Tag Archives: imsa

Porsche Penske Motorsport Wins – Rename the 963 to 967?

The 2024 season was one of the most successful in Porsche’s long-distance racing history as the Porsche 963, won seven of eight possible titles together with the works team Porsche Penske Motorsport. Maybe it should be call 967 to honor the success in only the second year of racing the 963. The overall result of the 2024 season in the FIA World Endurance Championship WEC and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was six out of six possible titles in North America, as well as the world championship crown for the works drivers Kévin Estre from France, André Lotterer from Germany and Laurens Vanthoor from Belgium in the FIA WEC. Porsche missed the manufacturer’s title in the world championship with the 963 this year by two points.

‟ ‘Nobody’s perfect’ – we already used this slogan in 1983, when only one third-party manufacturer appeared in the top 10 of the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport in a release celebrating the season today. It turns out that 41 years ago, Porsche publicized the Le Mans result under the ‘Nobody’s perfect’ on a now well-known poster. It depicted the racing cars from Stuttgart in the first eight places in the overall classification and in tenth place, with a Sauber BMW in between in the ninth spot. In AutoInformed’s view it also is just another example of Porsche’s sense of humor – counter the false stereotype on the lack of German humor. Remember the pink pig Porsche 917 endurance racer at Le Mans in 1971with the cuts of ham stenciled on the car? Continue reading

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Daytona Time – Rolex 24 Runs Saturday and Sunday

Friday’s one-hour practice session on the Daytona International Speedway road course saw only 6 of the 59 entered teams skip the chance to make final adjustments, scrub in some tires and practice vital pit stops for the IMSA endurance racing season opener tomorrow.

NBC network’s live coverage of the 62nd Rolex 24 begins at 1:30 p.m. Saturday – the BS stops when the green flag drops at 1:40 p.m. ET. Then, alas, coverage changes to the USA Network from 2:30-8 p.m., 10 p.m.-midnight and then again from 6 a.m.-noon Sunday. NBC has the race conclusion airing from noon-2 p.m. Sunday. Full race streaming coverage is also available on Peacock. The NFL, NHL or MLB would never treat fans like this. Continue reading

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General Motors is the Latest Formula One Powertrain Maker

GM’s development and testing of prototype technology is already underway. Engineering a F1 power unit will advance GM’s expertise in areas including electrification, hybrid technology, sustainable fuels, high efficiency internal combustion engines, advanced controls and software systems, GM said. These likely were the talking points used to sell the expensive program to the GM Board of Directors. Continue reading

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Annals of Marketing – Camaro ZL1 Garage 56 Edition

“Even though Chevrolet has been racing since its inception in 1911, we’ve never done anything quite like Garage 56,” said General Motors President Mark Reuss, who in AutoInformed’s direct experience losing to him on a track, is quite an accomplished driver himself. If he can sit through interminable corporate meetings, we bet he could run Le Mans, but he isn’t driving. Continue reading

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Racing Colors Revealed – Three Cadillac V-LMDh Daytona Cars

Cadillac today revealed the racing colors for the three new electrified V-LMDh race cars that will make their competition debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona this month. The three designs represent the teams running the Cadillacs, each with a different color from the Cadillac V-Series emblem. Cadillac says each car uses one of the “primary colors” of the V-Series logo – No. 01 in gold, No. 2 in blue, red on the No. 31. (pace Newton, we know Gold isn’t a primary color in the classic sense, but light through a marketing prism it is.) Continue reading

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Porsche Showing 911 Dakar at LA. Honda Wins Baja 1000

Welcome to the confusing world of performance car and truck racing and production car and truck marketing. There are clear differences in the vehicles, but the promotional aspects are virtually identical. Continue reading

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IMSA Motul Petit Le Mans – Five Classes Up For Grabs

Right now a total of 48 cars are on the pre-event entry list, the most for the 10-hour race in eight years.** Live coverage will be available through a combination of NBC network, USA Network and Peacock, as well as IMSA Radio. Continue reading

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IMSA NASCAR Street fight: Bye Road America, Hi Chicago

That weekend, of course, normally sees IMSA running sports cars at Road America in Wisconsin. NASCAR also runs at Road America too, usually in June. Whether this is, well, cheesy or not depends on your point of view. For the moment IMSA – owned by NASCAR – is officially silent on the matter. Continue reading

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IMSA LMDh: Cadillac and Porsche Testing Together

This is where Porsche comes in. The sessions at Sebring International Raceway were the first collaborative LMDh test as Cadillac was joined by Porsche on the track. The cooperation between the OEs during the development of the spec hybrid system will contribute to the success of the broader program, according to GM sports car program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser. Continue reading

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IMSA Prototype Challenge Nixed for VP Racing SportsCar Challenge

All 2023 IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge races will be streamed live in the United States on Peacock, with television coverage airing post-event on USA Network. Live race streaming for international audiences will be available on IMSA.com. This in AutoInformed’s view is the core IMSA problem – the lack of consistent access to all the races for all fans. Continue reading

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Watkins Glen: Rain, Red Flag, Busted Rules Cloud Results

As a result, racing against the clock took on new meaning as the minimum one-hour, 30-minute drive time applied for each driver in every class except DPi. When the stewards sorted it all out, the clock was adjusted to one hour, 17 minutes over what became five-plus hours. This nullified the pit stop strategy for several teams and meant some drivers were short of the 90-minute drive time. Continue reading

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IMSA – 194 Cars Entered at Watkins Glen Races This Weekend

The five classes are DPi, LMP2, LMP3, GTD PRO and GTD fighting against and among each other with the largest car count at Watkins Glen in eight years. Continue reading

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Sebring 12 Hours – Bumps, Twists, Turns in Oldest US Race

Cadillac had plenty of electricity: Twice in the final 75 minutes of the race, driver Earl Bamber lost the lead – getting it back both times. Bamber survived two incidents and a penalty in the final minutes Saturday and worked his way back into the lead, eventually prevailing to win the 70th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts. Bamber’s win  in the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R co-driven with Alex Lynn and Neel Jani was a brilliant demonstration of an old sport car racing adage – no matter what happens, just keep racing. “It was a team effort, not an individual one,” Bamber said afterwards. “I was just the one lucky enough to do the last hour. I could’ve probably made it a hell of a lot easier for everyone else, but hey, I made it. It was a good show, I think.” Continue reading

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Hendrick Motorsports to Run Camaro ZL1 at Le Mans!

Hendrick Motorsports is the all-time leader in NASCAR Cup Series championships, points-paying victories and laps led. The team is coming off its second consecutive title and has won two of the four races in 2022. Seven-time champion crew chief Chad Knaus will serve as its Garage 56 program manager. Further details, including technical elements of the car and the team’s driver lineup, will be announced at a later date. Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports did confirm one thing though, “It’s going to be expensive.” Continue reading

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Cadillac Project GTP Race Car Debuts This Summer

Last year, Cadillac said that it would compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Automobile Club de l’Ouest or ACO Grand Touring Prototype category in 2023 with a fourth-generation Cadillac V-Series prototype. Notably, this will mark the brand’s return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans after 21 years. Continue reading

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