Yahoo Autos Detroit return, Indy enduro lead IMSA calendar changes for 2024
IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule for 2024 will include the return of one popular former series staple and the expansion of another from a sprint into an endurance race, alongside the familiar blend of venues that fans and drivers have come to love.
GTP and GTD PRO will return to the Detroit Grand Prix for that event’s second year at its new downtown home, while the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s stop on the calendar will become a six-hour endurance race, bringing the Michelin Endurance Cup to five events. Lime Rock Park’s GT-only event has been dropped, while LMP2 will become the headliner at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in order to reduce the burden on GTP teams with the addition of Detroit.
“Undoubtedly one of the key elements that has attracted our corporate partners and 18 automotive manufacturers is the annual schedule of events that IMSA is able to deliver,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “The venues and events we visit on an annual basis are world renowned and beloved by race fans and competitors everywhere. We are proud to unveil our 2024 calendar which once again delivers IMSA racing to vitally important markets throughout North America.”
The season begins as usual, with the longest endurance races, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, Jan. 25-28 — preceded the previous weekend by the Roar before the 24 test sessions — and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring (March 13-16) before the schedule turns to a a trio of sprint races. Like Detroit, when the WeatherTech Championship joins the NTT IndyCar Series at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach April 19-20, it will be a two-class event, this time GTD joining GTP for a 100-minute race. Long Beach entries have always been limited by paddock space, and including a larger GTD PRO category, as was done this season, would be prohibitive.
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 10-12 will be absent LMP2 as usual, and is followed May 31-June 1 by the Detroit GP, like Long Beach a 100-minute race. The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen takes its usual late June weekend of June 27-30, with CTMP coming two weeks later. Road America will be the only four-class sprint race of the season for its 2h40m races, once again the first weekend in August. Virginia International Raceway will host the lone GT-only WeatherTech Championship race in 2024 with a 2h40m contest set for Sunday, Aug. 25.
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park’s IMSA event will be headlined by LMP2 next season. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
The new addition to the Michelin Endurance Cup in 2024 is an expansion of the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to six hours on the weekend of Sept. 20-22. The endurance race at IMS has been widely expected since last summer’s announcement of the WeatherTech Championship’s return to the Speedway. Next month’s 2h40m race there will be the series’ first at IMS since 2014.
The season concludes with the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Oct. 9-12, giving the series a pair of endurance races to close out the year.
As was the case this season, the schedule includes a few clashes with the FIA World Endurance Championship, which features a lot of crossover of drivers and teams. The first conflict comes between Long Beach and WEC at Imola, with the others being Laguna Seca and Spa, and CTMP and Brazil. The Detroit GP is the same weekend as the Nurburgring 24 Hours touring car/GT race, and only a week before the 24 Hours of Le Mans test weekend.
IMSA also announced the schedules for the Michelin Pilot Challenge and VP Racing SportsCar Challenge series. With the exception of the street races, the MPC follows the WeatherTech Championship. In addition, MPC will headline a return to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with a four-hour race, one of two along with Daytona, to bring the schedule to 10 races. VP Challenge will also be at Mid-Ohio as part of its six-weekend, 12-race schedule. The series for LMP3 and GT4 cars will also be at Daytona during the Roar weekend, join IndyCar on the streets of St. Petersburg (March 8-10), then race with WeatherTech Championship at CTMP, VIR and Road Atlanta.
