IMSA President John Doonan believes the sanctioning bodies’ Michelin Pilot Challenge series is on a good course for the long-term future with its combination of TCR and GT4-specification cars racing in the series together.
The TCR class, specifically, is likely to be a long-term fixture of the IMSA paddock.
“I know for us, it’s long-term,” Doonan said. “We see it as a really solid fit with GT4 cars in Grand Sport. [IMSA] is one of the only championships in the world…I think there’s now one in Canada that’s going to use the same mix. We think it’s a really nice mix of power and class separation between the two.”
Doonan explained that IMSA’s technical team is still working closely with engineers from World Sporting Consulting, the group that owns the rights to TCR racing around the world. IMSA and WSC collaborate on a global balance of power system which Doonan believes has reduced the worries around sandbagging and allowed teams to show their pace more freely.
“We’ve worked very closely with WSC,” Doonan said. He added that, as one of the few series in the world that regularly uses TCR cars in endurance races, IMSA has made a few adjustments on its own accord to fit IMSA-specific needs.
“I think we got the packages pretty dang close so that’s been good,” Doonan said.
