IMSA: #31 Action Express Racing wins 2018 Prototype team championship
The Prototype class in IMSA’s WeatherTech Sportscar Championship series saw a battle between two very different types of Prototype designs.
The big story of the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship season was that of the battle in the Prototype class between the traditional Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class and that of IMSA’s coveted Daytona Prototype International (DPi) class.
The LMP2 formula has been very successful over in Europe and in the World Endurance Championship with the goal being to provide a cost-efficient prototype class that avoided the spending wars in the LMP1-Hybrid class.
The biggest difference in IMSA’s DPi format and the LMP2 format is the engine regulations. A good example of LMP2 in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship would be the single-car effort of the second place finishing #54 CORE Autosport with a 4.2-liter Gibson V8 in an Oreca 07 chassis. In this scenario, the engine is limited to the Gibson V8 and an Oreca or Ligier chassis.
The DPi format provided by IMSA gave more room for flexibility in chassis supplier and engine displacement, the Cadillac DPi program being a prime example. The winning #32 Action Express Racing/Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R. sported a more Americanized chassis with Cadillac brand design cues as well as an impressive 5.5-liter V8, just to prove that you don’t need a hybrid to go fast in a prototype.
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With the always competitive racing in the GTLM and GTD classes, the Prototype class had a lot to live up to being the highest level of sports car racing in America. The Prototype class in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship saw seven different teams take victories over the course of the 10 races that the Prototypes were entered in.
The #31 Action Express Racing/Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R. took a single victory along with a further four podium finishes in a stacked Prototype category. Drivers Eric Curran and Felipe Nasr took the full season driver duties with Mike Conway, Stuart Middleton and Gabby Chaves filling in in the endurance races. The team, which found success with the high horsepower DPi format, scored a total of 254 championship points.
The #54 CORE Autosport Oreca played the David to Action Express’s Goliath with 2018 being the team’s first year in the IMSA Prototype category after fielding a Porsche effort in GTD in seasons prior.
Jon Bennett and Colin Braun handled the full-time driving duties of the #54 car with Romain Dumas and Loic Duval stepping in for the endurance races. CORE Autosport finished the 2018 season with two race wins and a further three podium finishes, which landed them 250 championship points, only four points behind the always quick Action Express Racing.
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The 2019 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship season already has its share of excitement to be looking forward to with the LMP2 and DPi classes being split in point-scoring and further expansion of the Prototype field. The 2019 season is not far away with the opening race, the 24 Hours of Daytona, scheduled to take place in Daytona Beach, Florida on Saturday, January 26.