Preliminary Roar Before 24 Entry List Released

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

IMSA released Tuesday the preliminary entry list for this weekend’s Roar Before the Rolex 24, featuring 50 cars for the final pre-season test prior to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona

The entry features a class split of 12 Prototypes, two Prototype Challenge, 11 GT Le Mans and 25 GT Daytona cars, with the majority of teams still yet to officially declare drivers.

ENTRY LIST: Roar Before Rolex 24

It represents a nearly final depiction of the Rolex 24 entry, as per IMSA rules, the Roar is a mandatory test for all Rolex 24 entrants.

However, additional entries for the Roar are expected to be confirmed later this week, including the recently announced Alex Job Racing Audi R8 LMS, which is not currently listed.

The major storyline heading into the weekend, as well as the race itself, is the new-look P class, with DPi entries from Mazda, Cadillac and Nissan, along with a handful of Gibson-powered LMP2 entries that will be part of the platform’s global debut.

The outgoing PC class, meanwhile, will see a depleted entry for 2017, with only two cars currently entered for the Roar, in the pair of BAR1 Motorsport Oreca FLM09s.

GTLM sees stable numbers, but with the new mid-engined Porsche 911 RSR making its competition debut with the Porsche GT Team.

The 25-strong GTD class, meanwhile, sees entries from nine manufacturers in the most diverse class on the grid.

It includes WeatherTech Championship debuts for the Mercedes-AMG GT3, Lexus RC F GT3 and the worldwide debut of the Acura NSX GT3.

Turner Motorsport is listed with a single BMW M6 GT3, with the team still understood to be putting together a 2017 program.

The Roar runs from Jan. 6-8, with the Rolex 24 set for Jan. 28-29.

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