The era of LMP3 in IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was brief, just three seasons. It effectively bridged the gap as the championship transitioned from DPi to GTP, playing a similar role to LMPC in the late American Le Mans Series and through the start of the merger era.
As a class, LMP3 in WeatherTech often proved to be controversial, with significant incidents all too often seeming to feature the Ligiers or Duqueines in the field. In particular, when in the hands of inexperienced non-professional drivers.
With the high speeds of the top class cars in DPi and latterly GTP and the depth of the GTD and GTD Pro fields providing major challenges in traffic at both ends of the spectrum, the LMP3 class seemed to struggle for justification and relevance, particularly in its final season.
That said, LMP3 cars will remain a part of the VP SportsCar Challenge going forward and of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech LMP3 teams, six will live on elsewhere in the championship in 2024.
Riley Motorsport and Sean Creech Motorsport are graduating to LMP2 while JrIII is collaborating with United Autosports and its new P2 effort. AWA and Andretti Autosport meanwhile, will focus on GTD programmes and JDC Miller looks to build on its GTP commitments with Porsche.
IMSA WeatherTech LMP3 Champions
