Here is a rundown of what got me thinking…
Mazda MX-5 Cup continues to be the best series in the world. There was also the 24 Hours of Daytona, and Hélio Castroneves made history while there was a photo finish. Now the race to Bathurst begins. While racing took place in Daytona, Sebring was in the news. Lost in the shuffle of the weekend, the Race of Champions took place in Sweden, and Mattias Ekström is again the best driver in the world after defeating Mick Schumacher in the Champion of Champions competitor, just like how Ekström defeated Mick’s father Michael in 2007 and 2009. It is Ekström’s fourth Race of Champions title. Kudos to A.J. Foyt Racing and IndyCar, though it should have caught its faux pas earlier, but kudos nonetheless. But something from Daytona was on my mind…
Are There Enough Team Owners?
This year's 24 Hours of Daytona welcomed a new era for sports car racing, as it was the debut race for the LMDh specification prototypes, partaking in the GTP class, an homage to the great IMSA era that spanned most of the 1980s into the 1990s.
While GTP harkens back to a glorious time for sports car racing, and at first blush this new age could be something special, there was something else that was familiar about this year's race at Daytona. It wasn't the manufactures, some continuing from the DPi-era and others returning to prototypes. It wasn't the Michelin tires, nor the green background of the Rolex logo painted on the walls and plastered around the racetrack.
Penske, Ganaasi, Andretti, Shank, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Where have I heard these names before?
Five-sixths of the teams in the GTP class are also IndyCar teams. Thanks to Andretti Autosport's new partnership with Wayne Taylor Racing, the only GTP team without its fingers in IndyCar is Action Express Racing with its #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac.
IndyCar teams have spread themselves to other series before. Most of these teams have deep ties to sports cars as well as IndyCar. Meyer Shank Racing was a sports car team first before entering IndyCar, but as IMSA enters this new era, the sports car dedicated teams are lacking in the premier class.
There was once Extreme Speed Motorsports, Speedsource running the Mazda program before Team Joest and then Multimatic took over, Spirit of Daytona won races, CORE Autosport was once in the top class as was Krohn Racing. Bob Stalling Racing was a championship winning team as was Highcroft and Dyson Racing. What happened to Dyson Racing?
Sports car racing had its own top teams, and ones that were beloved. They were the best out there, winning races with phenomenal drivers. They had their own identities and recognizable liveries. You knew the teams and watched with interest to see who would come out on top.
But with GTP returning, we are seeing a shift and a loss of familiar names. However, these aren't new sports car teams coming in. These are existing teams, most known better for what it has done in open-wheel competition, filling the top class in IMSA.
With the introduction of these LMDh-spec cars, we are seeing it require a different level of an organization to compete in IMSA's top class. These are greater than your typical sports car team. These are large organizations that have grown through diversifying where they compete. Also, the LMDh cars are not for the faint of heart financially. The Porsche 963 costs $2.9 million.
We are seeing more cars competing at the top, not just in IMSA's GTP revival, but we will see it in the FIA World Endurance Championship's Hypercar class as well. Both series have more cars competing in the premier class with more manufacturers involved and more planning on entries in the coming years, but manufacturers are not bedrock you can trust. Once they sour on a program, whether it be because of cost or results, teams will disappear, and the independent outfits will be missed.
The sportsman teams are still almost priced out of the top class in either series. There are a few exceptions. JDC-Miller MotorSports and Jota Sport are each awaiting delivery of a Porsche 963 to compete as customer teams in IMSA with Proton planning to run full-time in WEC as well. It is possible, but still difficult.
The smaller teams are priced out to a point of accepting relegation to another class, most likely a pro-am class, and making do in LMP2 or a GT3 class.
It is the nature of the business. There was once a cost-affordable prototype class, but the Daytona Prototypes were not celebrated for their accessibility, rather derided for their simplicity. To have machine of this caliber it will not be cheap. It will not be for anyone with a few hundred thousand dollars laying around. It is a massive investment. Bigger teams with greater resources will make it work. Smaller teams will likely be unable to pull the funds together. It is no different from the LMP1 era, which was exclusively manufacturer teams for the most part. Customer cars are at least now possible with LMDh.
There is a worry in having so many top teams also competing in another high-profile series. As much as these organizations want to be spread across these series, there will be moments where constraints are felt. Sponsorship dries up in one series. Performance drops in another. Attention is split. Headaches increase. Changes are necessary, and a team could decide to focus on one competition and not another.
It cuts both ways. IndyCar should be as nervous IMSA. Neither series wants to lose teams, but they could find each other playing the roles of Sophie's children when a decision must be made. If it happening for four or five of the organization in both, one series could see a significant loss.
This was the first weekend of this new age. There is plenty to be excited about, and rightfully so. The worst case scenario is not on our doorstep. Frankly, it is only a myth at the moment, but when considering it, there is a solution to make it completely avoidable. More dedicated sports car teams would relieve any concerns. Of course, that is easier said than done.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Mattias Ekström, but did you know...
The #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura of Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Hélio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud won the 24 Hours of Daytona. Castroneves joined Peter Gregg as the only drivers with three consecutive 24 Hours of Daytona victories. It was Blomqvist’s and Pagenaud’s second consecutive Daytona victory along with Meyer Shank Racing, while Braun picked up his first career overall victory and third class victory.
In LMP2, the #55 Proton Competition Oreca-Gibson of James Allen, Gianmaria Bruni, Francesco Pizzi and Fred Poordad won by 0.016 seconds over the #04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca-Gibson of Ben Hanley, Matt McMurry, Esteban Gutiérrez and George Kurtz. It was the sixth closest finish in IMSA history.
The #17 AWA Duqueine-Nissan of Wayne Boyd, Anthony Mantella, Thomas Merrill and Nicolás Varrone won in LMP3. The #79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG of Maro Engel, Jules Gounon, Daniel Juncadella and Cooper MacNeil won in GTD Pro. The #27 Heart of Racing Team of Roman De Angelis, Ian James, Marco Sorensen and Darren Turner won in GTD.
Norway won the Nations' Cup for the second consecutive year at Race of Champions with Petter and Oliver Solberg topping the Belgian-Brazilian All-Star duo of Thierry Neuville and Felipe Drugovich in Piteå, Sweden.
Chase Sexton won the Supercross Triple Crown round from Anaheim after winning the bookend races. Jason Anderson won the middle race.
Pascal Wehrlein swept the Diriyah ePrix.
Louis Foster, Josh Mason and James Penrose split the three Formula Regional Oceania races from Manfeild.
Coming Up This Weekend
NASCAR has its exhibition race, the Clash from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Supercross makes its way to Houston.
Formula Regional Oceania heads to Hampton Downs from the New Zealand Grand Prix.
IndyCar has testing from The Thermal Club in Palm Springs, California.
