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IMSA Sporting and Technical Regulations Released for 2020 Season

When the 2020 season opens at Daytona the teams will have some new technical regulations to follow
When the 2020 season opens at Daytona the teams will have some new technical regulations to follow

With the entry process already under way for the 2020 season, IMSA today released the Sporting Regulations and Standard Supplementary Regulations for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and IMSA Prototype Challenge. At the same time, updated Technical Regulations also were released for all three series.

Notable changes for the 2020 WeatherTech Championship season are as follows:

  • Adjustments to LMP2 driver combinations:
    • A Bronze-rated driver will be required for all LMP2 class entries.
    • At Daytona – A maximum of one Platinum-rated driver is permitted.
    • For all other LMP2 races Platinum drivers are prohibited.
  • As previously announced for the LMP2 class, the Rolex 24 At Daytona will not count toward overall WeatherTech Championship points but will count toward IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup points.
  • Also announced previously for the GT Daytona (GTD) class, the Long Beach event has been added, now serving as the season opener for the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup. The eight-race Sprint Cup season also includes Detroit as a Sprint Cup-only event.
  • IMSA has introduced a Premium Entry package for GTD teams committing to compete in the full, eight-race Sprint Cup season.
  • All WeatherTech Championship teams may use pit lane fuel rigs for all sessions.
  • Teams now have the choice of lining their cars up at Pit Out during qualifying or any session stoppage or go to their assigned pit boxes before being released by race control.
  • Base drive-time has been eliminated for 2020. Instead, all drivers must meet minimum drive times as designated for their class in the Supplementary Regulations for each race.

Key changes for the WeatherTech Championship, Michelin Pilot Challenge and IMSA Prototype Challenge in 2020 include:

  • If a race is red-flagged after 50 percent has been completed and the race is not restarted, final race results will be determined as of the last completed green-flag lap as though the checkered flag was displayed to the overall leader and remaining cars at the conclusion of that lap.
  • Michelin RFID readers will be solely used to identify qualifying tires, eliminating the requirement to be physically marked for identification purposes. All cars still must start on qualifying tires.

Additional changes to the 2020 IMSA Prototype Challenge regulations include:

  • Two drivers will be mandatory for all cars.
  • Each car is required to have one Bronze-rated driver, who also must qualify and start the race.
  • Once the pits are open, teams may pit during Full-Course Caution periods.
  • The mandatory pit stop time will be shorter than it was in 2019 and will be based on pit-lane distance to ensure a consistent, wheels-stopped time, regardless of the pit lane length.

The 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship gets started with the Roar Before The 24 at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 3-5. The 58th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona is set for Jan. 25-26.