Along with the 2017 IMSA calendar announcement earlier today, IMSA has announced the class structure for 2017 and beyond in the WeatherTech series. The main news here being a combined prototype class with both DPI and LMP2 cars running together.
“Our focus is on the 2017 Daytona Prototype International structure,” Atherton said in conversation with IMSA Radio. “Which share the same chassis with the new LMP2 cars. We have multiple manufacturers, no news to announce yet, we’ve seen the cars in illustration and wind tunnel form though. We are excited with what we have coming.
“What will happen is that it will be a single class for prototypes, it will be open to DPI examples and equally so to LMP2 cars. Our DPI cars are intended to be factory affiliated, all professional driver lineup examples. It doesn’t mean a pro/am combination couldn’t participate but that’s not what DPI is for.
“More likely is you’d find that with LMP2, if one of the four constructors with the Gibson engine will be assured to be competitive, it will be racing in the same class, but we will have the Jim Trueman Award which will reward the top finishing Pro/Am driver combination with an automatic entry for Le Mans.”
Prototype Challenge meanwhile, will enter its final season in 2017 after featuring since the tail end of the American Le Mans Series’ history.
“2017 will be the final year of eligibility for the PC class,” he said. “It came in under some urgency when we made the decision in the ALMS to bring that car and GTC cars in, it was a survival tactic and it has delivered well beyond our expectations.
“The cars are getting dated,” he continued. “They have wonderful lives and vintage cars ahead of them and one more great season. We hope that the PC teams and drivers will find new homes in IMSA.”
“If you’re a prototype team running a PC, we expect that those teams will take a hard look at an LMP2 option. Some will tell you that based on the top PC teams, it’s not too much of a stretch in terms of budget. They’ll be globally recognised cars for resale, you can race it in Europe, Asia and Le Mans. It’s an attractive combination.
This decision means chances of LMP3 cars running in the IMSA WeatherTech series’ is not on the horizon.
“Theres not one replacement for the PC class, we want to focus on prototypes. We want to move to a three-class platform.”
In regard to the GT ranks, Atherton said that GTLM and GTD will remain untouched for the rest of the current regulation cycle, with GT convergence talks still to come.
“We are in year one of a three year homologation class for GTE and GTD. The next round of technical rules and regs is anyones guess right now, but there is talk of revisiting a GT convergence, where we had several manufacturers in favour of that before, but an equal number not in favour.
“We know how that ended, with two categories. There’s a renewed interest in GT convergence, but it’s too early today to have any predictions.”
