That New Prototype Car Smell

After this year's 12 Hours of Sebring, I've been thinking a lot about prototype sports car racing in America.  As I said in my article on the 12 Hours of Sebring (if you haven't read that, go do it now), I talked about how the current Daytona Prototypes, whatever their virtues (and there are virtues to DP's), they need to leave.  The question is what should replace them?

Let's get one thing strait right here, right now, if you love sports car racing in America, do not suggest that IMSA adopt the WEC's LMP1-Hybrid rules. The hybrid prototypes built by Audi, Porsche, Toyota and Nissan (to a lesser extent) are fire breathing beasts of racecars.  They would also single handedly kill the Tudor United Sports Car Series in a heart beat.  While I'm sure that teams like Action Express and Chip Ganassi could successfully run these cars, they just don't have the budget.  All of the LMP1-H teams running in the WEC are factory works teams while the prototype teams in TUSC (with the exception of Mazda's P2 cars and Chip Ganassi in a sort of, kind of, not really, kind of way) are privateers.  Point is that the LMP1-H cars require a level of technological sophistication that only a factory supported team has the budget for, and Audi and Toyota aren't going to be running North American teams any time soon.  So let's stop pretending that LMP1 hybrids are going to happen.

Now that we've left crazy town, the two options left are LMP1-Light, or P2.  IMSA has decided to back the P2 cars, which theoretically should end the conversation right here and now, but I have space to fill, so let's go ahead and pretend IMSA reads Racing Nerd and have a discussion on the merits between the two.

In one very important way, LMP1-L and P2 have one thing in common.  They are both raced at Le Mans.  As much as I love Daytona and Sebring (and the 24 Hours of Daytona may be my favorite race of them all) the most significant sports car race in the world is Le Mans, and if the TUSC teams don't have a chance to race at Circuit de la Sarthe, then TUSC will always limit itself to being a second class racing series. 

The real defining difference between these two cars then is speed.  Reviewing 2014 WEC qualifying times, the LMP1-L cars are approximately two to four seconds then the LMP1-H cars (depending on the track), while the P2 cars are about another two to four seconds back.  At first, I was in favor of TUSC adopting the LMP1-L specifications.  The cars are faster and technically the LMP1-L cars are designed to compete directly with the LMP1-H cars, meaning we could see the TUSC teams squaring off against the factory backed European teams, just like the good old days of the American Le Mans Series.  While that's a great theory, the reality is that the factory backed LMP1-H teams always stomp the LMP1-L teams into the ground, and that's not going to change just because Wayne Taylor Racing is the team being stomped.

Quick side note, I keep referring to LMP1-L like it's a thing that is seriously raced.  In reality, only one team, Rebellion Racing, is campaigning an LMP1-L car at the moment, so don't let this discussion make you think that the class is well supported.  Which is another good reason IMSA should run away from LMP1-L specifications like the plague

If the TUDOR privateers have about as much chance of winning Le Mans as Pastor Maldonado has of keeping his car on the track, P2 suddenly becomes a lot more attractive option.  Yes, the cars are slower, but the class appears to be much better supported with a number of different chassis manufacturers and growing class popularity from the teams.  I'm a big believer that as a class of cars becomes more popular with the racers, and as the class matures, the racing becomes much better, which is great for us fans.  Yes, P2 cars are slower then LMP1 cars, but the quality of racing (the thing we actually care about) doesn't necessarily require super sonic cars.  The fact that P2 is better supported by both the manufacturers and the teams makes the class a better choice for a racing series like IMSA to buy into.

IMSA, I salute you for making P2 the top prototype class in the TUSC championship.  Now all you Tudor teams go give the Europeans hell at Le Mans.