you're allowed movable aero devices...
I like the idea of WEC & IMSA being a bit different, gives us more variety to watch.
Ummmm, I refer you to the RIley Mark XI, which just 10 years ago won Daytona with a Porsche engine with the factory supporting Brumos. Lexus(Toyota) also raced with the same chassis with Ganassi. There are no true works programs anymore. Whether it is Joest, Core, Manthey all manufacturers outsource the logistics and management of the racing operation and support the effort. I'm not saying Porsche or BMW is looking to do a DPi, but it's not like it's never been done before.
I specifically mentioned at Le Mans ( which also means the WEC, but these days that is an extension of Le Mans anyway ) for a reason - I'm well aware of the Porsche DP. US racing programmes by European manufacturers can get a bit complicated as to who is actually running them, I seem to remember the Porsche DP efforts were organised by the US importers?. Porsche's LMP was done in-house, they only farm the GT out to Manthey ( who're 51% owned by Porsche anyway ). You're also confusing building cars and operating them - Joest never built an Audi, or a Porsche when they used to run Group C, those were built by the factory. There is a lot of direct works involvement in Europe still, at least.
I also remember Porsche winning LM with a thing Joest cobbled together out of a 962 and a TWR XJR-14 - that one always puzzled me given how proud Porsche usually are about doing it themselves. They didn't do anything like it again... ( then again that wasn't officially Porsche until 1998 ). Edit: after a bit of reading up, it appears the TWR Porsche was built for IMSA by... someone - possibly the same US Porsche-related enterprises that fed the DP effort? - but IMSA rules changes outlawed it, so Joest took it for Le Mans, and as it won twice ( the same car, no less ) all of a sudden it became a works effort. There were other 962-derived cars in the mid-90s that Porsche wanted nothing to do with.
And you illustrated why I'd happily see DPi and LMP1-2020 as seperate efforts.
Last edited:
Apologies, as you certainly did make the distinction. Sorry to have pounced so quickly.
For my money, DPi (or a common chassis program) is the best battleground for manufacturers. Then it's engine against engine and aero against aero. Disparate supercar/prototypes will not allow for much to be proven on the track.
