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Originally Posted by Gatorboy
Say it louder for the people in the back to hear.  All of what he said |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maelochs
Very good post, Mr. BrentJackson.
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Thank you, gentlemen.
I think now, since none of us are racing or doing anything to make the money we need to go racing or go watch racing, would be the time to decide what the future should be, and what the best plan of attack for new regulations for IMSA.
Frankly, I'm inclined (knowing the likelihood the manufacturers are unlikely to have the desire, and in some cases the ability, to spend money in sports car racing to the degree they were pre-coronavirus) to walk back every regulation change going back to 2014, and make IMSA's new rules look like this:
Prototype (P)
All closed-roof prototypes that were or are legal for IMSA competition going back to 2014 land in this category.
I know some people are going to loathe the idea of the old-school Daytona Prototypes having a new lease on life, but IMO the field needs to be made as open as possible. If Michelin stays in the series, have them make tires for the DeltaWing (if it shows up to race) and a different specification of tires for the heavier DPs if they show up to race.
All DPis would be legal for competition, and any new competitor for DPi would no longer be required to make bodywork designs for the cars, though this would be strongly encouraged as it would allow for the makers to seek aerodynamic advantage in the cars. But if they don't want to, they don't have to.
2014-2017 era closed-roof LMP2s (Ligier JS P2, Acura ARX-04b, Oreca 05, etc) would also be legal for Prototype competition, with the same sorts of engines they ran in those years. Those entrants should bear in mind that the power of the cars has stepped up since then, so they may wish to get a little more power from the engines. If they cannot be turned to create enough power, than the rules will be adjusted to allow it, and aero improvements will act on similar basis. A 2014 Ligier JS P2 should be allowed to show up at an IMSA event and, everything else being equal, be competitive.
All elements of BoP will be centered on the DPis - the older LMP2s will be allowed more power and the DPs will probably be allowed a lot more power and perhaps some more grip to compensate for the extra speed of the DPis. The post-2017 LMP2s would be ideally be fitted with a new V10 (or V12 if it will fit comfortably) variant of the Gibson engine the ACO-spec cars use, as pulling the DPis back to their level now would be almost impossible and unfair to those teams. However, we do not want the LMP2 runners to be off the pace if at all possible.
Sport Prototype (SP)
All open-top LMP2s are legal here, as well as the Oreca FLM09. These cars will be designed for the use of production-based naturally-aspirated engines of up to 6200cc. (This works especially well for LMP2 cars designed for the use of the Nissan VK45, as the VK56 engine would be nearly a direct replacement.) The FLM09 cars would get substantial bodywork modifications to improve their downforce in order to compete with the full-on LMP2s. For safety reasons, all Prototype 2 entrants will be required to use an aeroscreen that covers at least the top of the drivers' helmet and protects both seats, and any intakes that are covered as a result of this can be moved without penalty in order to improve the cars' performance.
The idea of these cars is simple - as the open-top cars tend to be older designs, they tend to be less costly, and the obvious differences make it easy to justify pushing these cars into the second prototype class. The FLM09s ideally would gain the bodywork from the Oreca 03R for their improvements.
BoP would be centered on the upgraded FLM09s here, but the plan is to make these cars' engines be as simple and unstressed as possible, to allow them to see lots of racing before they need to be rebuilt or replaced to reduce cost. Ideally, the top two prototype categories would be open tire competition, but in the short term its probably better to keep Michelin as a spec supplier for now.
Challenger Prototype (CP)
LMP3, pretty much. Ideally you'd be able to fill in the grid with the top two classes if at all possible, but if not, LMP3 would be your backup plan, as there is plenty of these around. All LMP3-legal cars would be legal in Prototype 3. This category will be a spec tire class. Later on, once the series' rules are stable enough to allow it, Prototype 3 will move to production-based turbocharged four-cylinder engines, but that is for future consideration.
All prototype categories will allow for new-build versions of the cars they race with, not just older models - if somebody wants a new souped-up FLM09, they should be able to order it. (Whether Oreca will build it is a different matter, but IMSA won't stop a 2020-build FLM09 from competing.) Eventually once the series' car counts and stability is not an issue, we'll start considering moving into changing over the rules for Prototype 2 as well, but the priority now for IMSA should be getting everybody out there, in large numbers to have a wild and competitive field.
Grand Touring Evolution (GTE)
ACO GTE, more or less, but with vehicle age limits are tossed out of the window, so if somebody wants to bring a Corvette C7.R to race against the new C8.R, they should be more than welcome to, and there are no limits against teams racing cars no longer raced by the factory teams, such as the BMW Z4 and M6, Ferrari 458 and the first-generation Aston Martin Vantage GTE. In addition, GTE cars abandoned by manufacturers, such as the SRT Viper GTS-R and Lotus Evora GTE, would be quite welcome to compete in Grand Touring 1.
In addition, the moving of teams and cars into this category from Grand Touring 2 in order to keep factory teams competing against other factory teams should be encouraged, so teams like the Vasser-AIM Lexus and the Compass360 McLaren squads, which are de facto factory teams, can be nudged into competing against other factory teams.
Grand Touring Challenger (GTC)
If its ever been legal in FIA GT3, this is where it goes and its legal, in addition to cars built to Super GT GT300 rules using their developed 'mother chassis' rules and to Grand Am GT rules (think Stevenson Camaro or the GX Mazda 6), though the latter will surely need to be sped up some to compete against the rest of Grand Touring 2 field.
There are no expirations on the homologations here, and there are limits on "Evolution kits" and other developments. GT300 and GA GT cars would be made to BoPed to work with the GT3 cars, and older GT3 cars are perfectly legal. In addition, the 'manufacturer fee' IMSA was changing before this goes out the window.
All-American Grand Touring (AAGT)
Trans-Am Series' TA1 cars go here, with the additional caveat that they would be slowed down slightly (through an engine power reduction) in order to not have them banging into the GTE category's cars all the time, and to reduce the cost of competition by reducing the number of engine rebuilds and replacements. Ideally I'd also make it possible for these cars to have bigger body fenders and larger rear wings to improve their grip while also giving a more aggressive look, but that would be a development for later.
All AAGT cars must have headlights, taillights and windshield wipers (many don't have these) and are not allowed any form of stability control, though all GT categories allow engine-based traction control.
Again, GTE would be an open-tire category. In the interest of making it easier for teams from other categories, Pirelli tires would be legal in AAGT and GTC in addition to Michelins, in order to allow World Challenge and Trans-Am teams to have an easier time trying their hand at IMSA events.
The plan should be to make it easier for people to race in IMSA, no matter their choice of chariot. Once IMSA has a sizable (and varied) field, this would be an advertising point - a pic (or video) of the many different cars in the series, with the tagline "Gladiators choose their weapons. Our gladiators, they choose their race cars. Choose wisely, young racer."