Sportscar365’s Story of the Year

Sportscar365 is recognizing the top competitors and moments from the 2023 sports car racing season. Next up is the Story of the Year, as selected by website staff.

Meyer Shank Racing Rolex 24 Cheating Scandal 

Shockwaves were sent through the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship paddock nearly six weeks after the conclusion of January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, which saw Meyer Shank Racing score victory in the highly anticipated first race of the new GTP era.

As communicated to IMSA by Honda Performance Development, the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 team was found to have manipulated tire pressure data during the twice-around-the-clock Florida endurance classic, effectively breaking the rules laid out by the sanctioning body and official tire partner Michelin.

While not stripped of the victory, the Ohio-based team and its drivers were handed a 200-point penalty, loss of prize money, along with a $50,000 fine and team co-owner Mike Shank placed on probation and. Additionally, its engineer, Ryan McCarthy, who was fired from the team, was placed on indefinite suspension by IMSA.

The infraction, which was allegedly discovered during the overnight hours of the race but took several weeks to be verified, was considered the biggest cheating scandal to have been uncovered in WeatherTech Championship history and had profound effects on the remainder of the year and beyond.

While IMSA beefed up its tire pressure monitoring protocols, particularly witnessed at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, MSR and Acura parted ways at the end of the season, leaving Shank’s sports car team to go into hiatus for 2024, despite winning the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans.

Ironically, drivers Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun would have also walked home with the inaugural GTP championship title had IMSA not levied the 200-point penalty from Daytona.

Honorable Mentions 

***Aston Martin’s return to top-class prototype competition was made official in October, with the British manufacturer reviving its Valkyrie LMH project with American squad The Heart of Racing for a planned dual series effort in the FIA World Endurance Championship and WeatherTech Championship beginning in 2025. The announcement, which had been heavily rumored for several months, came as a significant boost to both series, particularly the WeatherTech Championship, which will welcome its first LMH car into the GTP class.

***While Aston Martin was making a comeback of sorts after several low-key seasons of customer-focused GT competition, Audi Sport had ceased its factory racing operations following June’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, marking the end an era for the German manufacturer, which has been a mainstay in GT3 competition for nearly 15 years. While still set to support customer teams into 2024 and beyond, the majority of Audi’s factory driver roster have been disbanded, as well as any possibility of works-supported programs seen in key races such as the 24 Hours of Spa and Nürburgring 24.

***The ramping up of customer GT3 efforts from Ford Performance and Chevrolet took center stage in the second half of the year, with a series of announcements from both manufacturers on its factory or works-supported efforts in the WeatherTech Championship GTD Pro class, as well as selling customer cars for the first time in the GT3 arena to teams including Proton Competition (Ford), DXDT Racing (Chevrolet), Dinamic GT (Ford) and TF Sport (Chevrolet), which is set to re-energize the GT3 categories around the world beginning next year.