Increase in IMSA Popularity with OEMs Creates Space Problem for Series
Any new future entries—Genesis from the Hyundai family and/or Ford, maybe—would mean current entries would not make the cut.
More OEMs is a good thing, unless maybe you're a gentleman racer hoping to bring your GTD team to the Rolex or an OEM that wants to bring another car or two to the party.
While any additions to the GTP class would be welcome, such additions could cause for some tough decisions or call for a cap on the size of the GTP class.
Another year, another full field of 61 cars at the Rolex 24 at Daytona for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Great show. Great racing. Even after 24 hours, the Rolex once again left race fans wanting more. And therein lies a bit of a quandary.
There's no room for more.
IMSA President John Doonan said this weekend at Daytona International Speedway that 89 cars applied for entry into this year's race. Plus, there's a buzz that Genesis could be bringing a GTP GMR-001 LMDh prototype to the GTP field as soon as 2027. Ford is another manufacturer believed to be weighing a possible GTP program.
Any new future entries—Genesis from the Hyundai family and/or Ford, maybe—would mean a few current entries would not make the cut. More OEMs is a good thing, unless maybe you're a gentleman racer hoping to bring your GTD team to the Rolex or an OEM that wants to bring another car or two to the party.
Full-season entries get first priority for those 61 spots at Daytona. This year's field included 236 drivers and 18 manufacturers. Doonan had to say, 'Sorry, no room at the grid' to 28 entries that wanted to play in the Rolex 24 sandbox at Daytona Beach this week.
That total number of cars on property doesn't include the other series in action at Daytona on race week. Interest, to be sure, is out there—even well beyond what's on the ground here.
'First and foremost, we've tried to take a very methodical approach to introducing the regulations and to introducing new manufacturers to competition,' said Doonan, who has been at the helm of IMSA since October of 2019. 'We're super sensitive to the ebbs and flows of the auto industry. We've tried to keep the regulations and the platforms stable. That's No. 1. Clearly, there's BoP (Balance of Performance) discussions, and we tried to integrate things like torque sensors and common hybrid in LMDh and things like that, to provide stability for the automakers to enter, to announce they're coming first, to prepare, then to enter, and know they have a long runway.
'Last year, we announced an extension of the regulations, which provides stability to those who have already invested and already here. Now you're seeing it with a brand like Genesis wanting to come, they know they have an extended runway.'
While any additions to the GTP class would be welcome, such additions could result in some tough decisions or even call for a cap on the size of the GTP class. This year, 12 cars competed in that class.
'It's very possible,' Doonan said when asked about a possible limit to the number of GTP entries the series can handle. 'Sixty-one cars here is absolutely maxed out. Fortunately, the prototype categories don't pit at the same time as the GTs. We've got to be very sensitive to capacity. The rest of the season is at capacity for the WeatherTech Championship or above. We have a reserve list for events like the Sahlen 6 Hours at the Glen and for Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway.
'After we get through this event and throughout the season, we'll sit down as a team and talk about what that looks like because you do have to plan probably three years ahead to see what it looks like. Obviously, we're thrilled that the garage area is so full—I think there's 280 transporters are in there, but you start running out of space and we've got to be sensitive to that.'
Doonan and his team also need to be sensitive to the grassroots history of the event and the vision that IMSA founders John and Peggy Bishop had when they set the groundwork for the series more than five decades ago.
"When Bill France and the Bishops established this, they had this vision that people could come racing at maybe whatever level they were able to, or their resources or their passions and their dreams held," Doonan said.
"We want to live within our means and also make sure we're putting on a good show and not devaluing the experience for the garage area, or on track. Sixty-one cars around here are a lot, and it creates some credible action with the prototypes and the GT cars interacting.
"But we got to be sensible and make sure we're not stepping out of our space."
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