By Mark Robinson

IMSA Wire Service

Roar Before the Rolex 24 Entry List

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – No season in recent memory arrives with as much eagerness and expectation as the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It unfolds next week, starting with three days of testing at the annual Roar Before the Rolex 24. It’s the prelude to the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the renowned 24-hour endurance marathon that kicks off the worldwide racing season.

This year’s Rolex 24, the 61st running on Jan. 28-29, takes on more interest and intrigue than usual since it serves as the global competition debut of the LMDh platform prototype cars in the reborn Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class. Nine entries from four powerhouse auto manufacturers are entered in the class, with each manufacturer designing its own internal combustion engine that’s mated to an electrified hybrid powertrain common to all the entrants. The combination of the two power sources can generate up to 670 horsepower.

The manufacturers and their teams have been working tirelessly to prepare their cars for this groundbreaking debut. The Rolex 24 will serve as the first and ultimate test to see who will survive the grueling, twice-around-the-clock measure of driver and machine on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course.

It also places a premium on the three-day Roar Before the Rolex 24 test from Jan. 20-22, as GTP drivers, teams and manufacturers hammer out the final details to fine-tune performance for the demanding 24-hour race to come. The Roar will conclude on Sunday, Jan. 22 with qualifying for all five WeatherTech Championship classes to set the starting grid for the Rolex 24 six days later. Qualifying will stream live on Peacock at 1:25 p.m. ET Jan. 22, with IMSA Radio also providing coverage.

Other key notes to consider for the Roar and Rolex 24 include:

Sixty-One Cars for the 61st Running: Interest is soaring for the WeatherTech Championship. For the second straight year, there are a hefty 61 entries for the Roar and Rolex 24. Additional entry applications were submitted but had to be turned away in order to accommodate the 61 in pit lane and the garage area.

For 2023, in addition to the nine GTP entries, there are 10 in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), nine in Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3), eight in GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and 25 in GT Daytona (GTD).

• GTP: The four LMDh cars competing are the Acura ARX-06, BMW M Hybrid V8, Cadillac V-LMDh and Porsche 963. Cadillac has three entries (two fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing and the third from Action Express Racing), Acura two (one from Meyer Shank Racing with Andretti Autosport and the other from Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian), BMW two (both from BMW M Team RLL) and Porsche two (both from Porsche Penske Motorsport). Each car has at least one past Rolex 24 winner in its lineup, with the No. 01 Cadillac Racing entry boasting a total of eight victories among Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon.
• LMP2: The class maintains its size (10 cars) from a year ago, with returning favorites such as Era Motorsport, PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports and 2022 season champion Tower Motorsport – the latter adding IndyCar drivers Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin to its 2023 Rolex 24 lineup in search of that elusive victory. New entries in LMP2 include a pair from TDS Racing and single cars from Crowdstrike Racing by APR, Rick Ware Racing, Proton Competition and AF Corse.
• LMP3: The count in this class also mirrors 2022 (nine cars), led by the teams that finished 1-2 in last year’s Rolex 24 – Riley Motorsports and Sean Creech Motorsport. The field is nearly equally split between chassis manufacturers, with five from Ligier and four from Duqueine.
• GTD PRO: Seven manufacturers are represented among the eight entries in this highly competitive class that debuted last year at the Rolex 24. Porsche won in a stirring battle between two of its own last year and has the new 992 version of its Porsche 911 GT3 R to race with this year. Other new cars for the class in 2023 are the Ferrari 296 GT3 and the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2. But don’t rule out returning war horses including the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD, Lexus RC F GT3, Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 – the latter being the only manufacturer with two cars in the class (one each from Heart of Racing Team and TGM/TF Sport).
• GTD: This popular class swelled by three to 25 entries this year and in many ways is the heart of IMSA since it boasts nine manufacturers – Acura, Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche. It was a Porsche that conquered last year’s Rolex 24, but the depth and parity of the class was displayed by the fact that seven of those manufacturers won at least once in 2022. It bodes well for another GTD donnybrook in the 2023 season opener.

A Load of Past Rolex 24 Winners Entered: When all is said and done, more than 230 drivers will likely compete in this year’s race. At least 62 of them have taken an overall or class win in the Rolex 24 before. Andy Lally (No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in GTD) leads among active drivers with five previous victories. Joao Barbosa (No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320 in LMP3) and the aforementioned Scott Dixon (No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-LMDh in GTP) both have four, including three overall triumphs each.

Most Class-Winning Teams Return … Sort of: Four class winners from the 2022 Rolex 24 are back, though it comes with an asterisk for Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian. The team won last year in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class that gave way to GTP for this season. Three of the four winning drivers from that effort are back in the No. 60 – Tom Blomqvist, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud – and are joined by two-time Rolex 24 winner Colin Braun.

Oliver Jarvis, who co-drove the No. 60 to the Rolex 24 victory as well as the season-long WeatherTech Championship DPi title in 2022 (with Blomqvist), moves to the LMP2 class this year as part of the No. 18 Era Motorsport lineup that also features past Rolex 24 winners Ryan Dalziel and Dwight Merriman.

Speaking of LMP2, while the DragonSpeed USA team that won last year’s Rolex 24 in LMP2 is not back, two of the drivers – Eric Lux and Devlin DeFrancesco – have joined Rick Ware Racing in the No. 51 ORECA LMP2 07 along with co-drivers Austin Cindric (the 2022 Daytona 500 winner) and Pietro Fittipaldi (Formula 1 test driver). The No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 is back to defend its LMP3 victory, including two of the drivers from a year ago, Gar Robinson and Felipe Fraga.

The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R won a thrilling GTD PRO race last year and returns but with a completely new driver lineup, although all three drivers who won for the team last year – Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet and Felipe Nasr – are in this year’s race as part of Porsche Penske Motorsport’s GTP squad. They’ve been replaced in the No. 9 Pfaff Porsche by Klaus Bachler, Patrick Pilet and Laurens Vanthoor. Vanthoor helped guide the No. 9 to the 2021 GTD championship.

Wright Motorsports made it a Porsche sweep in the GT classes a year ago, winning in GTD. The No. 16 Wright entry has all three of its drivers back – Ryan Hardwick, Jan Heylen and Zacharie Robichon – and added Dennis Olsen as a fourth wheelman this year.

Practice Makes Perfect: Five WeatherTech test sessions are scheduled for Jan. 20-21, with qualifying the series’ only on-track action on Jan. 22. In addition to the WeatherTech Championship, the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge will use the weekend for testing and the new IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge will debut with a pair of 45-minute races.

WeatherTech Championship Track Records

Qualifying:

GTP: new class in 2023 (DPi track record: Oliver Jarvis, Mazda DPi, 1:33.685 / 136.792 mph, January 2019)

LMP2: Paul-Loup Chatin, ORECA LMP2, 1:35.532 / 134.154 mph, January 2022

LMP3: Felipe Fraga, Ligier JS P320, 1:42.133 / 125.483 mph, January 2022

GTD PRO: Laurens Vanthoor, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 1:45.087 / 121.956 mph, January 2022

GTD: Marcos Gomes, Ferrari 488 GT3, 1:44.541 / 122.587 mph, January 2019

By John Oreovicz

IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Making sense of the three classes of prototypes that compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship can be a challenging proposition.

At first glance, cars built to Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) and even the new Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) specifications look somewhat similar – especially when viewed on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway running 200 mph in the dead of night. But there are key factors that differentiate the cars from each class – visually, aurally, technologically and financially.

In simple terms, think of LMP3, LMP2 and GTP as the “Small, Medium and Large” of prototypes. Or “Fast, Faster and Fastest.”

Le Mans Prototype 3

LMP3 was created as a cost-effective entry to prototype racing that has proven valuable for young up-and-comers and less-experienced drivers. Cars are available from four approved constructors (Ligier, Duqueine, Adess and Ginetta) for a homologated price of approximately $250,000, all powered by an Oreca VK56 V-8 engine producing more than 450 horsepower. The LMP3 field expected at the Rolex 24 is almost evenly split between Ligier (5) and Duqueine (4) chassis.

To control costs, LMP3 cars incorporate a steel tubular roll cage into a composite chassis. They also utilize steel brake rotors as opposed to carbon. LMP3 cars measure 183 inches in length, 75 inches in width, with a minimum weight of 950 kilograms (2,090 pounds). LMP3 cars may also be identified by the orange coloring in designated places on the car, including the mirrors, rear-wing endplates, class plates and the lighted led position indicators.

Le Mans Prototype 2

LMP3 to LMP2 represents a shift to a higher level of race car technology. The LMP2 chassis is full composite; the 4.2-liter, 500-horsepower Gibson V-8 is purpose-built for endurance racing, featuring a flat-plane crankshaft that creates a screaming exhaust note. There are four approved constructors (Ligier, Multimatic, Dallara and ORECA), and the homologated price is $506,000. ORECA is the only LMP2 chassis on the Rolex 24 entry list, which has been the case over the past few seasons.

An LMP2 car is fractionally longer than an LMP3 and weighs the same. LMP2 cars may also be identified by blue coloring in designated places such as the mirrors, rear-wing endplates and class plates. Lighter, more powerful and with full carbon brakes, an LMP2 prototype laps a typical circuit about five seconds faster than an LMP3. These are fully professional race cars that require a professional level of engineering and maintenance.

Grand Touring Prototype

In 2023, the GTP class will feature cars built to LMDh technical regulations developed by IMSA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO). GTP cars are identifiable by the black background on the class plate.

The LMDh formula mandates affiliation with an established automotive manufacturer that produces more than 2,500 vehicles annually for worldwide sale. Four such manufacturers have committed for the 2023 season (Acura, BMW, Cadillac and Porsche); Lamborghini has announced its intent to join the WeatherTech Championship GTP class in 2024.

Each manufacturer partners with one of the four approved LMDh "spine” constructors. The spine includes a full-composite central chassis, suspension, and braking system. BMW and Cadillac have linked with Dallara, Acura with ORECA, Porsche with Multimatic and Lamborghini with Ligier for their LMDh spine providers.

LMDh manufacturers contribute stylized bodywork with their own brand language to that LMDh spine base, and they also enjoy a great deal of freedom with regard to the powertrain. The rules allow any gasoline-powered, four-stroke internal combustion engine (ICE) with a 10,000-rpm limit, as long as it integrates to Bosch’s mandated Motor Generator Unit (MGU) – the hybrid technology unit built into the common seven-speed Xtrac gearbox used by every LMDh car as part of the common Energy Recovery System (ERS). Batteries and other common components for each car’s hybrid system come from WAE Technologies.

Not only does every GTP/LMDh competitor look different, they also sound different because the manufacturers made radically different choices in terms of their “traditional” engine. Acura developed a twin-turbo V-6; Porsche and BMW have opted for turbocharged V-8s, while Cadillac chose a 5.5-liter, naturally aspirated V-8.

While Cadillac, Acura, BMW and Porsche are fielding full-fledged, factory-supported programs in the 2023 WeatherTech Championship, Porsche also will sell its 963 Hybrid to qualified customer teams. The asking price is $2.9 million, which includes full factory engineering support. That figure alone should tell you that an LMDh prototype is a no-compromise, ultra-technology racing car.

GTP entries are relatively easy to spot on track because they are so much larger than the LMP2 and LMP3 runners. LMDh cars can measure up to nearly 201 inches in length and 79 inches in width. Although they weigh 1,030 kilograms (2,270 pounds), the additional power (643-697 horsepower made at the rear wheels, to be determined for each manufacturer via IMSA’s Balance of Performance process) and superior aerodynamics will make GTP cars much faster than the other classes of prototypes in terms of lap time.

How much faster? Because GTP/LMDh is totally new, we won’t really know until the WeatherTech Championship opens the 2023 season at Daytona International Speedway with the Roar Before the Rolex 24 from Jan. 20-22, followed Jan. 26-29 by the Rolex 24 At Daytona race week. No matter which class you focus on as IMSA kicks off an exciting new era, it’s guaranteed to be a can’t-miss event.

By Mark Robinson

IMSA Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The talent pipeline within the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is never more evident than it will be in 2023.

Drivers for the new Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class provide the perfect example. While there are a number of established prototype aces on the list, there’s also an impressive roster of rising stars making their initial forays into the top-level class.

Mathieu Jaminet. Matt Campbell. Alexander Sims. Louis Deletraz. Get to know the names because they each will play pivotal roles in determining the success of their respective GTP teams. But how did they get here and, just as importantly, what do leading teams look for when seeking out that next great talent?

Jaminet and Campbell have climbed the Porsche driver pyramid, winning the WeatherTech Championship GTD PRO class championship in 2022 to catapult into rides in Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963s this year. Sims impressed enough in a Corvette Racing GTD PRO program that he’s been added to fellow GM brand Cadillac’s LMDh lineup. Deletraz caught the eye of Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport driving a Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), enough that the Swiss driver was named WTR’s third driver for endurance events in the Acura ARX-06.

Then there’s Colin Braun, a bit of a renaissance man making his second, or really third, climb to the pinnacle of sports car racing. Braun, who made his IMSA top-tier prototype debut literally half his lifetime ago at age 16 in 2005, will share the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 in the upcoming season with Tom Blomqvist.

Now 34, Braun (on left in photo with teammates Blomqvist and Helio Castroneves) provides likely the best perspective on what it takes to get to the top. It’s a combination, he says, of talent, making connections within the paddock who go to bat for you, perseverance and surpassing expectations when given the opportunity.

“For me, it was about exceeding those expectations and really delivering quickly that kind of kept things moving in the right direction,” Braun says. “That was kind of the pressure in the situations that I was used to throughout my career, given the different opportunities that presented themselves.”

Braun cites the example from when he was 16. After starting in a pair of GT races, he earned the opportunity in a Daytona Prototype for Essex Racing, not known as a frontrunning team.

“I was able to go in at VIR in one of my final races in that car and challenge for the win of the race,” Braun recalls. “Everyone was like, ‘Holy cow, that's exceeding expectations,’ and I think that's sort of what opened Tracy Krohn's eyes. And obviously he hired me and it was a successful deal. That was for sure one of those instances big time.”

Now a respected veteran driver, Braun has 22 career IMSA wins and three championships. It’s a résumé that Deletraz, the 25-year-old Swiss driver, hopes to mimic. A former test driver in Formula 1, Deletraz helped John Farano and Tower Motorsports capture the WeatherTech Championship LMP2 title last year with a pair of wins, including the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Two days after that triumph, Deletraz was turning test laps in the No. 10 Acura LMDh.

Deletraz knew officials from several teams were monitoring his progress during the season, but WTR won out.

“What I really liked of Wayne Taylor is he came to me, and he clearly showed me he wanted me in the team,” Deletraz said. “Endurance (racing) is obviously teamwork, and the way they approach things I think they also see the same in me. I come here to win, I want to win everything I can and do the best possible and they have the same mentality. When you share those values, the performance, and obviously I enjoy it because it's my passion, it's what made a difference because there are many good drivers out there.”

Mike O’Gara approaches it from the team perspective. As director of operations at Chip Ganassi Racing, he and other team leaders are always on the lookout for budding talent. And with names like Zanardi, Montoya, Franchitti and Dixon having delivered a mountain of trophies to the team in different disciplines, there’s proof in their process.

O’Gara says CGR seeks drivers who find a way to win at all levels.

“We feel like there's an intangible on knowing how to win a race,” he explains. “That's more than just driving a race car quickly or fast. It's the whole mentality, the whole mindset on taking care of your car, getting through traffic. Chip’s mantra is ‘Do the obvious things right.’ He says that before every race in every race meeting. Our theory is if there's a driver that's talented and he does the obvious things right, he's going to end up on the podium – probably on the top step of the podium a lot.

“You can have a kid with some talent but in the best equipment and he does fine, but the people you’ve got to look for is people that may not be in the best equipment … but they're figuring out how to take that equipment and win races. Those have been the most successful drivers that we've had here.”

Which of the drivers new to the top prototype class will take that next step to greatness? Only time and a rigorous 2023 schedule will tell. First up is the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 28-29.