In This Last of a Four-Part Series, OEMs Share Their Enthusiasm over the New Prototype Class
By Jeff Olson
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Enthusiasm.
When some of the biggest names in the automotive industry announced they would be on board for LMDh, the next chapter of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, enthusiasm shone through their statements.
“Like motorsport, Cadillac is making the transition into a future driven by alternative propulsion,” Cadillac Global Vice President Rory Harvey said in Cadillac’s initial August news release about its decision to field an LMDh program. “The hybrid nature of the LMDh rules will help us to bridge our technology transfer to our all-electric future.”
He wasn’t alone.
“For the first time in the history of Porsche Motorsport, our company will have a global team competing in the world’s two largest endurance series,” said Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG, in Porsche’s December 2020 announcement. “To this end, we will be setting up team bases on both sides of the Atlantic. This will enable us to create the optimal structures we will need to take overall victories at Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring, for example.”
So far, five manufacturers have committed to the 2023 debut of LMDh in the WeatherTech Championship, a hybrid-based formula that will replace the current Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class that will complete its penultimate season this Saturday with the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
The enthusiasm of the initial reaction included – but was not limited to – manufacturers’ desire to showcase hybrid technology and compete across different series in similar specifications. Acura, Audi and BMW have committed to LMDh programs in addition to the aforementioned Cadillac and Porsche.
“Everyone in our motorsport team shares the same motivation: We want to test ourselves against our strongest opposition at the racetrack – and to celebrate victories for BMW,” BMW M Motorsport boss Mike Krack said during its announcement in June. “As such, the LMDh project is a real affair of the heart for us and exactly the new challenge we were hoping for.”
A shared platform between IMSA and Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), LMDh is based on a standard chassis with unique combustion engines matched to a spec hybrid powertrain.
To help it work successfully, team officials say, IMSA needs the right people and infrastructure to support the new class.
“The manufacturers and the teams have so much capability,” said Tim Cindric, president of Team Penske that will field the Porsche LMDh entries. “The series needs to ensure that they have the capability that can keep up with what’s going on. That’s going to be one of the keys to success.”
That means, in part, continuing to hone the fragile necessity of Balance of Power regulations. BoP is the mechanism IMSA uses to keep cars on a level playing field; currently in DPi, that’s a range of 0.3 percent from slowest to fastest speeds. It’s an occasionally controversial but necessary element of multi-class endurance racing.
“In any BoP series, the BoP has to do what it’s advertised to do – every manufacturer feels as though they have the chance to win if they execute and they have a reliable package,” Cindric said. “You don’t want to BoP down to the lowest common denominator. You still want a series that rewards excellence. If you can reward excellence and everybody feels that if they can achieve that excellence that they can succeed, then it will continue to prosper.”
Team Penske’s decision to join Porsche was, like other teams and manufacturers already committed to 2023, measured, studied and hopeful.
“There was a bit of wait-and-see to see that it was all real,” Cindric said. “… I think you’ll see a gradual buildup of participants from ‘23 to ‘24 and ‘25, and making sure that level of commitment is real. I think you’ll definitely see more customer cars once the factory teams are established.”
In a word, enthusiasm.