LMDh announced as the future of global SportsCar Racing

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and North America’s sanctioning body for endurance racing, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), have today announced that agreement has been reached for a common future with convergence of the top categories of endurance racing.

Jim France, IMSA Chairman, Pierre Fillon, President of  the ACO (copyright Mike Meadows/IMSA)

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) and North America’s sanctioning body for endurance racing, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), have today announced that agreement has been reached for a common future with convergence of the top categories of endurance racing.

On the occasion of the 2020 Rolex 24 At Daytona, the two sanctioning bodies unveiled the guiding principle for this platform – the introduction as the top category of competition of LMDh, which will be eligible for both the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.  This joint platform responds to the wishes of numerous manufacturers.

The chance for automotive manufacturers to compete with the same car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, at SuperSebring or at Spa-Francorchamps, at the Motul Petit Le Mans or even Silverstone, will soon become a reality.

The ACO and IMSA have together established the basis for joint regulations to govern the new LMDh category.  The objective is that, from September 2021 in the FIA WEC and from January 2022 in the WeatherTech Championship, manufacturers will be able to enter the top category and compete in the two leading championships in endurance racing with this new model of car, LMDh.

The two sanctioning bodies were inspired by elements from each of their respective regulations, namely from the ACO’s Le Mans Hypercar and those in preparation by IMSA for the DPi 2.0. The result of this convergence, the LMDh car will be:

Based on a new chassis common to both ACO and IMSA, using elements of the Le Mans Hypercar and LMP2 chassis, and built by the four current LMP2 manufacturers: Dallara, Ligier, Multimatic and Oreca.  This chassis will also be used for the new generation LMP2.  

Its silhouette and design will be modifiable, developed according to the brand or style of the manufacturer which will provide the engine power for the car.  The car will use a common hybrid KERS system, on the rear axle.  In the future the top category of endurance racing will include both LMDh and Le Mans Hypercar.  A balance of performance system will ensure fair competition. 

Introduction of the new class is planned in September 2021 for the FIA WEC and at the Daytona 24 Hours in January 2022.  The lifespan of the new LMP2 cars should be 10 years as announced by Gérard Neveu, the LMDh homologation will be for at least 5 years said John Doonan.  More technical details for the car will be revealed in March at SuperSebring, in a presentation from the ACO and IMSA Technical Departments.

Pierre Fillon, President of the ACO: “This announcement today is the crucial starting point for a joint endurance racing future, supported by both the ACO and IMSA. The platform represents the convergence achieved by both organisations which is a great success story for endurance racing. A manufacturer will soon be able to compete in the top category of two championships, the FIA WEC and the WeatherTech Championship. We can’t emphasise enough, as it’s exceptional, how many opportunities this long-term sporting and marketing vision will open up.”

Jim France, IMSA Chairman: “When my father, Bill France Sr., brought the first Daytona Continental sports car race here to Daytona International Speedway back in 1962, he wanted to bring together sports car drivers, teams and manufacturers from around the world. With the ACO, IMSA and manufacturers aligned, today’s announcement proudly takes my father’s vision to the next level.”

Gérard Neveu, CEO of the FIA World Endurance Championship: “The big winner today is endurance racing as the door is now opened to many additional competitors to compete at the highest level on both sides of the Atlantic with the same car.  The two sanctioning bodies should be congratulated for their vision and spirit of collaboration. Le Mans Hypercars and the new LMDh cars racing together at Le Mans or Daytona will be an incredibly exciting prospect for endurance fans across the world.”

John Doonan, IMSA President: “On the eve of IMSA’s 51st season of competition, future race fans will regard today as one of the most significant of all time for IMSA, the ACO and the world of sports car racing. Providing a common platform for top-level prototype racing globally has been a goal for the sanctioning bodies, our manufacturers – and most importantly, sports car racing fans everywhere – for many years, and we are proud to say the opportunity has finally arrived. We are grateful for the collaboration with our partners at the ACO and the open dialogue with our manufacturer partners that led us to today’s introduction of the LMDh platform.”

IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring: Pole position for Cadillac (P), BMW (GTLM) and Ferrari (GTD)

Tristan Vautier has secured pole position this afternoon in his #90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Cadillac DPi for tomorrow's Sebring 12 Hours.  

It's the first pole position for the team in its new DPi prototype, and the first pole for the Frenchman in the WeatherTech SportsCar Series.  Vautier held off fellow Frenchman Olivier Pla in the #2 Tequila Patron ESM Nissan Dpi with 0.160 seconds after an exciting duel. Third fastest was Ricky Taylor in the #7 Acura Team Penske Dpi, 0.341 seconds behind pole position. 

After a disappointing 24 Hours of Daytona where the brand new M8 GTE showed its reliability but a lack of pace, BMW now dominated the LMGTE class, scoring pole and third position at the end of the qualifying session. Both BMW were in top of the timetable, until James Calado managed to squeeze in its #62 Ferrari 488 GTE. Connor de Philippi was the fastest man on track, clocking in a record breaking 1.55.893 for the GTLM class with his #25 BMW M8 GTE. Calado was a (very) close second, just 0.058 seconds behind the BMW. The #24 BMW of Jesse Krohn set the third fastest time. 

Spirit of Race took pole position in the GTD class with Daniel Serra behind the wheel of the #51 Ferrari 488 GT3. Serra also set a record qualifying lap in 1.58.710. Chistopher Mies in the #29 Montaplast by Land Motorsport Audi R8 GT3 was second fastest, over half a second behind Serra. Just 0.022 seconds slower was Jack Hawksworth in the #15 Lexus RCF GT3.  The #93 Michael Shank Lexus is still undergoing repair works after yesterday's crash and didn't take part in qualifying. 

Qualifying results can be found here

The 66th annual 12 Hours of Sebring will start on Saturday at 10h40 local time (14h40 UK time, 15h40 CET).

Saturday's (very) cold and foggy morning practice saw Helio Castrovenes fastest in the #7 Penske Acura in 1.47.076 in the Prototype class, both BMW's setting the pace in GTLM and the Land Motorsport R8 fastest in GTD. 

Mazda dominated yesterday's night practice, putting both Joest run Mazda DPi's on top of the timetable.  Oliver Jarvis in the #77 beating Jonathan Bomarito in the #55 with 0.457 seconds. The Ford GT of Joey Hand was fastest in the dark, ahead of the #25 BMW and the #911 Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor.  In the GTD class the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW was fastest. 

Kristof Vermeulen. 

All pictures © JellyBaby.Media

IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring: Penske Acura fastest in first two practice sessions

Action started today for the 66th annual 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida.  43 cars went out for today's first two practice sessions under sunny skies, but with bitter cold temperatures in the morning.

The #7 Penske Acura DPI's was fastest overall so far, Helio Castrovenes topping the timetables in the first session, Ricky Taylor in the second session.  The Joest Mazda seem to like the track at Sebring better than Daytona in January, setting second and fourth best times in the second session of the day.

In GTLM its's Ford vs Ferrari so far, the Risi Ferrari sandwiched inbetween both Fords today. The #66 Ford set the fastest time in the first session, #67 in the afternoon.  The #93 Michael Shank Acura set the quickest time in GTD during the morning session, in the afternoon it was the #15 3GT Racing Lexus who was fastest.

The second session was red flagged early when Justin Marks went hard into the tyre wall at turn 13, even moving the concrete wall a few foot behind.  Marks got out of his #93 Michael Shank Acura but with heavy damage to the car it's unsure whether they will be able to participate in the night practice session.

 

 

Phil Hanson & Bruno Senna to race for United Autosports in the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup

United Autosports have confirmed they will enter the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup this year.  The Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and the Motul Petit Le Mans will complete the four North American endurance events, joining the Rolex 24 At Daytona the team are competing in this weekend. 

© United Autosports

Phil Hanson will race alongside Bruno Senna in a Ligier JS P217 in the three remaining endurance events in the US. Phil joined United Autosports at the end of 2017 and began an intensive testing programme in preparation for the 2018 European Le Mans Series, where he will race alongside Filipe Albuquerque. Phil is also racing this weekend at Daytona in the #23 Ligier JS P217 alongside Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris.

Bruno joined United Autosports for the first time this year for the Rolex 24 At Daytona. He will be racing alongside Paul Di Resta, Will Owen and Hugo de Sadeleer in the #32 Ligier JS P217. Bruno and Phil’s teammate for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup will be announced in the coming weeks. 

© United Autosports

Phil Hanson, driver, United Autosports:

“I’m really looking forward to racing in the North American Endurance Cup. It will be a good supplement to an already pretty lavish programme we have going on with ELMS and the Rolex 24 and my testing programme, so it will fill up my calendar quite nicely. Obviously I’m really happy to be doing it with United. We chose them at the end of last year after their success in Europe and the professional set up they have. The structure has been very good so far, so we are really happy to extend the programme with the team. It’s been a pretty good start to 2018, the guys are doing a really good job, I think I’m fitting in quite well and I’m enjoying having a structured approach to my racing.”

Bruno Senna, driver, United Autosports:

“Extending the programme with United Autosports is very cool. So far the team has been great and we have been working together very well and the environment in the team is really fun. We have a lot of work to do for sure. There’s always so much car and team development throughout a season and the first race is always a big learning curve. We can look forward to the next few races now though and try to do the best we can. Each race will give us very different challenges, Sebring is a tough bumpy track so there will be a lot of work to do to get the car nice for us to drive for 12 hours but I’m excited to see what we can do. I’m familiar with all the circuits so I will do what I can to help the team and Phil get up to speed.”

Zak Brown, Team Owner and Chairman, United Autosports:

“I’m pleased United Autosports have committed to racing in the four IMSA endurance events in the US. Phil and Bruno have settled into the team really well in a short space of time and putting them together in one car will create a great line up.”

Richard Dean, Team Owner and Managing Director, United Autosports:

“To enter the four endurance races as part of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup is a big step for United Autosports, but one we are really looking forward to. There has been a lot to learn about racing over in America and in IMSA, but everyone has been very helpful in assisting us so far. Racing in the IMSA series has been on our radar for a while now and to take our European championship winning team over there is definitely the next step in our racing plans.”

BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt looks back on the development of the BMW M8 GTE

BMW Motorsport presented the new BMW M8 GTE in its livery for the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Daytona (USA) on Wednesday. Speaking in an interview, BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt looks back on the development of the BMW M8 GTE and underlines the importance of team spirit in the development crew. 

The running of two cars in the GT class in the 24-hour race at the “Daytona International Speedway” represents the race debut and the next milestone in “Mission8”. Speaking in an interview, BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt looks back on the development of the BMW M8 GTE and underlines the importance of team spirit in the development crew.

Mr Marquardt, the race debut of the new BMW M8 GTE is just around the corner. Take us through the development of the car over the past few months. How did it all begin?

Jens Marquardt: “The first race for the new BMW M8 GTE at Daytona will be very special for every one of us at BMW Motorsport. The roots of the GTE project lie in a combination of many aspects. At the start of the programme, back in 2015, the goal was to expand our activities in traditional motor racing – BMW M Motorsport – and to position ourselves even more internationally. At the same time, the possible return to Le Mans brought its very own fascination for our team. However, the most important factor was that the production model, the BMW 8 Series Coupé, was developed at the same time. We were given a green light from the board to develop a thoroughbred GTE racing car, parallel with the colleagues in production development. That is how it all began. Now the BMW M8 GTE is ready for Daytona. For the first time in BMW Motorsport history the race car will be in action before its series counterpart.”

When you started to develop the BMW M8 GTE, there was not actually a production model...

Marquardt: “Correct. Right from the word go, we worked with our colleagues in production development to synchronise the individual steps as closely as possible. It was a challenge. When we needed the first chassis of the production car, there simply wasn’t one yet. We were, however, able to work with special prototype chassis from production development. We progressed step by step in that manner. Furthermore, at the start of our development, there were still minor changes to the production model. To a certain degree, we were dealing with a moving target.”

How was the cooperation with colleagues in production?

Marquardt: “Very close and efficient. The developers on the production side obviously had their own specific challenges to overcome. Despite that, they were always open to the GTE project, and always willing to help. That was real teamwork. We synchronised the focus of our development with the core areas of the production model. The question was: what should the racing car emanate and embody? The core values of the BMW 8 Series Coupé should also be the strength of the BMW M8 GTE.”

Can you give us any examples of these development focal points?

Marquardt: “Let’s take the design aspects. We are obliged to adopt the same external contour and roof line as the production model. However, it was also important to incorporate elements such as the headlamps, the Carbon Core and the centre console in the race car, based on the BMW 8 Series Coupé. The topic of carbon fibre played a major role.”

Does the joint development mean that the BMW M8 GTE is more similar to its production counterpart than any other BMW race car?

 Marquardt: “When you look at the regulations, the engine in the BMW M6 GT3 is extremely close to that in the production model. However, we were able to make more substantial changes to the chassis. In the case of the BMW M8 GTE, the chassis is closer to the production model, but the engine had to be modified significantly. The most important thing is that we based the BMW M6 GT3 on an existing car. That was different this time. Because the race car will be in action before the production car, we worked intensively with the design department from a very early point to ensure that were on the same page when it came to the design. That worked very well.”

The GTE class is fiercely competitive, both in the IMSA and the FIA WEC. How big was the challenge, with regard to performance?

Marquardt: “We are certainly up against some tough competition with the BMW M8 GTE, that much is clear. The BMW M6 GTLM, which itself was derived from the GT3 car, served as a reference. But this time we were able to concentrate fully on the demands of the GTE class. As such, many parts have been specifically designed for this car to explicitly align areas such as weight, centre of gravity and aerodynamics with the eventual area of application. We have actually exceeded our own requirements when it comes to the engine and aerodynamics. We have also made big strides with other components, such as the chassis and traction control. This is confirmed by the feedback from the drivers. We will see how this is reflected in the results over the course of the year. The Balance of Performance obviously also plays a big role, however the BMW M8 GTE certainly has great potential.”

Were there specific key moments in the development?

Marquardt: “The special team spirit in the development team will definitely stay with us for a long time. The engineers consistently motivated each other and put a lot of heart and soul into this project. The rollout in Dingolfing was the first highlight. The second step, in which the final chassis and aerodynamics were added to the car, was of similar importance. It was an extremely tight schedule, which led straight into a 24-hour test. We achieved all that as a team with a remarkable group dynamic. I am proud of everyone at BMW Motorsport.”

To what extent does the development work continue after the first race in Daytona?

Marquardt: “After the car has been homologated, there are some areas in which we can, and may, make changes. We can still do some work on the software, in particular. We will also continue to work on aligning the BMW M8 GTE with all its systems, and will integrate all the reference values we have acquired. First of all, however, we are looking forward to the maiden race in Daytona.”

The M8 will make its European debut at the FIA WEC Prologue at Le Castellet in April.

Source: BMW Press release