[h=2]IMSA places refueling restrictor sizing on teams[/h] Thursday, 15 March 2018


Marshall Pruett / Image by Levitt/LAT


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IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams are now responsible for choosing their own refueling hose restrictors. The change in policy comes in the wake of the series' post-Daytona decision to mandate a minimum refueling time to fill an empty tank in each of its three classes. Starting this weekend, GTD cars must take a minimum of 40 seconds, GTLM entries have a minimum of 34 seconds to meet, and Prototypes were given a minimum of 30 seconds.










Under the previous system, IMSA's technical department dictated the hose restrictor sizes for each model of car in the WeatherTech Championship, and the practice was done to equalize the time required to fill fuel cells of varying capacities. With a shift to the new minimum-time approach after the Rolex 24 At Daytona, where the Land Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 was penalized for being five to six seconds faster per refill, the series has gone one step further to place the expectation on each team to find the correct hose restrictor that will ensure the minimum refueling times are met.
"This is something we tested at the shop to find the correct restrictor for Sebring," Mazda Team Joest technical director Ralf Juttner told RACER. "But there are small changes we must make now that we are here. The distance from the refueling system to the car is greater than what was used at Daytona; the pit wall is wider, so we must use longer refueling hoses. So this will require some adjustment on the restrictor."
After completing whatever fuel flow testing is needed to find the correct refueling rate to meet the minimums, WeatherTech Championship teams must declare the restrictor size to IMSA on Friday. Refueling hoses will be sealed afterward, locking the restrictor in place.