One of the stories of the off-season has been the prospect of a third Mazda RT24-P DPi to join the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar championship. News, or at least news that doesn’t heavily feature the words ‘could’ and ‘might’ have been thin on the ground of late but the project is still live, though it’s now clear that there is no real prospect of the car starting the season at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.
There is certainly a chassis available, and, with the strong possibility of the principal partner in the programme being a returning Dyson Racing, the supply of the AER-built and developed Mazda turbo engines is not a barrier either.
Racing at Bahrain for Team LNT Ginetta, Chris Dyson was tight-lipped on detail but was prepared to agree that a return to the top class in IMSA for the first time since 2013 was of interest and under active and serious consideration for his family-owned outfit.
Dyson though was happy to confirm that should any IMSA effort be green-lit he would likely drive, together with his long-time driving partner in ALMS, and again this weekend in FIA WEC, Guy Smith. A number of additional talented drivers are under active consideration to complete a full squad.
The final decision over and timing of any return though is still rather fluid, as is the detail of any programme, not least because of the logistical build-up required to restart a top-level programme.
The red line to start a programme at Daytona has already passed with active consideration now being given to the required job list, including sourcing of the required equipment and manpower, and any pre-race testing for the effort.
Is the effort yet at a point where it can be considered a certainty? Apparently not. But there’s little doubt that the discussions underway now are at the last stages of “if” and approaching a call on “when” with Sebring the first realistic available opportunity for a debut.
IMSA would surely welcome good news on the DPi front at present, and a return from a fan favourite effort would be a significantly good news story.
