Part 3
PRUETT: 50 points for IMSA’s 50th Anniversary
Images by LAT
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Marshall Pruett January 24, 2019 1:25 PM
- MEDIA 500: Spread across print, radio, web, and TV, IMSA will provide credentials for almost 500 members of the media in 2019. It’s another metric that tells us the ship is pointed in the right direction.
- MRRA: IMSA’s season finale will take place at one of its old friends, Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, but it’s will look a bit different when teams arrive, thanks to a brand-new media center that replaces the retro building that stood for decades. And in a change that surely can’t be a surprise by now, the track’s been renamed by a certain French tire manufacturer. Welcome, ‘Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.’
- PFAFF MOTORSPORTS: Canada has always played an important part in IMSA’s history, and with the new Pfaff team bringing its talented Porsche team to GTD, the paddock has one more tie to our friends up north.
- VIR/LRP MASTERY: If you’re more of a GT fan than a lover of prototypes, IMSA’s pair of GT-only events at Virginia International Raceway and Lime Rock Park are must-see events. GTLM and GTD, without those pesky DPis and LMP2s stealing the limelight, offer some of the best racing IMSA has given its new-era audience.
- NAME GAME: For the sake of consolidation, the TPNAEC is now the MEC. CTSCC is now the MPC. IPC is still IPC. RA is MRRA. And the WTSC is new. OK? LOL.
- LEENA: Multimatic race engineer Leena Gade will spread her talents over the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest RT24-P which, when considering her immense skill, should provide a significant boost.
- MOMENTUM: There’s always work to do and shortcomings to improve, but it’s hard to ignore the overall wave of forward progress pushing IMSA toward its best year to date since it was relaunched in 2019.
- FERNANDO ALONSO: The Spaniard was a huge hit last year on his Rolex 24 debut and continues, as new and one-off part of the Wayne Taylor Racing team, to attract a wider international audience who knows he has a legitimate chance of adding a big Daytona win to his victories at Monaco and Le Mans.
- ROSSI: The roster of high-profile drivers outside of IMSA’s full-time base includes 2016 Indy 500 winner and 2018 IndyCar Series runner-up Alexander Rossi, who will compete with Acura Team Penske at the endurance rounds. Yet another big name, added into the IMSA mix.
- TORQUE TALK: FOX Sports IMSA TV veterans Justin Bell and Tommy Kendall weren’t picked up by NBC Sports in the handoff for 2019, and if all goes well, it will be the best thing possible for sports car fans. The drivers-turned-analysts have created ‘The Torque Show,’ a live streaming interview program hosted inside the paddock at every IMSA race. Filling the gap before and after the NBC cameras are lit, Bell and Kendall should bring new levels of the fun and character from the like we’ve never had before.
- KAMUI KOBAYASHI: The obvious assumption would place WTR’s Alonso as the fastest guest driver in its Cadillac DPi-V.R, but don’t sleep on Japan’s Kobayashi, who is an extraordinary operator behind the wheel.
- SCUDERIA FINLAND: Ferrari factory ace Toni Vilander makes his transition to the GTD class with Scuderia Corsa after years of representing the brand in GTLM. Fresh off a PWC championship, the Finn is now among the throngs of ridiculously talented pros in the Pro-Am class. The gap between GTD and GTLM only getting narrower as the talent pool gets deeper.
- LAMBO: With five Huracan GT3s on the Daytona grid, the supercar manufacturer is enjoying a renaissance of interest after securing the 2018 GTD championship. It’s the kind of metric that brings manufacturers in and keeps them engaged: when on-track success results in sales, the process is working.
- MISSION CRITICAL: Jackie Heinricher’s all-female driving team is, as Katherine Legge said, ‘racing for something bigger than wins’ as she, double GTD champion Christina Nielsen, and stars Simona De Silvestro and Bia Figueiredo look to strengthen their position in the series, and pave the way for more women in the future.
- MANUFACTURERS PLAYGROUND: There are more marques competing in IMSA this year than were on display at the recent Detroit Auto Show. That’s amazing.