Initial DP Technical Regulations Set to be Released

Photo: John Dagys

Daytona Prototype team owners and manufacturers will likely have a better glimpse into the future very soon, as IMSA is preparing to release the first draft set of DP technical regulations for the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

The initial set of technical specifications are likely to come within the next week, according to Scot Elkins, IMSA’s VP of competition and technical regulations, who spoke with Sportscar365 Thursday at Road Atlanta, site of this weekend’s ALMS finale.

“We’re pretty darn close,” Elkins said. “We’re starting to do some final [wind tunnel] validation on the changes we’re doing to the DPs. We’ll do some of that next week and then we’ll know exactly where we are. Then we’ll move forward. We have some documents we’re getting ready to release, probably within the next week, to give everybody some updates.”

Elkins said he expects to follow the same procedure previously used in the ALMS, where a draft set of regulations is first released, prior to a more formalized rulebook that would include technical specifications for all four categories, at a later date.

“In this case, we’re focusing specifically on the technical regulations for the DP cars,” Elkins said. “The draft will give an opportunity for everybody to review it and go trough it, ask questions, get feedback, make clarifications and do things like that. Then we’ll have a final version of that at a later time after we get that feedback.”

As for the P2 regulations, Elkins reiterated that IMSA will keep the cars in ACO specification and only make minor changes through Balance of Performance adjustments, which will include the use of the Le Mans aero kit as well as the addition of weight.

“The truth of the matter is that when the ACO releases the P2 regulations, we copy and paste them into our rulebook,” he said. “Anything we do on the P2 will be a Balance of Performance change with the DP cars. That’s a bulletin we’ll issue at a later time. We also won’t do that until we do the November test.”

While Continental will be hosting a tire test at Road Atlanta on Monday, Elkins said there will not be any on-track testing with IMSA’s own DP developments, although it’s expected Spirit of Daytona will be testing their Corvette DP with self-made aero updates, which first broke cover last month.

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