There’s quite a bit of news that’s come down in the land of sports cars in the last 24-48 hours or so.
Here’s a quick recap:
- The DeltaWing won’t race at 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona. Despite Dr. Don Panoz’s announcement to the contrary at the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale at Petit Le Mans, which seemed to catch most off guard, the radical DeltaWing will not in fact race next year’s season opener. The car had got a one-race grandfathering extension but opted not to pursue it. “We have decided not to race in the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona. It has been an incredible four years racing the most innovative car on the track, but as a lean organization Don Panoz decided to focus our efforts on other DeltaWing and Panoz projects.”
- Panoz has still hired Tom Milner though to lead Panoz Racing. Veteran team owner and manager Tom Milner has been hired to spearhead Panoz Racing’s development of a GT4-spec racing program based on the Panoz Avezzano, the company’s new two-seat aluminum-intensive sports car powered by a front mid-engine mounted American V8. He has worked with Panoz before. A full release is linked here.
- Van der Zande joins Visit Florida Racing. Renger van der Zande will replace Ryan Dalziel as Marc Goossens’ full season co-driver in the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing prototype, which is a new Riley Technologies Mk. 30 Gibson. This is a good move for both parties; although van der Zande hasn’t driven either DP or LMP2-spec cars the last few years - he’s starred in PC with Starworks Motorsport, and won this year’s title - the Dutch driver is a natural to step up given his evolution in sports cars, and he’s renowned as very quick.
- Acura has confirmed its endurance drivers. Mark Wilkins and Tom Dyer will be the respective third drivers for Michael Shank Racing’s Acura NSX GT3 program in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup (four races) and will also run with RealTime Racing in their Acuras in Pirelli World Challenge SprintX races, along with Ryan Eversley and Peter Kox. Specific driver groupings haven’t been determined yet; MSR’s four full-time drivers are Andy Lally, Ozz Negri, Jeff Segal and Katherine Legge, and Honda could opt for IndyCar drivers as their fourth drivers in either the No. 86 and/or No. 93 Acuras at the Rolex 24.
- Mazda, Porsche reveals set for Wednesday in L.A. The Mazda DPi and new Porsche 911 RSR will be revealed on Wednesday at the Los Angeles International Auto Show.
- Land Motorsport, Ebimotors set for Daytona. Connor De Phillippi strongly hinted at it when we spoke earlier this month, but now his Montaplast by Land Motorsport Audi team is confirmed to run the Rolex 24 at Daytona (more here from DailySportsCar and more on site from Daytona from Sportscar365). It’s cool to see this as one of several European teams set to run next January. Ebimotors, additionally, is also set to run (more here from Sportscar365).
- Daytona testing for some, Sebring testing for Ganassi. Chip Ganassi Racing managing director Mike Hull posted a photo on Tuesday of the team set to test its pair of Ford GTs at Sebring International Raceway. This test is separate from the IMSA-sanctioned test at Daytona, which takes place today and tomorrow.
- Amy Ruman wins another Trans-Am title. We don’t cover the Trans-Am series here on MST; however, we would be remiss to not mention Amy Ruman has won another Trans-Am title, her second in a row. This past weekend she won her third straight race at Daytona and overcame a nine-point deficit to Paul Fix to win the title, in this, Trans-Am’s 50th anniversary season. “I woke up thinking ‘you know anything can happen, it’s racing,’” said Ruman. “Mechanicals happen. Traffic can play a role. Paul could win; I could win. When it boiled down to one race, anything can happen.” More info is linked here.
- PWC scholarship program expanded. Corey Fergus took advantage of winning PWC’s Touring Car title in 2015 to advance into GT Cup this season via a driver scholarship program. Next year, WC Vision will offer the same opportunity to all three TC class champions (TC-Toby Grahovec, TCA-Elivan Goulart, TCB-Tom O’Gorman) to advance up a step in 2017 if they so desire. More information is linked here via the PWC website.
- Mazda MX-5 shootout starts today. Today and tomorrow, the 11th annual Mazda Road to 24 Shootout for a $100,000 scholarship into the 2017 Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires takes place at NOLA Motorsports Park. Here’s breakout links to the eight candidates and six judges taking part.