The 2023 IMSA season kicked off a few weeks back in Daytona, and with the green flag flying on 2023, a new era begun as well. With the LMDh formula finally debuting and bringing American sportscars into the hybrid powertrain era, it may seem premature to start looking forward to what’s next.
But as IMSA president John Doonan told Motorsport Week, looking forward to what’s next is exactly what he and his team are going to do.
Doonan sat down with Motorsport Week during the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona and shed light on the GTP rollout from the series’ perspective.
“Without a doubt, I am super happy with the product. When you look at the best laps right now, 1:36.4, 1:36.5, 1:35.9, 1:36.1, they are certainly not slow, and in quite a tight window of lap time performance, really impressive.” Doonan said.
“I’m super happy with all that, and I’m super pleased with the extended stint range. Previously we would be at a 40-45 minute stint, the early stints were almost an hour which helps with our sustainability goals as well. The hybrid system is to thank for that, and we are really proud of what we are seeing so far.”
But the world of motorsport is ever-changing and growing, development of new systems takes time so to be ready for the changes in the industry, work is set to begin on what’s yet to come for the series.
“It’s important to take a rewind on GTP and when conversations started. We started conversations when I was still with Mazda in 2018 about this platform, the pandemic slowed us by a year, but the bottom line is, we need to start talking about what’s next,” Doonan said.
“It’s important to frame that up and manage expectations, sit down with manufacturers and see where they are headed. From a power train and renewable fuel standpoint, we need to understand how we can continue to be a proper stage for the auto industry but also make sure that we retain the entertainment value of the series.
“The noise, the smells, the sights of the racetrack that we need to maintain for the fans, and we can’t ever afford to lose that.”
The auto industry is undoubtedly trending in the direction of fully electric vehicles. With those trends, the motorsport world looks ahead to an uncertain future as manufacturers make promises to phase out traditional ICE engines in favor of fully electric in their road cars. The time to adapt is coming and according to Doonan, IMSA is letting its OEMs lead the way.
“Hey look, we’re studying all kinds of different propulsion and fuel ideas,” Doonan said. “In the end, I like to say that we are the heartbeat of the auto industry and what they want to be to consumers, we want to be a showcase for.”
