What's The Deal With... The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's Car Classes

 In my previous post (The Bucket List at Daytona), I talked about the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and briefly went over the car classes. I figured I'd post a more detailed explanation of the classes you'll find in the championship, including pictures, details that set the cars in each class apart, and an overview of the cars that compete in each class. So, let's get on with it, shall we?

[GTD]

The Grand Touring Daytona class is open to GT3-class cars, based on production models. These GT3 cars are the same type that can be found in the GT World Challenge, Japan's Super GT series, the British GT Championship and numerous other GT championships worldwide. As these cars are designed to be driven by amateur race drivers, they are equipped with anti-lock brakes and traction control, and the performance of each car is carefully controlled to keep the variety of cars on a level playing field.

In the WSCC, the GTD class is open to privateer customer teams, with a mix of professional and amateur drivers. Each car in the class has a green windscreen banner, mirrors, wing endplates, car number boards and lumirank boards (the board on the side of the car that illuminates to show the car's race position). This is also the only class that uses yellow headlight lenses. The cars that are competing in the GTD class this year are the Acura/Honda NSX GT3 Evo, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, Audi R8 LMS Evo, BMW M6 GT3, Ferrari 488 GT3, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo, Lexus RC F GT3, McLaren 720S GT3, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo and Porsche 911 GT3 R.

[GTLM]

The Grand Touring Le Mans class consists of GTE cars, the GT cars that are also eligible to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship and at Le Mans. Compared to the GT3 cars, GTE/GTLM cars are also production-based, but with a different set of regulations. While GT3 cars can use any engine from the manufacturer, GTE engines can be no larger than 5.5 litres or 4.0 litres for turbocharged engines, and can have no more than eight cylinders. While the engine size is more heavily regulated than with GT3, the position isn't regulated, so the manufacturer can reposition the engine as they see fit (for example, the current Porsche 911 RSR has a mid-engine layout, with the engine ahead of the rear axle rather than behind). The aerodynamics are also different, particularly with regards to the rear diffuser, and anti-lock brakes are not allowed.

In the WSCC, GTLM teams are all manufacturer entries or privateers with factory support, and the drivers are all professionals. Each car in the class has a red windscreen banner, mirrors, wing endplates, car number boards and lumirank boards. The cars in this year's GTLM class are the BMW M8 GTE, Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and Porsche 911 RSR.

[P2]

The P2 class is for prototypes that comply with the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's LMP2 regulations. As such, each P2 entry is also eligible to compete in the World Endurance Championship and at Le Mans. LMP2 cars are closed-cockpit designs with stabilising fins, and every LMP2 uses the same spec engine, a Gibson-built 4.2 litre V8 with around 600 horsepower.

In the WSCC, P2 teams are privateer teams, with both professional and amateurs represented in the driver lineup. Each car in the class has blue mirrors, wing endplates, car number boards and lumirank boards. While there are four manufacturers that produce LMP2 cars, all of the teams in the WSCC use the Oreca 07.

[DPi]

The Daytona Prototype International class is the top class in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The cars are all prototypes that are based on LMP2 chassis from Dallara, Oreca or Riley-Multimatic, with automobile manufacturers providing the engines and restyling the bodywork to match their preferred design language. The cars in this class are the Cadillac DPi-V.R (Dallara-based with a 5.5 litre V8), Acura ARX-05 DPi (Oreca-based with a 3.5 litre twin-turbo V6) and Mazda RT24-P DPi (Riley-based with a 2.0 litre turbo inline-4).

In the WSCC, DPi teams are either manufacturer-supported or completely-independent privateer teams, with only professional drivers allowed to compete. Each car in the class has black car number boards and white lumirank boards.