IMSA Confirms Bronze Driver Mandate for LMP2

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

IMSA has confirmed that it will mandate a Bronze-rated driver in each LMP2 entry for the entire WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season next year, as part of several changes to the sporting regulations, which was released on Friday.

As previously reported by Sportscar365, a Bronze-rated driver will be required in LMP2 not only for the Michelin Endurance Cup races but for the full-six round championship.

It marks a change from the previous enforcement of either one Bronze or Silver-rated driver per lineup.

Additionally, Platinum-rated drivers will be prohibited from all LMP2 races except for the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, where a maximum of one Platinum driver per lineup will be permitted.

In addition to the changes in LMP2, which sees Daytona not count towards the overall championship but still remain a points-paying round for the Endurance Cup, IMSA has introduced a ‘Premium Entry’ package for GT Daytona teams committing to both the full season and newly expanded WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

It will allow GTD cars to contest all 12 WeatherTech Championship events next year, including Long Beach for the first time since 2017.

Among other changes for 2020 include the allowance of refueling rigs to be used during all on-track sessions and teams’ being able to have the choice of lining up their cars at pit-out during qualifying or any session stoppage or return to their assigned pit boxes.

Base drive times will also be eliminated, with all drivers now required to meet minimum drive times as designated for each event.

Additional changes, effective not only for the WeatherTech Championship but also Michelin Pilot Challenge and IMSA Prototype Challenge, include:

***If a race is red-flagged after 50 percent has been completed and the race is not restarted, final race results will be determined as of the last completed green-flag lap as though the checkered flag was displayed to the overall leader and remaining cars at the conclusion of that lap.

***Michelin RFID readers will be solely used to identify qualifying tires, eliminating the requirement to be physically marked for identification purposes. All cars still must start on qualifying tires.

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