P1racenews AI automatic summary:
A year ago, speculation was that the first race of IMSA’s new Grand Touring Prototype era would be a disaster. And certainly several of the cars had their issues, with both Porsche 963s and B…
A year ago, there were concerns about the success of IMSA’s new Grand Touring Prototype era. Some cars, like the Porsche 963s and BMW M Hybrid V8s, faced issues and spent a lot of time in the garage. However, the problems with the hybrid units were quickly resolved, and smaller issues were being worked on throughout the spring and summer. By the end of the season, most of the details had been sorted out.
Porsche had high expectations for the GTP era but faced challenges in the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona. However, Porsche Penske Motorsports recovered and was in contention to win the Twelve Hours of Sebring. Both PPM teams had a shot at the title going into the season finale, Motul Petit Le Mans.
Although there are still some adjustments to be made, the teams have solved many problems. They are getting familiar with the complexity of the GTP cars, especially regarding software integration and electronic systems. PPM has added Brandon Fry to oversee engineering, and there are numerous engineers working on the software development side.
Porsche is also making physical changes to the car during the off-season. Overall, the teams are ready to move past the figuring out phase and focus on racing, utilizing the support and efficiency of the engineering and software systems behind the performance of the car.
