When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Thanks for the updates. I didn't get to follow the race yesterday and was wondering what happened to #55 when I check the scoreboard at the end of the race.
It's a shame that Mazda got dealt the **** end of the stick. Hopefully BoP works in their favor after Monterey...
big news out of IMSA today.
courtesy of sportscar365
IMSA President Atherton Announces Retirement
IMSA announced today that its president, Scott Atherton, will retire at the end of this year, ending a professional motorsports career that spanned more than 34 years.
Atherton, who has held the title of IMSA president since November 2013, will remain on the IMSA Board of Directors after his retirement.
Atherton started his professional motorsports career as a sponsor marketing executive in the CART in 1985. He later served as president and general manager of Laguna Seca Raceway, before joining Penske Motorsports as president of Nazareth Speedway and then California Speedway.
He was president and CEO of Panoz Motor Sports Group for thirteen years before co-leading the American Le Mans Series through the merger with the Grand American Road Racing Association under the IMSA banner, at which point he was named to his current role.
“Scott is a racer at heart, but also a businessman and his dedicated, thoughtful leadership has positioned IMSA for continued growth as we begin the next 50 years of our racing heritage,” said Jim France, IMSA Chairman.
“We are very grateful for all that he has done for the sport and wish him the absolute best during his well-deserved retirement.”
“As anyone involved in professional motorsports knows, it’s not a job – it’s a lifestyle,” Atherton said. “For the past 34 years it has been an honor and a privilege to work with some of the most iconic venues and personalities in the industry.
“I am thankful for the countless men and women I have worked with who enabled me to have a career that has far exceeded my wildest dreams.
“But I especially want to thank my family who have supported me every step of the way. IMSA is stronger than ever and I am confident it will continue to grow and prosper.”
Ed Bennett will continue as chief executive officer of IMSA and expects to name Atherton’s successor shortly after conclusion of the season.
with DPi 2.0's on the horizon, still talks of a global platform with the FIA/WEC, and all the work that will mean for IMSA I can see why this is good timing for him to retire. Atherton has laid the groundwork for a very successful series and can leave knowing he left it in a far better place than it was in it's inception.
Ouch, #55 and #77 didn't position too well in practice. We're looking at 5th for #77 and 8th for #55, which is about half a second slower than POS 1. Let's hope they're taking it easy and possibly sand bagging it for this long race.
alright guys, lots to catch up on since it's RACE WEEKEND. And not just any race weekend but the last race of the season!
dang, it seems like this season just Flew by this year.
1st up:
BOP changes were announced last week and the biggest winner of the BoP game was by far the Cadillacs!
Confirmed in the final round of Balance of Performance adjustments for the year, issued by IMSA on Wednesday, the Dallara-built DPi contender has received a 15 kg reduction in minimum weight, bringing the car down to 945 kg.
It comes following a 20 kg weight break for last month’s round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, which had also included a 0.3 mm larger air restrictor.
The adjustment puts the Cadillac on the same minimum weight as the Acura ARX-05, which currently leads the DPi title race in the hands of Acura Team Penske’s Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron.
We talked about it earlier in the season and this appears to be IMSA attempting to fix their heavy handed weight additions to Cadillac in previous rounds. Only issue I have is the timing looks awfully suspect. Acura is about to win the championship and suddenly cadillac gets massive weight reductions 2 races in a row and is now the same weight as the Acura? how the hell are you going to give Cadillac the same weight as the Acura.
As a fan it should be fun to see the championship come down to a shootout between these two. As a mazda fan, not so much given that there were zero BoP adjustments for them. Mazda is gonna have to find a way to stay competitive.
Action Express to only race 1 car next season
Makes sense, the Whelen Engineering car has had success and teams are trying to reduce costs next year in anticipation for DPi 2.0 coming out the following season.
I continue to think more manufacturers would only be GOOD thing for this series. With Ford retiring from GT competition this weekend with their very successful Ford GTs this is the next logical step and they have been very involved with the committee steering the structure of the DPi 2.0 platform. It's understood Ford is doing this in hopes of also being eligible to race their DPi car at LeMans which would be awesome but also requires ACO and IMSA to find a common set of rules which thus far has been a challenge. I'm hoping they figure it out because I'd love to see that.
Side note: still hearing lots of rumblings about Mazda expanding their presence next season with the potential of Spirit of Daytona looking to purchase a RT-24P to race next year. I'll post any updates as I get them.
alright, now on to how things have gone so far this weekend.
All the practice sessions are complete and to no ones's surprise here's what we've got so far:
Practice #1
Whelen Engineering Cadillac
Acura
Acura
Nissan
Cadillac
Mazda #77
Mazda #55
with the weight reduction it was NO surprise that Cadillac topped the timing sheets but it's early and I expect Acuras to find speed (as always) in the next few practice sesions
Practice #2
Acura
Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac
Acura
Cadillac
Mazda #77
Mazda #55
Practice #3 (Night)
Cadillac
Cadilac
Acura
Cadillac
Mazda #77
NIssan
Cadillac
Mazda #55
Practice #4 (Friday Morning)
Cadillac
Acura
Cadillac
Cadillac
Mazda #77
The second Mazda RT24-P DPi, meanwhile, had an off-track moment in the latter stages of the session, with Harry Tincknell leaving the road and incurring front-end damage to the No. 55 car’s bodywork.
this caused them to finish last in practice, lets hope the damage is minor and they're ready for qualifying later today.
With all 4 practice sessions done, it's apparent that the Whelen Engineering Cadillac is going to be the car to beat tomorrow as they led 3 out of the 4 practice sessions this weekend. Let's see what teams can do to reel them in during qualifying.
Four and a half hours in, Timo in 77 is 2nd, 5.5s behind the leader, 20s ahead of Nasr in 3rd.
Started following too late to find out what happened to 55, sounds like it had to go to the garage.
Harry Tincknell over shot a corner in the 55 and plowed into the grass then made his way into pit lane. I assume something is going on with the 55 chassis?
With the BOP hits on Mazda, don't expect them to win again unless other teams have retirements during the race. This is the way IMSA and the big manufacturers want it, and they got it from IMSA. IMSA not worth watching anymore for any fairness in racing.
None the less, I’m still proud of what Team Joest and Mazda accomplished this season. It wouldn’t be fair to ask for a miracle haha. Hoping for another extraordinary season next year for Mazda.
It ended the way IMSA wanted, with big boys Acura and Cadillac taking the race places and championship. Mazda #77 finishes 5th in the race and Mazda finishes 5th in the Championship. After the last caution tightened up the field, at the restart the Mazda just couldn't keep up with the pace of the Cadillacs and Acuras. No surprise with IMSA's crippling BOP against Mazda. Don't expect it to be any different next year . IMSA knows what they want and it is NOT Mazda beating Acura and Cadillac.
The 77 stumbled because of mechanical issues. IMSA had nothing to do with that.
Most of what I saw was Cadillac vs. Mazda.
I think they would have got 2nd if they didn't break because of Caddy #5's brake rotor disintegrating.
And if 5's brakes didn't do that I think 77 would have had a good chance for 2nd because they got 4 fresh tires and 5 only got fuel at the last stop.
The 77 stumbled because of mechanical issues. IMSA had nothing to do with that.
Most of what I saw was Cadillac vs. Mazda.
I think they would have got 2nd if they didn't break because of Caddy #5's brake rotor disintegrating.
And if 5's brakes didn't do that I think 77 would have had a good chance for 2nd because they got 4 fresh tires and 5 only got fuel at the last stop.
Agreed - that was my assumption as well. I initially thought the #77 suffered from transmission issues per the hosts' call outs.
Team Joest and the drivers managed the race very well, even as underdogs with the BoP disadvantage. Unfortunately, their luck bit them again with the mechanical issues.
