[ad_1]
At its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Grand Touring Prototypes of the International Motorsport Association made IndyCar an absolute fit. Andretti, Mario, Michael, AJ Foyt, Bobby Rahal and Martin Brundle were there and the fans flocked there.
IMSA is ready to give Indy a new scare this weekend at the Rolex 24 at Daytona Sports Car Race.
Forty years ago, GTP automakers were rich with auto companies pouring tens of millions of dollars into violent on-track warfare each year. The GTP car makers have brought some truly wild machines to the streets and classic road courses of America for the entertainment of our cars. Like an alien spaceship that fell to Earth, the GTP cars looked and sounded unlike anything else the race offered.
Indeed, IndyCar made headlines with the world-famous Indianapolis 500, and NASCAR’s Daytona 500 was a veritable powerhouse. And fans responded appropriately, making IMSA a sporting facility almost as popular as IndyCar.
At its peak, GTP offered Chevrolet vs. Porsche vs. Nissan vs. Mazda vs. Toyota vs. Jaguar in a 200 mph sports car cage match. Races were broadcast live on ESPN and played in front of packed grandstands, with the IMSA GTP Tour running from California to Connecticut each season. And, as is often surprising, GTP could not bear the weight of its success and came to a disastrous end.
Rising costs to remain competitive are no longer acceptable to large GTP manufacturers. Before closing, the Nissan GTP factory team, based outside of Los Angeles, employed more people in his IMSA program than his Ferrari, McLaren and Williams Formula One teams combined. IMSA was a monster at the time, but it collapsed when the financial crisis hit at the same time as the budget surge needed to stay competitive. GTP went out at the end of his 1993.
Thankfully, history has an interesting way of rethinking itself.
Thirty years after the original GTP cars went silent, IMSA is poised to relaunch the iconic class with a twist that offers contemporary relevance to interested members of the automotive industry. For 2021, it was announced that his GTP will return with a hybrid-powered machine that fuses the latest in his EV battery technology with a purebred internal combustion engine.
The nose and sides of the 670-horsepower hybrid prototype inherited all-important styling cues from the GTP makers’ road cars. The response has been staggering given the multiple ways in which he incorporates the showroom ideology into the heart and look of the GTP cars.
The new GTP formula, in perfect harmony with the automakers, includes Honda with the Acura line, BMW, General Motors and its Cadillac brand, and Porsche as they race Saturday and Sunday to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Victory and publicity bragging rights. Then there are 10 more stops on the national tour, which runs through October, with Cadillac and Porsche detouring France for his 24 Hours of Mans race in June.
Each GTP model will be joined by a Lamborghini next year, and by 2025 McLaren Automotive is expected to increase the number of GTP manufacturers at IMSA to half a dozen. Look at IndyCar, which has stuck with two manufacturers for 10 years, and NASCAR, which has been the same for 10 years and he has three brands. GTP’s tech-friendly rulebook has clearly caught the attention of American, German, Japanese, Italian and British brands. .
A new era of revival takes place this weekend at the famous Daytona International Speedway Roval, where the iconic and grueling 24-hour endurance race unfolds.
Jim France, chairman of NASCAR and IMSA, said of his father Bill France’s founding of both series, “At first it was kind of like the GTP era, but we are in a new era of sports car racing. We’re at the dawn of a golden age,” he told ESPN. “The upcoming team and driver competition is absolutely fantastic. We’ve had some great races, but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen so many big teams, cars and manufacturers competing at the same time.” It’s going to be big if everyone who is supposed to be here on the show shows up. ”
In French parlance, the names associated with today’s hybrid GTP cars read like an all-star roster of great North American entrants. Half of the full-time IndyCar team owners split their time at GTP, including IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor his speedway owner Roger Penske.
Michael Andretti, who continues his road to F1 with Cadillac, has partnered with his Andretti Autosport team and Wayne Taylor Racing. It is joined by 2021 Indianapolis 500 winners and final champions of GTP’s predecessor, IMSA’s DPi class, Mike Shank and Jim Meyer. The same goes for Chip and his Ganassi Racing, who won the Indy 500 last May. and his three-time IndyCar champion Bobby Rahal, and team co-owners David Letterman and Mike Lanigan.
A more meaningful link between France and the world’s biggest motor race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has also been revived with the return of the GTP. Long before the PGA and LIV Golf became hot rivals, IMSA and the rule makers behind the great endurance events acted like a longtime married couple struggling with a divorce. Le Mans had banned his DPi car from participating in his IMSA, but both sides eventually decided to run his GTP at his circuit in Sarthe, a hypercar prototype worthy of the FIA World Endurance Championship. We have managed to agree on a common set of rules to offer. – Green light for racing at IMSA.
Combined with IMSA’s familiar North American calendar, the opening of new doors for overall victory at Le Mans has made a big difference for GTP participants and manufacturers.
“[Cadillac are] I’m interested in all the races, but certainly when you add Le Mans into the equation, that’s what they mentioned in the first few sentences they got together,” Ganassi said. Likewise, there are many races ahead of it. [Daytona], is that we want to win. ”
Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves is a four-time Indy 500 winner and veteran of top-notch prototype racing. Last season he was DPi and he was with Meyer Shank. Count Castroneves among the many who root for the hybrid GTP car and relive the magic of the old GTP.
“They still have the combustion engine, but the car integrates all the new technology, so people are interested,” said Castroneves, whose Acura ARX-06 started from pole position at Daytona. rice field. “And the car design… come on. They’re sexy machines. They’re incredibly good-looking. And they’re fast, so I love that. If you go there, you get hypercars and racing.” They can come to us and they can race here. I’m saying it will. I really believe it will. With IMSA.”
There is a gold rush to compete with the big manufacturers in GTP, and in the next few years, GTP’s first heyday could be indistinguishable from its hybrid offspring. Beating NASCAR on the popularity front is unrealistic, but given all the energy and manufacturer buy-in surrounding IMSA, IndyCar has real reason to worry.
“The real cherry on top was the new rules and all the excitement that’s going on with what they’re doing with it,” Andretti said. “The future looks very bright for this series.”
[ad_2]
Source link
