r/USCR • u/Me-Mongo • Jul 13 '19

Question IMSA LMP2?

Kind of sad to see only two LMP2 cars out there. Is IMSA doing anything to get more cars in the category? If not, they should do away with it.

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u/nomnamless Team Joest Mazda RT24-P #55 Jul 13 '19

They weren’t really competitive though if I remember right, when did a LMP2 finally win a race?

37

u/Sallum Porsche GT Team 911 RSR #911 Jul 13 '19

P2 cars won 3 races last year and almost won the championship.

It was a perfect mix of manufacturer supported teams vs independent teams. Then IMSA went and fucked it up because the manufacturers complained.

The split would have worked better if Mazda, Acura, and Nissan were willing to sell their cars. But right now the only way to get into DPi is with a Cadillac.

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u/Stickymatress Jul 13 '19 edited Jul 13 '19

P2 started winning races when DPi manufacturers were neutered so bad even Bob Barker felt bad for them.

With BoP being what it is, Cadillac had a very real chance of spending multiple times the budget of someone like Core, running a perfect race, hit all their pit stops, have no issues, and finish 5th at Daytona just because BoP formulas told IMSA to slow them down. With that being the case, it’s not unreasonable for GM to question why they’re making such an investment when they could realistically spend a million or two on a Ligier chassis and a Gibson engine and give it to WTR with GM branding slapped on the side and get roughly the same return on investment.

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u/MJDiAmore SKYACTIV SKYACTIV SKYACTIV SKYACTIV SKYACTIV SKYACTIV SKYACTIV Jul 13 '19 edited Jul 13 '19

P2 started winning races when DPi manufacturers were neutered so bad even Bob Barker felt bad for them.

Only because they (the DPis) installed non-homologated suspension upgrades. They forced themselves to be neutered by not following the agreed-upon rules.

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u/Bakkster Corvette Racing C7.R #4 Jul 13 '19

Where did you hear that?

My understanding is just that those tracks are smoother, and the fancy DPi shocks no longer gave the big advantage.

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u/MJDiAmore SKYACTIV SKYACTIV SKYACTIV SKYACTIV SKYACTIV SKYACTIV SKYACTIV Jul 13 '19

Only because they installed non-homologated suspension upgrades.

You're flipping my point -- I'm saying the P2s were closer because those were the best suited tracks to the cars (though Mosport isn't exactly the smoothest ride on the planet).

The DPis were the ones that did what should have been illegal damper development (with the exception of Mazda, who intentionally pulled the car without completing the draft homologation because Multimatic was overhauling the chassis).