Marshall Pruett reports that more than a half dozen manufacturers involved in the Tudor United Sportscar Championship have joined forces to present their concerns to the series’ upper management as a united front citing apprehensions over what took place with officiating during last month’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and other dissatisfactions with the start of the new Championship.
Manufacturer reps spanning the TUSCC GT and prototype ranks participated in a lengthy phone call late last month where everything from incorrect penalties, the lack of procedures to undo officiating errors, and other topics were raised as some of the most heavily invested and committed Championship stakeholders turned their individual grievances into an open forum which was heard by the series’ leadership.
The manufacturer-led conference call was independent from and unrelated to the series-led manufacturer meeting scheduled for next weekend’s TUSCC event at the Long Beach Grand Prix. It’s believed the manufacturers’ group will continue to hold meetings with the series as the Championship continues to find its footing and present the level of excellence it strives to produce.
“We have a manufacturers’ advisory council that’s made up of senior members of our official automotive partner group, and the core group, which is the vast majority, we did have a call with them that was welcomed,” IMSA COO Scott Atherton told Marshall Pruett.
“We’re fortunate to have such incredible support coming from all our manufacturer partners and had a very productive call for what will be an ongoing exchange that will be more formalized but will be left with enough unstructured-ness to allow topical items to be brought up without long lead times. We don’t want to make it too formal. There’s that group, there’s also plans that will both embrace the technical side and the marketing side that goes to a different group of people involved.”
