Details Revealed for Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore

As the season for many IMSA-sanctioned championships passes its halfway point, the sanctioning body today shared additional details for the inaugural four-hour Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore, which will be run Nov. 10-11, 2018 at Sebring International Raceway.

The race, which was originally announced during a news conference at Motul Petit Le Mans last fall, will feature four classes of race cars: the LMP3 prototype class and the production-based GT3, GT4 and TCR classes featuring cars from mainstream automotive manufacturers with sales in the United States.

The race will be streamed live on IMSA.com and the IMSA App for domestic and international viewers.

Teams are not required to be active participants in any IMSA-sanctioned series to participate in the Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore. Every race car will use Michelin tires.

The weekend will include a promoter test day open to all participants on Friday, Nov. 9. The official schedule for Saturday, Nov. 10 calls for three, one-hour practice sessions, with a fourth, 30-minute practice planned for Sunday, Nov. 11 prior to a pair of 20-minute qualifying sessions.

One qualifying session will include the LMP3 and GT3 cars, with the other set for GT4 and TCR entries. The four-hour race on Sunday will require the qualifying driver to start the race on marked tires from the qualifying session.

Teams will be required to field a minimum of two drivers per car and a maximum of three. No Platinum-rated drivers will be allowed to compete and no driver lineup may have more than one Gold-rated driver. Driver lineups will be subject to IMSA approval. The field will be capped at 60 cars.

Refueling, tire and driver changes will all be allowed to take place at the same time during pit stops (no timed stops). A maximum of three crew members will be permitted over the wall to provide any service, and only the exiting driver will be allowed to assist during driver changes.

The purse includes $10,000 for the winner in each class, as well as a $5,000 Michelin tire credit that will be applied toward 2019 IMSA events.

Second place in each class will receive a $3,000 Michelin tire credit toward 2019 IMSA races, with $2,000 in Michelin tire credit toward 2019 IMSA events for third-place finishers in all classes.

IMSA has also provided competitors with additional event information.