IMSA President John Doonan recently called the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship “an appetizer” for 2023, but that’s not to say they’re cooking up a bland bill of fare in the coming year that kicks off with the Jan. 29-30 Rolex 24 At Daytona.
One cannot close the book on 2021 without mentioning the Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta, specifically the dogfight in the DPi class. It was a carbon copy of 2019. Those with heart conditions gulped nitro pills as this one went down to the last turn of the last lap where Ricky Taylor bulldozed through the “sand trap,” yielding the championship to the Action Express Cadillac.
Turning the page to this season, the big news is the merging of the GTLM and GTD classes. Although the GTLM cars are impressive, factory support was limited. Porsche and BMW only raced at the big endurance contests, leaving Corvette Racing to duke it out among themselves. It was a spirited fight between the No. 3 and No. 4 cars with the No. 3 entry coming out on top at season’s end.
Doonan provides clarity on the 2022 liminal season, or the threshold between what was and what will be in 2023. He started with getting the names right in GTD. The naming is GTD Pro and simply GTD.
What cars will race?
“The cars are all GT3 global specification,” Doonan said. “They will run as they are homologated by the manufacturers. All the cars will be on the same Michelin S9M tire. The Balance of Performance between the two classes will be the same and it will be the same sporting regulations.”
SPEED SPORT talked with team owner Will Turner, who is unsure of what class he will run.
“It’s too early to make a call on this. But if the cars are the same and everything else is the same, including the Balance of Performance, it must be the car because you aren’t balancing the driver. This means if they do it this way, I’d like a chance for an overall class win in a GT car,” Turner said. “It would be very easy for me to make a call if the classes were different, like a different power-to-weight ratio or a different fuel capacity, something to differentiate the cars. For instance, on the last pit stop in the race and both classes have their fastest drivers in and you win the GTD class and don’t win overall is that as cool or in the Pro class and win overall? I don’t know.”
Interestingly, Turner and Doonan have the same notion. Things will get interesting after the last pit stops or late-race caution.
“It should be exciting,” said Doonan. “For us (IMSA) at the end of the race on a typical restart it will be the Gold or Platinum (the pros) in the cars that are all equally matched, but they will be scored in two different classes.
“There will be GTD Pro and GTD, two different podiums and we will also celebrate the highest finishing Bronze driver, which is someone who doesn’t make their living in cars. They’re the gentlemen drivers like Ben Keating or someone like that who is doing this as a hobby.”
According to Doonan, there’s an extra incentive for those drivers. “The driver who wins the Bronze Cup over the course of the season will earn an entry to Le Mans, which is very special.” IMSA dedicated this award to honor the late Bob Akin, a legendary gentleman racer.
But what about DPi? For starters, Cadillac and Acura will be the only cars on the grid this season with Mazda sunsetting its program at Petit Le Mans (with a win).
Three Cadillac teams — Chip Ganassi Racing, Action Express Racing and JDC Miller — will square off against the Acuras of Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing.
But how will the introduction of the new LMDh cars in 2023 impact the coming season?
“I think many manufacturers have made it clear they are planning to run in the top category (LMDh) in 2023,” Doonan reported.
Acura, Audi, Cadillac, Porsche and Alpine, the Renault performance brand, are planning entries for the new platform. Doonan noted, “Ultimately, we will have five manufacturers, six total for that top category.”
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Keyword: IMSA: Setting The Table For 2023