26 Entries for IMSA-Sanctioned Sebring Test; BoP Updated

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

A total of 26 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship entries are set to take part in next week’s IMSA-sanctioned test at Sebring International Raceway, which will see Balance of Performance adjustments given to the new-for-2023 GT3 machinery.

The two-day test, which is optional for teams, will feature seven of the eight full season GTP class entries, with BMW M Team RLL entering only a single BMW M Hybrid V8 for its full season drivers Connor De Phillippi, Nick Yelloly, Philipp Eng and Augusto Farfus.

After running its FIA World Endurance Championship entry in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Chip Ganassi Racing will scale back to its solo No. 01 Cadillac V-LMDh, which will see Scott Dixon join the full-time driving duo of Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais.

Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken, meanwhile, will be at the wheel of Action Express Racing’s Cadillac.

Both Porsche Penske Motorsport entries will be present, with Dane Cameron and Michael Christensen again joining the full season pairings of Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet (No. 6) and Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr (No. 7) in the Porsche 963s.

While Michelin Endurance Cup pilot Louis Deletraz will join Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque in Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s Acura ARX-06, the Rolex 24-winning Meyer Shank Racing entry is set to only feature full season drivers Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun.

Three LMP2 class Oreca 07 Gibsons are slated to take part, with entries from TDS Racing, Era Motorsport and PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, while only a single LMP3 car is listed, for Ave Motorsports, which will make its series debut in next month’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring with Tony Ave and Seth Lucas confirmed as two of the drivers.

Fifteen GT3-spec cars are entered between GTD Pro and GTD, including Type-992 Porsche 911 GT3 Rs from Kellymoss with Riley and AO Racing, Triarsi Competizione’s Ferrari 296 GT3 and Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2s from Iron Lynx, Iron Dames and Forte Racing powered by USRT.

Issued in a technical bulletin on Wednesday, all three new or updated cars will receive power increases for the Sebring test, with both the Porsche and Lamborghini getting 1 mm larger air restrictors and the Ferrari having a slight increase in turbo boost pressures.

No other BoP adjustments have been made to the GTD Pro/GTD classes since Daytona, while GTP will see the power limit increased from 500 to 520 kW (670 to 697 hp) as well as 10 MJ of additional maximum stint energy across all four LMDh manufacturers.

As was the case in Daytona, all GTP cars will run to identical BoP figures except for maximum RPM levels, which remain unchanged from last month’s season opener.

LMP2 competitors, meanwhile, will run in the same configuration from Daytona, although IMSA technical director Matt Kurdock previously told Sportscar365 that it will be using the test to evaluate the class stratification at a traditional road course.

The BoP across all categories is subject to change prior to the Sebring race week.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John