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The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s 2023 season opened Sunday with qualifying to set the grid lineup for the Rolex 24 at Daytona next weekend.
Under intense scrutiny were the brand-new hybrid-powered prototypes in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class. GTP racecars are built around an IMSA-specified electric Bosch Motor Generator Unit (MGU) and Williams Advanced Engineering battery pack. The MGU is contained in a common transmission casing and gearbox internals provided by Xtrac. The battery, within the chassis “survival cell,” is built by Williams Advanced Engineering.
As such they are unknowns. It’s up to individual manufacturer teams to come with an aerodynamic package and develop both hardware and software to best match the spec Motor Generator Unit and battery pack to their race car. Both IMSA in North America and FIA World Endurance Championship rules require manufacturers to use one of four approved prototype chassis, fitted with what are now IMSA-homologated, manufacturer-designed and branded bodywork and engines.
The initial variable speed hurdle to jump is qualifying. At the end of the day, the first eight GTP cars were separated by only 0.815 seconds as qualifying ended for the 61st edition of the traditional season opener. It was a windy, warm afternoon on the 3.56-mile, 12-turn Daytona International Speedway road course.
Tom Blomqvist turned the best lap of the entire three days of so-called “Roar Before the Rolex 24,” driving the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 to the pole position. Blomqvist will lead the 61-car field to the green flag on 28 January because on the last lap of the qualifying session he set a time of 1 minute, 34.031 seconds (136.295 mph). This barely beat Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 by 0.083 seconds.
However having pace or being the fastest on one lap becomes trivial when the green flag drops and the teams face 24 hours of racing. There are good reasons why it’s called endurance racing. A lot of things can go wrong or break during 86,400 seconds of racing.
Cadillac, with newly announced aspirations to take on its global luxury performance-car competitors, in its first outing with its three Cadillac V-LMDh race cars saw Sebastien Bourdais, driving the No. 01 V-LMDh, with the best Cadillac lap of 1 minute, 34.262 seconds. He will start on the outside of Row 2. Teammate Alex Lynn qualified fifth at 1:34.389 in the No. 02 Cadillac V-LMDh and Pipo Derani posted a best lap of 1:34.608 to qualify sixth in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-LMDh.
All three Cadillac entries were hindered by a red flag that interrupted the 20-minute qualifying session. Lynn registered only three laps, Bourdais turned four laps, and Derani, a grand total of six. The electrified Cadillac prototype has an all-new Cadillac 5.5-liter DOHC V8 engine developed by GM’s Performance and Racing propulsion team based in Pontiac, Michigan, with a seven-speed sequential gearbox. IMSA has specified the power output at 670 horsepower, including the hybrid system; weight at 1,030kg without fuel and driver; and a maximum of 8,800 RPM. Cadillac is the only LMDh manufacturer with a naturally aspirated engine in the GTP class.
Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s (WTRAndretti) No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 will start third. A questionable decision – well, with AutoInformed hindsight – by the team, opting to stay in the pits on used tires at the end of a red-flag-impacted session, was ultimately the deciding factor in the result.
“The session all came down to tires,” said two-time IMSA Champion Ricky Taylor. “It was an intentional decision by us to take one set, and MSR (Meyer Shank – T. Blomqvist, C. Braun, H. Castroneves & S. Pagenaud) took two. Based on the risk of red flags with everyone running new cars, I still think that was the right decision. If the session had stayed red for 30 more seconds, we were on pole. As it turned out, the No. 60 got to use that second set properly. I thought the car was really, really good and if we couldn’t be on pole, it’s nice for the other Acura to finish first after all the work everyone has put in at HPD, Oreca, and WTRAndretti. We’ll see them in the race.”
The two BMW M Hybrid V8 prototypes finished the GTP class session in seventh and eighth places and will start from the fourth row of the grid next Saturday. BMW M works drivers Philipp Eng (AUT) and Nick Yelloly (GBR) were at the wheels of the #24 and #25 cars. BMW M Team RLL used the test sessions to get mileage on the newly developed cars and gain valuable experience with regards to the big challenge ahead, the team said. Well, one qualifying session does not a season make.
Top Five Starting Grid GTP
- No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian (Acura ARX-06) T. Blomqvist, C. Braun, H. Castroneves & S. Pagenaud (136.295 mph)
- No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports (Porsche 963) M. Campbell, F. Nasr & M. Christensen (136.175 mph)
- No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 (Acura ARX-06) R. Taylor, F. Albuquerque, L. Delétraz & B. Hartley (136.054 mph)
- No. 01 Cadillac Racing (Cadillac V-LMDh) S. Bourdais, R. van der Zande & S. Dixon (135.961 mph)
- No. 02 Cadillac Racing (Cadillac V-LMDh) E. Bamber, A. Lynn & R. Westbrook (135.778 mph)
Other Prototype Classes
Experienced driver Ben Keating took the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) pole in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 with a lap of 1:40.541 (127.470 mph). Keating noted the wind made it precarious. Two LMP2s spun as breezy conditions caused rear end lift on a key turn. Rain showers on Saturday washing the racing rubber off the track didn’t help.
Eighteen-year-old Nico Pino took his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole in LMP3 with a quick lap of 1:43.197 (124.189 mph) in the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320. Pino overtook Dakota Dickerson (No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier) on the lap chart late in the session. Dickerson wound up second fastest at 1:43.307 (124.057 mph). Pino will split driving the No. 33 with Lance Willsey, Danny Soufi and four-time Rolex 24 winner Joao Barbosa.
*The 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will have a total of 11 races, with six events with all five WeatherTech Championship classes: GTP, LMP2, LMP3, GTD PRO and GTD.
The IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup will include all classes for the four traditional endurance events: the Rolex 24 At Daytona (Jan. 26-29), Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts (March 15-18), Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen (June 22-25) and the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (Oct. 11-14). Five-class races also will be held at Road America (Aug. 4-6) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Sept. 15-17).
The new GTP class will have a total of nine events in 2023, adding Long Beach (April 14-15), WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (May 12-14) and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (July 7-9).
Full Qualifying Results for All classes – courtesy of IMSA: Click Here
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Daytona Qualifying Opens 2023 IMSA Racing Season
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The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s 2023 season opened Sunday with qualifying to set the grid lineup for the Rolex 24 at Daytona next weekend.
Under intense scrutiny were the brand-new hybrid-powered prototypes in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class. GTP racecars are built around an IMSA-specified electric Bosch Motor Generator Unit (MGU) and Williams Advanced Engineering battery pack. The MGU is contained in a common transmission casing and gearbox internals provided by Xtrac. The battery, within the chassis “survival cell,” is built by Williams Advanced Engineering.
As such they are unknowns. It’s up to individual manufacturer teams to come with an aerodynamic package and develop both hardware and software to best match the spec Motor Generator Unit and battery pack to their race car. Both IMSA in North America and FIA World Endurance Championship rules require manufacturers to use one of four approved prototype chassis, fitted with what are now IMSA-homologated, manufacturer-designed and branded bodywork and engines.
The initial variable speed hurdle to jump is qualifying. At the end of the day, the first eight GTP cars were separated by only 0.815 seconds as qualifying ended for the 61st edition of the traditional season opener. It was a windy, warm afternoon on the 3.56-mile, 12-turn Daytona International Speedway road course.
Tom Blomqvist turned the best lap of the entire three days of so-called “Roar Before the Rolex 24,” driving the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 to the pole position. Blomqvist will lead the 61-car field to the green flag on 28 January because on the last lap of the qualifying session he set a time of 1 minute, 34.031 seconds (136.295 mph). This barely beat Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 by 0.083 seconds.
However having pace or being the fastest on one lap becomes trivial when the green flag drops and the teams face 24 hours of racing. There are good reasons why it’s called endurance racing. A lot of things can go wrong or break during 86,400 seconds of racing.
Cadillac, with newly announced aspirations to take on its global luxury performance-car competitors, in its first outing with its three Cadillac V-LMDh race cars saw Sebastien Bourdais, driving the No. 01 V-LMDh, with the best Cadillac lap of 1 minute, 34.262 seconds. He will start on the outside of Row 2. Teammate Alex Lynn qualified fifth at 1:34.389 in the No. 02 Cadillac V-LMDh and Pipo Derani posted a best lap of 1:34.608 to qualify sixth in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-LMDh.
All three Cadillac entries were hindered by a red flag that interrupted the 20-minute qualifying session. Lynn registered only three laps, Bourdais turned four laps, and Derani, a grand total of six. The electrified Cadillac prototype has an all-new Cadillac 5.5-liter DOHC V8 engine developed by GM’s Performance and Racing propulsion team based in Pontiac, Michigan, with a seven-speed sequential gearbox. IMSA has specified the power output at 670 horsepower, including the hybrid system; weight at 1,030kg without fuel and driver; and a maximum of 8,800 RPM. Cadillac is the only LMDh manufacturer with a naturally aspirated engine in the GTP class.
Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s (WTRAndretti) No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 will start third. A questionable decision – well, with AutoInformed hindsight – by the team, opting to stay in the pits on used tires at the end of a red-flag-impacted session, was ultimately the deciding factor in the result.
“The session all came down to tires,” said two-time IMSA Champion Ricky Taylor. “It was an intentional decision by us to take one set, and MSR (Meyer Shank – T. Blomqvist, C. Braun, H. Castroneves & S. Pagenaud) took two. Based on the risk of red flags with everyone running new cars, I still think that was the right decision. If the session had stayed red for 30 more seconds, we were on pole. As it turned out, the No. 60 got to use that second set properly. I thought the car was really, really good and if we couldn’t be on pole, it’s nice for the other Acura to finish first after all the work everyone has put in at HPD, Oreca, and WTRAndretti. We’ll see them in the race.”
The two BMW M Hybrid V8 prototypes finished the GTP class session in seventh and eighth places and will start from the fourth row of the grid next Saturday. BMW M works drivers Philipp Eng (AUT) and Nick Yelloly (GBR) were at the wheels of the #24 and #25 cars. BMW M Team RLL used the test sessions to get mileage on the newly developed cars and gain valuable experience with regards to the big challenge ahead, the team said. Well, one qualifying session does not a season make.
Top Five Starting Grid GTP
Other Prototype Classes
Experienced driver Ben Keating took the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) pole in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 with a lap of 1:40.541 (127.470 mph). Keating noted the wind made it precarious. Two LMP2s spun as breezy conditions caused rear end lift on a key turn. Rain showers on Saturday washing the racing rubber off the track didn’t help.
Eighteen-year-old Nico Pino took his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole in LMP3 with a quick lap of 1:43.197 (124.189 mph) in the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320. Pino overtook Dakota Dickerson (No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier) on the lap chart late in the session. Dickerson wound up second fastest at 1:43.307 (124.057 mph). Pino will split driving the No. 33 with Lance Willsey, Danny Soufi and four-time Rolex 24 winner Joao Barbosa.
*The 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will have a total of 11 races, with six events with all five WeatherTech Championship classes: GTP, LMP2, LMP3, GTD PRO and GTD.
The IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup will include all classes for the four traditional endurance events: the Rolex 24 At Daytona (Jan. 26-29), Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts (March 15-18), Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen (June 22-25) and the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (Oct. 11-14). Five-class races also will be held at Road America (Aug. 4-6) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Sept. 15-17).
The new GTP class will have a total of nine events in 2023, adding Long Beach (April 14-15), WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (May 12-14) and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (July 7-9).
Full Qualifying Results for All classes – courtesy of IMSA: Click Here
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