DPs Handed Power Reduction for Monterey

Photo: IMSA

As revealed by Sportscar365 earlier this week, DP-based cars will face a reduction in horsepower heading into next weekend’s Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

IMSA released Friday the latest Balance of Performance adjustments, confirming a 1.0 mm smaller air restrictor for the Chevrolet-powered Corvette DPs and a 0.9 mm reduction for the Ford EcoBoost engines.

Additionally, the Ford-powered DPs will face a 54 mbar decrease in turbo boost, following a marginal reduction made prior to Long Beach.

IMSA’s VP of Competition and Technical Regulations, Scot Elkins, told Sportscar365 that the adjustments equate to a target reduction of between 10-14 horsepower.

The changes have been made in efforts to improve the race-ability between the DP and P2 cars, which has seen some disparity due to the DP’s significant horsepower advantage.

“I think we’ve gotten the lap times pretty darn close,” Elkins said on Tuesday. “They’re within our window we use for Adjustment of Performance.

“But I think the race-ability between the DP and the P2 is something we need to work on. It seems like most of that is coming from a pretty solid top speed advantage the DP has.

“A lot of the P2 drivers I’ve spoken to have said it’s been very close, they just can’t get close to [the DPs] on a straightaway. So we need to help it a little bit.”

DPs have won the opening three rounds of the TUDOR Championship, which prompted concerns from a number of existing and prospective P2 teams.

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