Aston Martin To Say ‘No Mas’ To USCC

No. 97 Aston Martin

With the official TUDOR United SportsCar Championship test at Sebring coming up in less than 10 days, the focus has officially shifted to the second round of the series and the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup. While all of the key players from the battles for class honors at Daytona will mainly be back in action at the ex-military airport circuit, one key protagonist in the GT Le Mans class fight could be absent from the premises.

Prodrive’s Aston Martin Racing, which dominated the FIA World Endurance Championship in both the GTE-Pro and GTE-Am classes last season, has made inklings about forgoing the remaining three rounds of the NAEC, which it had originally committed to in the offseason. The reaction comes off of a disappointing effort in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, where they never made a serious challenge for the top step of the podium, nor were fast in any of the practice and/or qualifying sessions, dating all the way back to the Roar Before the 24 tests in early January.

Also in part, Prodrive believes they were put at a further disadvantage in the GTLM battle, by the balance of power adjustments made by IMSA prior to the start of practice for the event. While Prodrive’s Aston Martin Vantage V8 and Corvette Racing’s all-new C7.R received no helps or hindrances, the other manufacturers were tinkered with by the sanctioning body. For instance, the Porsche 911 RSR, which won the race via CORE Autosport’s Porsche North America team, were given a larger air restrictor to increase their overall horsepower output, as was the Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Racing’s BMW Z4 GTE, which finished second. SRT Motorsports’ Viper GTS-R was also aided, via a reduction in their minimum weight requirement.

Prodrive is hopeful of a similar set of adjustments in terms of balance of power to be made in advance of Sebring. However, IMSA’s Vice President of Competition Scot Elkins, has indicated recently that for now the current regulations for each of the manufacturers will remain unchanged up to the Sebring weekend. If Prodrive follows through on their threat to skip the remainder of the NAEC season, the move would not necessarily effect the GTLM class’ overall car count, as Team Falken Tire Porsche joins the fleet at Sebring after skipping Daytona due to receiving their brand new Porsche at too late a date to be ready for the opener. However, if the team does indeed stand by its previous commitments, the team would likely again feature Stefan Mucke, Darren Turner, Paul Dalla Lana, and Richie Stanaway at the controls, as TUSCC rules limit the teams to just four drivers for the Sebring round, as opposed to the maximum of five at the Daytona opener.

Regardless of their decision, Prodrive is still expected to once again contest both the GTE-Pro and GTE-Am categories in the FIA World Endurance Championship later this year, which includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Motor Racing Scene