IMSA takes North American sports cars into hybrid era

News Summary

  • We just started with a clean sheet of paper and said, ‘What do we need to make the best racing car?’”And now that the cars have made it to Daytona and are ready to race, there are significant concerns about their durability over a 24-hour race.
  • “I think the formula that we have is going to be very important for motorsports.”The new rules package also makes IMSA’s top GTP class eligible to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans as early as this year.
  • So that comes with new challenges — you need enough parts to assemble a reasonable amount of race cars at a reasonable quality,” said David Salters, president of Honda Performance Development.
  • One of the major concerns headed into this new era was that the hybrid technology would rob the cars of the loud roar that is part of motorsports’ allure.
  • The Porsche program, which has partnered with Roger Penske for his return to sports car racing and chance to win Le Mans, did the early testing of the single-source hybrid system.
  • Meyer Shank Racing, both the defending race winner and IMSA champion, starts from the pole but is so concerned about the durability of the Acura for the full race that it skipped Friday night’s final practice.
By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing WriterDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) The Cadillac growls, while the Porsche and BMW scream. The Acura sounds like an Indy car, and for fun, turn your back to the track and [+6538 chars]