Running 2023 Motorsports thread

Are Technica's wrap-up of the Rolex 24 weekend includes this deep dive on how the hybrids fit into balance of performance.

In addition to new cars, GTP also comes with a new rule for calculating how long teams can wait between pit stops. Until now, the decision to make a pit stop has been simple: Do as many laps as you can without running out of gas on track, then make a stop. For the DPi category—cars that ran from 2017 to 2022—that was about 20 gallons (75 liters), plus or minus a bit depending on the "balance of performance" (BoP), enough for about 35 laps of Daytona before needing to refuel. (BoP is how organizers level the playing field between different makes of car and can involve changes to air restrictors, rev limits, fuel tank capacity reductions or increases, ballast, and aerodynamics.)

That has changed for 2023 onward.

Now, IMSA knows exactly how much power each car develops, courtesy of torque sensors (like the hybrid motor, also from Bosch) that monitor each rear axle. The most any car is allowed is 670 hp (500 kW) from a combination of the internal combustion engine and the electric motor. The engines themselves can generate the full 670 hp, but the electric motor can join in as long as the combined total doesn't exceed that number. Just how each team programs that hybrid deployment strategy is something of a guarded secret.

In fact, the BoP specifies how much power each engine can make at each point in its rev range and what each engine's redline should be. Additionally, the BoP sets each car's minimum weight, at 2,771 lbs (1,030 kg), and the fuel, a blend of 20 percent gasoline and 80 percent renewable ethanol.

Finally—and here's where things get a little confusing—the BoP lays out the maximum amount of energy you can use during a stint (i.e., the time between pit stops) and the rate at which you can put energy back into the car. No car can use more than 920 megajoules (MJ) between stops, and each vehicle can only refuel at a maximum of 23 MJ per second.

If you're still confused, see this informative half-hour video explainer from Marshall Pruett and Graham Goodwin over at Racer. In practice, no team overstepped the MJ limit.​

Overall, that was a smashing debut for the GTP class.

 

I don't want to have to do mental gymnastics to figure out "fuel" mileage, etc. I want to watch a race and see who can put out the best car.

 

And drive that car the fastest, run the smartest race with the fewest errors.

 

Yeah, I'm sure the NASCAR crowd was all tuning in with bated breath to see Wiz Khalifa.

 

The second half of the Clash is embarrassing (10 laps in).

 

It'd be nice if they could run more than four laps without somebody getting spun out.

 

That was a fun Dumpster fire.

Dillon’s move was a cheap shot — or, as Mike Joy said, “a high, hard one.”

Preece showed more speed in the 41 than Custer had in the last two years.

Fox announced tonight that it’ll put Harvick in the booth in 2024. I’m looking forward to that.

 

"Next season, on Locked Up Abroad ..."
Kyle Busch forgot he had a gun in his luggage on a recent trip to Cancun. Mexican authorities found it, and he's been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.
I have no idea what that means, though, since no versions of this story seem to indicate he'll do more than pay a pocket change fine (about $1,100) and be done with it. NASCAR said it won't punish him. Bit of a weird story.

Kyle Busch violated Mexican gun laws on recent vacation

 

Brittney Griner says "hold my vape and watch this."