IMSA to Limit Teams to 15 Personnel for July Races

Photo: Barry Cantrell/IMSA

IMSA will limit the number of staff of each car to 15 personnel for its resumption of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Daytona International Speedway and Sebring International Raceway, it has been revealed.

Confirmed in the release of the provisional schedules and supplementary regulations for the July 3-4 and July 16-18 events, IMSA has added a line stating that WeatherTech Championship teams will be restricted to 15 “credentialed personnel”, which includes drivers.

Additionally, each car will be permitted to have one spotter, based exclusively outside of the facility, for the Daytona race, with that person not going against the personnel limit in the garage.

Michelin Pilot Challenge and IMSA Prototype Challenge teams, meanwhile, will be limited to ten personnel when both series return to racing at Sebring, meanwhile.

The restrictions have been put into pace as part of IMSA’s COVID-19 protocol, which is currently being finalized.

Sportscar365 understands that team and manufacturer PR representatives will not likely be permitted to attend in-person, with only a limited selection of journalists and photographers set to be given access to the closed-door events at Daytona and Sebring.

Essential personnel from suppliers will be permitted although a criteria has yet to be released.

While the personnel restrictions are unlikely to severely impact smaller teams, it could have a significant effect on factory outfits and some of the larger-scale DPi operations in the paddock.

It’s understood most GT Daytona teams, for instance, employ between 13-15 people per car normally, with the number slightly higher for DPi and lower for LMP2.

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