Because of new COVID-19 guidelines, IMSA reshuffles three race dates

By Jun 25, 2020, 3:01 PM EDT
Brian Cleary/Getty Images
0 Comments

IMSA announced Thursday that it is moving three race weekends in its revised 2020 schedule.

Because of new quarantine travel guidelines announced Wednesday in New York and Connecticut because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic), the events at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and Lime Rock Park (in Lakeville, Connecticut) will be held on consecutive weekends in September, allowing the series to remain in the Northeast.

The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, originally scheduled for Oct. 2-4, has been moved to the Sept. 3-6 Labor Day weekend. The Lime Rock event, which had been slated Oct. 30-31, will be held Sept. 11-12.

“(This) will allow teams to stay in the Northeast quadrant who are participating in those two events,” IMSA president John Doonan told teams Thursday.

Because of those moves, the event at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca also has been moved from Sept. 4-6 to Oct. 30-Nov. 1.

A 26-car field has been announced for IMSA’s return to racing July 4 at Daytona International Speedway, which will play host to the series’ first event during the pandemic since the Jan. 26-27 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

NBCSN’s coverage of the July 4 race at Daytona will begin at 6 p.m. ET. The July 18 race at Sebring International Raceway also will be televised on NBCSN at 5:30 p.m. ET. Both races are two hours and 40 minutes.

Here is the revised 2020 schedule (with date, track, length of race and classes):

Jan. 25-26: Daytona International Speedway, 24 hours, DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD
July 3-4: Daytona International Speedway, 2 hr., 40 min., DPi, GTLM, GTD
July 17-18: Sebring International Raceway, 2 hr., 40 min., DPi, LMP2, GTLM GTD
July 31-Aug. 2: Road America, 2 hr., 40 min., DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD
Aug. 21-23: VIRginia International Raceway, 2 hr., 40 min, GTLM, GTD
Sept.. 3-6: Watkins Glen International, 6 hours, DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD
Sept. 11-12: Lime Rock Park, 2 hr., 40 min., GTLM, GTD
Sept. 25-27: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, 2 hr., 40 min., DPi, GTLM, GTD
Oct. 14-17: Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, 10 hours, DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD
Oct. 30-Nov. 1: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, 2 hr., 40 min., DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD
Nov. 11-14: Sebring International Raceway, 12 hours, DPi, LMP2, GTLM, G

Here is Thursday’s release from IMSA:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 25, 2020) – As the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship prepares to return to action with the IMSA WeatherTech 240 At Daytona on Saturday, July 4, the sanctioning body today announced date changes for three upcoming WeatherTech Championship and date shifts for other IMSA-sanctioned series.

The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen event weekend now will be held on Labor Day weekend, Sept. 3-6, featuring all four WeatherTech Championship classes for the second round of the four-race IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup season. The event at Watkins Glen International in New York’s Finger Lakes region also will include a four-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race, as well as doubleheader races for both the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America.

The WeatherTech Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes will remain in the Northeast through the following weekend, moving to Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut for the two-hour, 40-minute Northeast Grand Prix on Sept. 11-12. Lime Rock also will host a two-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race and a pair of 45-minute GT3 Cup Challenge USA races.

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, meanwhile, now will host the penultimate round of the WeatherTech Championship with all four classes on Oct. 30-Nov. 1. The Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship weekend – which also serves as the finale for the WeatherTech Sprint Cup season for the GTD class – will include Michelin Pilot Challenge and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America.

“These revisions to our 2020 schedules put all of IMSA’s stakeholders in the best possible position for success,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “They are also the result of the ongoing spirit of collaboration with our promoter partners. Moving our Northeastern events into September should pay dividends from the standpoint of weather. WeatherTech Raceway on Halloween weekend also has the potential to be spectacular and will set the stage for a thrilling conclusion at Sebring.”

Another Lamborghini Super Trofeo schedule revision will bring the series back to VIRginia International Raceway on the weekend of Aug. 21-23 instead of the previously announced Grand Prix of St. Petersburg event.

The six-race IMSA Prototype Challenge schedule announced in May has not changed. However, the season-ending race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta now will be a three-hour race as was the case with the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in January. All others will be one hour and 45 minutes in length.

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
2 Comments

LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).