IMSA, ACO Set for Friday Convergence Announcement

Image: Sebring

IMSA and the ACO are set to confirm plans for convergence in top-class prototype racing, with an announcement scheduled at Daytona International Speedway for tomorrow morning.

The ACO issued a media advisory that will see an announcement at 11:45 a.m. ET on Friday between ACO President Pierre Fillon and IMSA Chairman Jim France.

The announcement will be held in the Daytona International Speedway drivers meeting room, which can accommodate hundreds of people.

While no further details were communicated in the bulletin, Sportscar365 understands it will formally confirm plans that DPi’s next-generation platform will be eligible alongside the FIA and ACO’s Le Mans Hypercar formula beginning in 2022.

Series executives from both organizations met on Thursday in Daytona to finalize details of the arrangement, which has been in the works for the better part of six months.

A meeting in Miami in December is understood to have resulted in a provisional agreement, which will see the same set of top-class prototypes be eligible to compete in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in decades.

Technical details are not expected to be revealed tomorrow, with IMSA yet to finalize regulations for its so-called DPi 2022 ruleset, largely due to the recent efforts to bring the two platforms together in terms of performance.

The Hypercar class is set to debut in the 2020-21 FIA World Endurance Championship season in September, with Toyota, Aston Martin and Glickenhaus the only confirmed teams for the launch season, with Peugeot confirmed to enter in 2022.

The FIA and ACO announced a five-year commitment for its formula, which is open to both prototype-based and production car-based cars with optional hybrid powertrains.

IMSA’s current-generation DPi formula, meanwhile, will remain in the WeatherTech Championship through the end of the 2021 season, prior to the introduction of its next-generation platform.

A spec hybrid system has been planned to be incorporated into IMSA’s new DPi formula, although a single-supplier has not yet been chosen.

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