WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Category

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DAYTONA — Different year, same result for Oliver Jarvis and Mazda Team Joest as the British racer captured pole position for the second year in a row for Saturday’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. Jarvis turned a fastest lap of 1 minute, 33.711 seconds around the 3.56 mile road course to average 136.760 mph. Jarvis’s lap was .026 seconds slower than his track record lap set last year. “This year feels different, this year feels business like,” said Jarvis. “Last year, huge amount [of] emotion, it wasRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer (Editor’s note: This story originally indicated that Black Swan Racing would be withdrawing from the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The team subsequently acquired a chassis and as such, updates have been made.) DAYTONA — After an incident in Thursday’s morning practice session for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Black Swan Racing was ready to withdraw from the first race of the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. However, Wright Motorsports has stepped in and the Black Swan Racing team is pulling an all-nighter to build a carRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer DAYTONA — A light morning rain could do little to slow Juan Pablo Montoya as the 2019 co-champion in the DPi class set the fastest lap in opening practice for the 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona. The No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 went around the 3.56 mile road course in 1 minute, 49.917 seconds to average 116.597 mph. Olivier Pla was second fastest in the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest RT24P DPi with a lap time of 1 minute, 49.956 seconds while Tristan Vautier wasRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona kicks off the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s seventh season since the sports car merger of 2014 and there are quite a few changes throughout the paddock. In Daytona Prototype International (DPi), the standard entry list from last season had 11 cars competing. This year, there are eight. Gone are the Juncos Racing Cadillac, the No. 5 Action Express Racing Cadillac and the Nissan from CORE Autosport. With CORE Autosport’s departure, only Cadillac, Mazda and Acura are represented in IMSA’s topRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Mazda Team Joest confirmed its 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship lineup Thursday with former NTT IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay being among the headlining drivers. Hunter-Reay will participate in the Michelin Endurance Cup, piloting the No. 55 Mazda RT24-P. He’ll be joining co-pilots Jonathan Bomarito and Harry Tincknell, who’ll be sharing the ride together for the third straight year. The INDYCAR veteran drove the No. 55 entry at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last year, finishing third overall. Hunter-Reay said that the moment he strapped himselfRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The latest twist to the NTT IndyCar Series off-season involves four-time Indy car champion Sebastien Bourdais as Dale Coyne Racing released him Friday. First broken by RACER and later confirmed by the team, they’ll be eyeing for another driver heading into the 2020 season, leaving Bourdais out of a ride. Coyne thanked Bourdais for his tremendous contributions, highlighted with back-to-back victories at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in 2017 and 2018. “I want to thank Sebastien for having the confidence to come back fromRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway always brings many of the best racing drivers across all disciplines. The latest racing superstar to make the crossover will be Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch. At the annual ‘Motorsports Day’ event Toyota and Lexus hold in Plano, Texas Monday morning,  Lexus Motorsports announced the 2015 Cup champion will make his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut at Daytona January 25-26, 2020, piloting an AIM VASSER SULLIVAN Lexus RC F GT3 that competes in the GTD class.Read More

By IMSA Wire Service With the entry process already under way for the 2020 season, IMSA today released the Sporting Regulations and Standard Supplementary Regulations for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and IMSA Prototype Challenge. At the same time, updated Technical Regulations also were released for all three series. Notable changes for the 2020 WeatherTech Championship season are as follows: Adjustments to LMP2 driver combinations: A Bronze-rated driver will be required for all LMP2 class entries. At Daytona – A maximum of one Platinum-rated driver isRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Juan Pablo Montoya is arguably the top-five, maybe top-three greatest drivers of the last 30 years. This isn’t a damn joke. I’m serious when I say this tremendous compliment. I’ve said it over the past half decade that he is a legend in the world of motorsports and quite frankly one of the best versatile drivers that doesn’t get the respect he deserves. After he and Team Penske co-driver Dane Cameron won their first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the DPi category Saturday at the MotulRead More

By IMSA Wire Service The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) announced today that John Doonan has been named the next president of the sanctioning body effective January 1, 2020 with his first day on the job scheduled for Monday, Oct. 21. Doonan was previously the director of motorsports for Mazda North America Operations where he developed the overall strategy and managed Mazda’s motorsports programs in North America. “John is a fantastic choice to become our next president, to build upon the momentum of our just-completed 50th anniversary season and takeRead More