IMSA: LMP2 and GTD set to gain additional entries

IMSA’s LMP2 and GTD classes will see additional entries from Era Motorsport, DragonSpeed and GRT Grasser Racing for the approaching 2020 season.

The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship field is set to see change with LMP2 and GTD gaining entries from familiar faces. LMP2 extraordinaire DragonSpeed will be joining LMP2 full-time with newcomer Era Motorsport also set to join with significant support from the team.

Another familiar face in the IMSA paddock, GRT Grasser Racing, will be looking to join the GTD field in a more significant effort.

DragonSpeed owner and founder Elton Julian is no stranger to IMSA or the LMP2 category, with the distinctive red, white and blue paint schemes being recognized in North America and Europe in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as well as the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and European Le Mans Series (ELMS).

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DragonSpeed have traditionally only chosen to participate in the endurance rounds of the IMSA calendar, but they will look to compete full-time against reigning LMP2 champions Performance Tech and PR1 Mathiesen using the Gibson-powered Oreca 07.

Era Motorsport will be taking up the LMP2 challenge after seeing significant success in vintage auto racing, with the team claiming wins in vintage Formula 1, Formula 5000 and Can-Am. Team principal Kyle Tilley will bring a wealth of driving experience from Grand-Am and IMSA into the team.

GTD could see an expanded presence from GRT Grasser Racing, which are rumored to run at least one Lamborghini Huracan GT3 in the Michelin Endurance Cup after team owner Gottfried Grasser stated the following.

"“We are considering adding a couple of races in the States and doing the entire North American Endurance Cup. We are looking into it right now.”"

There will be plenty of change going on in the IMSA paddock in every class. LMP2 could benefit greatly from an influx of competition, as the series has been slow to gain traction in the states while being widely popular in European endurance and sprint series.

More changes are on the way with the future of PDi still up in the air and the general makeup of the GTLM field looking like it could shrink or stay the same. The additional effort from DragonSpeed, Era Motorsport and GRT Grasser Racing is a massive positive for the upcoming 2020 season.

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be looking to have more questions answered during the offseason and before the season picks back up on Saturday, January 4 when the massive test session at Daytona International Speedway is scheduled to kick off as a preliminary opportunity for teams to test before the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, which is scheduled to being on Thursday, January 23 with live TV coverage provided by MSNBC beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET.