[IMSA] 2023 Random News

[Everso Biggyballies]

Bottom post of the previous page:

1.3 seconds the gap with 11 minutes to go.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Under a second and 6 minutes and traffic everywhere.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Porsche takes the lead in the traffic. 3 mins to go Such bad luck for the BMW which got screwed in traffic.

[Everso Biggyballies]

NNNOOOOO big crash in the classes and that will be it. It will end behind an SC / FCY. A BMW on its roof will make sure it ends this way.


So Porsche make a mess of everything at Le Mans but fight back here with a fortunate win..

Great strategy from BMW though who absolutely nailed it and put themselves into the position to fight for the lead with it.

[Vassago]

Bill Auberlen flipped in Turn 11 and that is the race. Penske Porsche wins. De Phillippi totally lost it in traffic but that's class racing.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Just another lap in the lead for BMW it would have been a different result but as said that what happens in clss racing. Heat of the moment bad decisions in traffic screw a days work.

BMW will have to try gain as they strive for their first GTP win since 1986.

Other Class winners.



LMP2
04. ORECA LMP2 07 7th Overall
George Kurtz
Ben Hanley
Nolan Siegel


LMP3

#74 Ligier JS P320 13th Overall
Gar Robinson
Felipe Fraga
Josh Burdon


GTD

# 12. Lexus RC F GT3. 21st overall
Frankie Montecalvo
Aaron Telitz
Parker Thompson


GTD PRO

#14 Lexus RC F GT3. 22nd Overall
Jack Hawksworth
Ben Barnicoat


So a Lexus double in GTD and GTD Pro










Back to Pikes Peak now.
Live stream on

[Everso Biggyballies]

.WATKINS GLEN 6 HR FULL RESULTS

[Everso Biggyballies]

Just when you though the race was done and dusted, and Porsche had won, BMW had lost etc.....

Penske Porsche Loses Watkins Glen Win due toTech Infraction..... 6 Hours of The Glen win goes to #25 BMW M Hybrid V8…

The No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 has lost its victory in Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen due to a technical infraction, handing the win to BMW M Team RLL’s Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly.

Confirmed by IMSA on Sunday evening, the Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet-driven Porsche was found with a skid block measuring less than the permitted minimum thickness during post-race technical inspection.

As a result, the car has been moved to the rear of the GTP class finishing order, promoting the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 to top overall honors in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup round.

It marks the first prototype win for BMW in more than 23 years, with its last overall triumph in IMSA competition having come in the 2000 American Le Mans Series race at Silverstone with the BMW V12 LMR.

Additionally, it means that all four LMDh manufacturers have now won at least once in the series’ five races held to date this season.

The No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken have been elevated to a second place finish, with the Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun-driven No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 now completing the top-three.

The post-race penalty for the No. 6 Porsche is likely to have significant championship implications as well, with Tandy and Jaminet having led the GTP standings entering this weekend. IMSA has yet to issue revised points standings.

. https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/pens ... nfraction/

[erwin greven]

Just wanted to post it

Great Penske Perfect weekend. Formula E, IMSA, NASCAR...

[Everso Biggyballies]

The expected response was swift and as expected....

Penske will protest IMSA penalty

A statement from Porsche Penske Motorsport read:

“Following post-race inspection at Watkins Glen International, IMSA has penalized the #6 entry in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen citing that the front skid wear of the #6 Porsche 963 was less than one millimeter outside the legal tolerance.

The rear skid wear was noted to be well within the legal tolerance. Porsche Penske Motorsport plans to collect all of the data and follow the protest procedures.”

[Everso Biggyballies]

The expected response was swift and as expected....

Penske will protest IMSA penalty

A statement from Porsche Penske Motorsport read:

“Following post-race inspection at Watkins Glen International, IMSA has penalized the #6 entry in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen citing that the front skid wear of the #6 Porsche 963 was less than one millimeter outside the legal tolerance.

The rear skid wear was noted to be well within the legal tolerance. Porsche Penske Motorsport plans to collect all of the data and follow the protest procedures.”

BMW victory at Watkins Glen official after Penske protest is denied

Im not surprised it was denied.... the plank was worn, maybe only slightly but it did not meet the minimum thickness at a stipulated measuring point. No denying it. A little bit guilty is still guilty. A bit like being pregnant. You cant be only a little bit pregnant. You either are or you are not.
Suck it up Penske. Others chose to take the performance loss the 1 or 2 mm higher ride hate would entail, and set their ride heights conservatively enough to not wear their plank to an illegal level at the end of a 6 hour race..

Good job by BMW though, given they were the last manufacturer to put its LMDh car on track, and they showed a lack of development at a woeful (for them) Daytona. Sebring they had done a great job, Long Beach as well, and showed true pace, but at the Glen they were certainly up there in the fight on genuine pace. Helped by a brilliant strategy and yes a bit of good fortune but they will go down in history as the event winner. The reality is that it was perhaps down to bad luck they didnt cross the line first, thwarted by traffic and a moments indecision by the driver, and then any fight back knocked on the head by going FCY to the end a few seconds after Porsche took the lead. An ominous sign for others as to what might be the Porsche level going forwards from here. Their rate of improvement is a sign of whats to come.....

BMW’s victory in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen has been cemented following the denial of Porsche Penske Motorsport’s appeal of its post-race penalty. IMSA certified the results on Thursday morning, allowing BMW M Team RLL and drivers Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly to officially celebrate their first victory in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition.

The No. 6 Porsche 963 finished first on track after Mathieu Jaminet made a late-race pass of De Phillippi in the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8. BMW Team RLL got the No. 25 to the front with solid strategy, but Jaminet got the better of the traffic and caught and passed De Phillippi with only minutes to go. However, in post-race technical inspection, the skid plate of the No. 6 963 was found to be thinner than the specified minimum, and the car was moved to last place in GTP. Porsche Penske Motorsport protested the ruling.

According to IMSA, after receiving official notification from IMSA of the post-race technical penalty in Sunday’s race, Porsche Penske Motorsport subsequently requested a protest. IMSA supervisory officials reviewed documents provided by Porsche Penske Motorsport but did not find anything that would have overturned the penalty decision. Official race results and point standings were released this morning with the penalty upheld.

“Obviously, we are pleased by IMSA’s technical group decision,” BMW M Team RLL principal Bobby Rahal said. “There is nothing like winning, but I was most happy with the pace of the BMW M Hybrid V8 throughout the Watkins Glen race. My thanks to everyone at BMW who have worked so diligently on both sides of the Atlantic over a very intense period of time on the new-era GTP program. Our guys were in Munich starting last July assisting with the car builds. We received the cars in September and began testing in October. Five races into the season, we are winners.”

The penalty for Porsche is significant, as it marks a 130-point swing in the point standings. Instead of leading the championship, Tandy and Jaminet are now third, behind Action Express Racing’s Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims in first and Yelloly and De Phillippi in second. It also means that all four marques participating in GTP this season have scored a victory.

“Obviously a win is a win, but we certainly didn’t want it to come under these circumstances,” said De Phillippi, who scored his sixth win in IMSA competition but first in the top prototype class. “We would have preferred to hold onto the lead for those last four minutes and I would like to have celebrated with my teammates. But that’s racing. Everybody with BMW M Team RLL did a phenomenal job throughout the race overcoming the issues we had early on with some unlucky contact, so to bounce back with strategy and speed was an incredible feat.

“Maybe we didn’t pick up the win how we would have liked, but we certainly had the speed to represent a win, and I figure it was still well-deserved.”

https://racer.com/2023/06/29/bmw-victor ... is-denied/

[Everso Biggyballies]

Not really 2023 news as it relates to 2024 but this is the most relevant area for it to be posted......

Inter Europol Adds Full-Season IMSA To Its LMP2 Plans
IMSA programme added in the wake of LMP2 being dropped from the FIA WEC

2023 Le Mans 24 Hours LMP2 winner Inter Europol Competition is closing in on a multi-car, multi-championship LMP2 programme for 2023/2024.

The Polish-flagged squad is not ready quite yet to formally announce the details of its efforts, but senior team sources have confirmed to DSC that its current plans include LMP2 entries in the Asian Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

In Asia and Europe, the team plans to run two ORECA 07s apiece for full-season campaigns, notably doubling up from a single car this season in the ELMS.

Over in the USA meanwhile, the team is set to contest the full IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a single ORECA in what looks set to be a healthy, high-quality LMP2 grid. This will be the team’s first full-season IMSA programme and comes as a result of the FIA WEC shifting to a two-class structure for 2024.

There is relatively little to report on the driver front at present, but Le Mans winner and team principal Jakob ‘Kuba’ Śmiechowski looks set to feature in a double programme across the ELMS and the five-race IMSA Endurance Cup.

. https://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/08/ ... plans.html

[Everso Biggyballies]

More 2024 news but we dont have a thread yet so its posted here....

Ferrari: Daytona Bid With 499P Not on Radar for 2024
Italian manufacturer won’t look to add another major 24-hour race win next year…

It seems that Le Mans is their target, certainly for the Hypercars. It seems they will be there (Daytona) with the GT3 cars. Maybe a rethink in the future but no 499P's for 2024 at Daytona.

Ferrari has ruled out a GTP entry into next year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, with the manufacturer’s sports car racing director stating a preference to concentrate on the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Like the other manufacturers of LMH cars, Ferrari only competes in one of the two series where such machinery is eligible and that approach will remain in place for 2024.

Its global head of endurance racing Antonello Coletta told Sportscar365 that Daytona and other IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races are “not on our radar” next year.

When the Ferrari 499P made its debut at the 1000 Miles of Sebring in March, Coletta said that the subject of a potential WeatherTech Championship involvement would only be considered after the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Ferrari went on to win Le Mans at the first attempt with its new hybrid-powered LMH car, adding to recent GT racing successes in the major 24-hour races at the Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps.

“I believe that all the 24-hour races have a different importance, attitude and strategy,” said Coletta.

“They are all different. Le Mans, Daytona and Spa are not at the same point. After winning Le Mans, my dream is to re-win Le Mans.

“At the moment, it’s not on our radar to go to Daytona. We will go to Daytona with the GT3, but this is another issue. The World Endurance Championship is our dream.

“We won probably the most important race in the world, in a special edition. This is fantastic. But the world championship, for us, is another target that we have.

“For this matter, all our efforts will be, next year, on the world championship and the 24-hour [at Le Mans].”

Coletta indicated that it could be feasible for Ferrari at some point to bring its factory team to Daytona, but not next year.

Its works team AF Corse already has a facility in Florida that it uses for its North American GT racing activities including its Michelin Endurance Cup entries in LMP2 and GTD.

Coletta also raised concerns about the homologation process that Ferrari would need to go through on IMSA’s side in order to be eligible for WeatherTech Championship races.

LMH cars like the Ferrari 499P are homologated using Sauber’s wind tunnel in Switzerland and would need to go through the Windshear wind tunnel in North Carolina to be approved for IMSA competition.

Coletta indicated that he would prefer a more unified approach to wind tunnel testing for homologation purposes.

“Frankly speaking, I don’t understand why we need to go in a different wind tunnel and why IMSA and the FIA have a different approach to the data,” he said.

“For me, the data is completely similar. I know that in LMDh [cars] that participated in IMSA, they have a different body with respect to the LMDh in WEC.

“We speak of convergence and then we have the cars [being] completely different. I believe that we need to have some work in front of us to have a real convergence.

“At the moment, for us, it’s no problem. I hope that when we take the eventual decision to go in the U.S., the problem of the convergence will be resolved.

“At the moment, I see just a little confusion. At the end, it’s the same issue for many years with the GTs. Because the BoP of GT3 in Europe is completely different to the BoP in the U.S.

“The approach is completely different. The ideas of the people to manage the BoP is completely different. I believe this is the first matter that we need to resolve.”

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/fer ... -for-2024/

[Everso Biggyballies]

News released regarding the 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona based on recent rumours of an 'unknown' F1 driver having a play at next years Daytona 24 hour..... Pruett says its Albon.

Will Alex Albon Compete At The Rolex 24?
Marshall Pruett believes he has a GTP drive with in an Acura...

Williams Formula 1 driver Alex Albon has been tipped to compete at the 2024 IMSA Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in the GTP class with Acura team Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport.

Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport has been rumoured in recent weeks to be fielding a Formula 1 driver in the 2024 twice-around-the-clock classic in Florida. Speaking on The Week In Sports Cars Podcast yesterday, Marshall Pruett believes Albon is the driver in question.

“It was mentioned that a Formula 1 driver would be part of its Rolex 24 Hours driver rotation,” he said. “I have heard, on a pretty good account, that the driver is Alex Albon, the Williams Grand Prix driver. I had one source in particular, who tends to be immaculate when it comes to their information.

“It’s not something that I have heard from the team, because I haven’t asked. But to me, that’s a cool thing.”

27-year-old Albon is no stranger to sportscar and GT racing. Back in 2021, he competed in DTM with Alpha Tauri AF Corse, finishing sixth in the championship in a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo.

Next year, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport is expanding its GTP effort to two Acura ARX-06s. Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque and Jordan Taylor and Louis Deletraz have been confirmed as full-season driver pairings.

https://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/09/ ... e-rolex-24

[Everso Biggyballies]

With Petit Le Mans coming up in the near future (October 11-14) and in general this year I have been somewhat confused by all the various pit stop regs, virtual refueling and all that sort of stuff. What is virtual energy?

Im one of these old fashioned blokes that puts petrol, diesel or whatever fuel in my car, drive around until the dashboard goes 'Bing' and tells me I need more and I then go to the servo and refill it. (Or if im light on cash I might 'short fill' it.

Motor Racing enduros used to be like that as well. The only questions we needed answers to were things like how long a stint was, how long could it be, what is a short fill, and if we wanted to get technical maybe even the refuelling rig flow rate

Now we have hybrids and all sorts of odd options it all got a bit more complicated. Megajoules, Hybrid storage and deployment, and words / phraseslike virtual replenishment sound weird.

Fear not, a laymans guide to it all is available. Be confused no more. The nice people at IMSA.com have put together this guide. I learnt a lot and thought others might need a bit of 'edyookayshun'

High-Tech Pit Stops: How Does GTP Virtual Energy Replenishment Work?


Strategy is Paramount as Teams Manage Fuel and the Maximum Energy That Can Be Used During a Stint

By John Oreovicz

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Whether your car or truck is powered by a gasoline or diesel internal combustion engine, electricity or even a hydrogen fuel cell, the concept of physically “filling it up with fuel” is clear and obvious.

The same goes for most racing cars. Up through the 2022 season in the modern era of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, it was pretty simple. The rulebook stipulated a class-specific time for filling up the tank with VP Racing fuel, no matter how large each competing car’s tank.

“That’s how we equalize it in a fuel-limited category,” explained Matt Kurdock, IMSA senior technical director. “In GTD (Grand Touring Daytona), for example, there are 10 different manufacturers fielding 10 different cars, and there could be 10 different engine sizes or fuel cell capacities, through Balance of Performance (BoP). They all have a (refueling) flow rate that equalizes the time to fill a completely empty fuel tank for the maximum capacity they are each permitted through BoP. If they came in to completely fill, they would all spend 40 seconds filling with enough fuel to provide a targeted fuel stint.”

The introduction of hybrid technology to the new-for-2023 Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class complicates matters, even though the components that make up the hybrid energy storage and distribution system are standardized and common among participating manufacturers Acura, BMW, Cadillac and Porsche.

As before, IMSA utilizes BoP to limit the total power that each car is capable of producing. But the added element of electrification – and more importantly, how electric energy is created, stored and utilized – must now be factored in.

Using torque sensors mounted on the drive axles, IMSA can measure the total power being deployed by any GTP car at any given moment. Here’s where it gets more complicated: That power is now a combination of traditional “horsepower” from the car’s internal combustion engine (ICE), meshed with up to 240 additional horsepower provided by the electric motor in the hybrid system.

Not only does each manufacturer use a unique ICE – Porsche and BMW have chosen turbocharged V-8s, Cadillac a larger displacement naturally aspirated V-8 and Acura a higher-revving V-6 turbo with much smaller capacity – they are all permitted to write software to integrate the standardized hybrid hardware with their own proprietary energy management technology. The ultimate goal, as with hybrid-powered cars on the street, is efficiency – to travel the same distance using less fossil fuel.


Maximum Stint Energy and Megajoules

The solution for GTP was to move away from a fuel-limited formula to create a concept called Maximum Stint Energy. IMSA uses the data from the axle torque sensors to calculate the total energy used during a race stint and compares it to this maximum.

“We put a cap on how much energy a car can use during a stint,” Kurdock said. “They could use very little hybrid, they could use a lot of hybrid, and the energy we’re calculating is indifferent to it – because we’re looking at the energy at the drive axle. That could be a combination of electric and ICE.

“The objective with the hybrid system is to try to recoup some of the energy that you would waste through braking, and to be able to utilize that to extend how far you can go,” he continued. “The tools available to save fuel and not save fuel are quite a bit different when you start introducing hybrid hardware. But all the strategy elements that are there with our traditional fuel-regulated classes are still there with GTP.”

The difference now is that teams are no longer simply monitoring and managing how much fuel is in the car’s tank. They are aiming for a Maximum Stint Energy number that IMSA adjusts for every track – for the upcoming Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the number is 915 Megajoules (MJ) for Acura, 907 MJ for Porsche and 903 MJ for Cadillac and BMW. It’s up to the individual manufacturers how to manage that energy over time through a combination of gasoline and electric thrust.


Replenishing the Virtual Tank

So, what actually happens when a car makes a pit stop to refuel – or more accurately, pits to replenish its virtual energy supply? Time is the key.

IMSA and the competitors are fully aware of how much energy they are using during a stint, and that expended energy can be replenished at the next pit stop. There is a calculation for the amount of virtual energy replenishment versus time which is equitable for all competitors. Teams have almost complete freedom to manage the amount of traditional fuel, and if their car is particularly efficient in its use of electric power, they may not need to completely fill the gasoline tank.

“When the fuel probe is plugged in, we’re counting replenishment,” said Kurdock. “We’re filling this virtual tank. We are just counting time that the proximity sensor is plugged into the car. The refueling rate is not controlled. They are free to add fuel. It really is up to the teams to manage that. We are just regulating how long the car is essentially stopped in its pit box with the fuel probe plugged into the side.

“All the strategies are still there that there would be with a fuel-limited category like GTD where you can short fill to try to get around someone, and then you have to manage your fuel consumption,” he added. “The same thing is true for GTP. You can leapfrog someone in the pits, but you’re going to have to manage your energy, potentially, and give up some lap time doing that.”

What happens if a competitor runs its virtual tank dry? The car may still be running, with gas in the tank and charge in the battery.

“The teams have the same information as IMSA,” Kurdock noted. “There are significant penalties in the rulebook preventing anyone from using up the energy (called an energy deficit). You can’t use more than you’ve been allotted. It’s a very steep penalty: a mandatory stop plus 100-second hold in the pits. It’s the equivalent of being stopped on the course without fuel, that’s why that penalty is so rigid.”


The Strategy of Managing Virtual Energy

The brave new world of managing virtual energy gives GTP competitors a host of new tools and strategies to work with. The drivers are certainly kept a lot busier, constantly working with engineers to make adjustments to maximize performance or efficiency.

“It’s something that we’re very much aware of,” said Sebastien Bourdais, co-driver of the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R. “We can pretty much pick how much fuel we actually put in the car, so it really is virtual energy. It kind of opens up different strategies. We’re saving energy the same way.

“It’s just a matter of a different factor. You obviously keep an eye on the amount of fuel you have in the car. But you mostly have to keep an eye on the energy you have left to finish the race. How much regen you get and how you use it is impacting the energy per lap, and that is governing everybody.”

IMSA is working to develop technology that will allow fans at the track and broadcast viewers at home to see how much virtual energy each competitor has at any given time. The actual amount of fuel every car uses, and how it creates the power measured at the axle between gasoline and electricity – which by rule cannot exceed 520 kilowatts (kW) – will remain closely guarded proprietary secrets. But having any kind of visual representation of the virtual tank data will help fans understand how a race is unfolding and the strategies being employed.

“The moment electrical power is added to a vehicle, it brings complications to everyone,” Kurdock said. “But if we break it down to what are we trying to do – trying to give the drivers and teams the tools so if they want to push and use up what energy they have, if they want to trade endurance for pace – they can do that, and that hasn’t changed.”

https://www.imsa.com/news/2023/09/27/hi ... ment-work/

[Everso Biggyballies]

More 2024 news for IMSA..... for the enduro races.

Blomqvist joins Cadillac Racing endurance lineup for 2024

Tom Blomqvist expressed a desire to continue racing sports cars even as he embarks on the next chapter of his career as a full-time IndyCar Series driver for Meyer Shank Racing. He’ll get that wish in January at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, where the a two-time and defending winner and 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar champion joins the 2023 champ for the season opener.

Blomqvist will team up with Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken to drive for the Action Express Racing Team that fields the championship-winning car for Cadillac Racing's No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R in IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races next season.

Full story: https://racer.com/2023/10/19/blomqvist- ... -for-2024/