![SunTrust DP Corvette 2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/SunTrust_DP_Corvette_2012.jpg)
A Daytona Prototype is a type of
sports prototype
A sports prototype, sometimes referred to as simply a prototype, is a type of race car that is used in the highest-level categories of sports car racing. These purpose-built racing cars, unlike street-legal and production-based racing cars, are n ...
racing car
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
developed specifically for the
Grand American Road Racing Association
Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. ...
's
Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...
as their top class of car, which replaced their main prototype racing class, specifically
Le Mans Prototype
A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were crea ...
s (LMPs). The cars later competed in the merged series of the
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...
, from 2014-2016, before being phased out and replaced by the
Daytona Prototype International
A Daytona Prototype International (DPi) was a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the International Motor Sports Association's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as their top class of car, acting as a direct replaceme ...
class in 2017. They are named after the main series event, the
Rolex 24 at Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layout ...
.
Development
![Daytona Prototype](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Daytona_Prototype.jpg)
For the 2003
Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...
season, the
Grand American Road Racing Association
Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. ...
(GARRA) announced that they would stop support of their two premier open cockpit classes, known as SRP-I and SRP-II. These cars, mostly modified from
Le Mans Prototype
A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were crea ...
s, were technologically advanced and could reach high speeds, specifically on the
Mulsanne Straight at the
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...
. However, these same speeds were found to be extremely dangerous at GARRA's premier track, the
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NA ...
. The concrete walls of the oval section of the road course that the series runs were dangerous enough on their own, but were also on the parts of the track where cars reached their highest speed. Therefore, GARRA decided that they would need to slow down their competitors in order to make their racing series safer.
At the same time, due to the technological advancement of Le Mans Prototypes, GARRA decided that they would also lower the overall cost of their prototypes. To do this, they would use closed cockpit chassis made of tube frames, instead of high cost
carbon fiber
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
composites. They would also standardize the amount of technology that could go into a car, as well as not allowing teams to develop their cars over a season, instead being forced to stay with the same basic car. This would stop teams from having to spend money on aerodynamic tweaks and technological experimentation, as well as private track testing. To further restrict cost, the series would regulate who could provide chassis and who could provide engines, thus preventing teams from trying a unique chassis or engine that may end up being a failure. Engines specifically would have to be based on a road-legal production unit from a major manufacturer. At the same time, major manufacturers would not be allowed to run Daytona Prototype teams, in order to help keep competition level and costs down.
![Flying Lizards DP car](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Flying_Lizards_DP_car.jpg)
Combining the low cost elements with the speed and safety elements, the designs for Daytona Prototypes were laid down, with constructors having freedom to develop a car however they wished so long as it fit within the smaller dimensions of a Daytona Prototype over a Le Mans Prototype. These smaller dimensions, especially in length, helped to create a more blunt front end to the car that would slow the cars down, regardless of how much a constructor put into sculpting the design.
Chassis
![Wayne Taylor cockpit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Wayne_Taylor_cockpit.jpg)
In order to help regulate the field and to help keep it level, GARRA only allows a certain number of chassis to be used. At the same time, each approved chassis is allowed to participate for a period of five years before GARRA reselects their approved chassis. Each chassis fits within GARRA's regulations in regards to dimension, but each approved chassis is uniquely different in design.
DP Gen1 (2003)
From 2003 to 2007 seven manufacturers had their chassis approved by GARRA:
* Chase CCE
*
Crawford
Crawford may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crawford Bay Airport, British Columbia
* Crawford Lake Conservation Area, Ontario
United Kingdom
* Crawford, Lancashire, a small village near Rainford, Merseyside, England
* Crawford, South Lanarkshire, a ...
DP03
*
Doran JE4
* Fabcar FDSC/03
*
Multimatic
Multimatic Inc. is a privately held Canadian corporation that supplies components, systems and engineering services to the global automotive industry. Headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Multimatic has manufacturing divisions and engineering facili ...
MDP1 (sometimes badged as the Multimatic Ford Focus)
*
Picchio DP2
*
Riley Mk.XI
DP Gen2 (2008)
For 2008, new chassis designs were allowed to be submitted, with several companies purchasing the rights from existing entries.
Lola Racing Cars
Lola Cars International Ltd. was a British race car engineering company in operation from 1958 to 2012. The company was founded by Eric Broadley in Bromley, England (then in Kent, now part of Greater London), before moving to new premises in ...
, in association with
Krohn Racing
Krohn Racing is a professional sports car racing team based in Houston, Texas. The team competes in the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Prototype class, and has competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Intercontinental Le Mans ...
, purchased
Multimatic
Multimatic Inc. is a privately held Canadian corporation that supplies components, systems and engineering services to the global automotive industry. Headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Multimatic has manufacturing divisions and engineering facili ...
's entry for the construction of a new prototype under the name Proto-Auto.
Dallara
Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created ...
later purchased Doran's entry as well, with assistance from
SunTrust Racing
Wayne Taylor Racing is a sports car racing team that competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship Daytona Prototype International class. The team campaigns the No. 10 Konica Minolta sponsored Acura ARX-05 full-time for Filipe Albuquerque an ...
br>
Cheever Racing Cheever Racing was an auto racing team founded in 1996 by Eddie Cheever as Team Cheever in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. They fielded a car for Cheever for much of its existence, but occasionally ran two cars, almost always for the Indianap ...
purchased Fabcar's license and developed under the
Coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
name, with assistance from former manufacturer Picchio.
The new chassis available from 2008 onward were:
*
Crawford
Crawford may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crawford Bay Airport, British Columbia
* Crawford Lake Conservation Area, Ontario
United Kingdom
* Crawford, Lancashire, a small village near Rainford, Merseyside, England
* Crawford, South Lanarkshire, a ...
DP08
* Coyote CC/08
*
Dallara
Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created ...
DP-01
*
Proto-Auto Lola B08/70
The Proto-Auto Lola B08/70 is a Daytona Prototype sports car built in 2008 by Lola Cars and sold by Proto-Auto LLC.
It was débuted by Krohn Racing at the GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami, the second round of the 2008 Rolex Sports Car Series season, a ...
*
Riley MkXX
* Sabre RD1
GARRA allows for modifications to the bodywork of each Daytona Prototype only in certain areas, most specifically to the rear wing and
Gurney flap
The Gurney flap (or wickerbill) is a small tab projecting from the trailing edge of a wing. Typically it is set at a right angle to the pressure-side surface of the airfoil
and projects 1% to 2% of the wing chord.
This trailing edge device can i ...
as well as front dive planes.
DP Gen3 (2012)
Various changes have been made to the Daytona Prototypes for the 2012 season:
* The greenhouse (cockpit) area became nearly identical for all newly constructed cars, but featuring a one-inch zone throughout the greenhouse surface to allow for individual styling cues, including windshield implementation and window outlines.
* New minimum body cross-section provisions gave the new DPs a more upright front fascia and nose, rather than the more sloped layout of previous generations cars. This allowed manufacturers to add more design character to their cars, making them closer to their production cars while still offering the dramatic message embodied by a prototype
* Flexibility has also been introduced into the rules for side bodywork, including production-derived sidepods and open vents behind the front wheels that enable styling elements from street cars to be functional on the race cars.
These changes notwithstanding, the basic chassis structure below the greenhouse remains the same, including suspension details, engine installation, bellhousing, gearbox, electronics, fueling and safety systems.
Gen2 cars could be updated to Gen3 specifications.
The Gen3 cars are:
*
Riley MkXXVI
*
Corvette DP (Corvette bodykit applied either to Riley, Coyote or Dallara chassis)
File:Brumos Fabcar Porsche.jpg, Fabcar FDSC/03 Porsche
File:Alex Job Crawford.jpg, Crawford
Crawford may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crawford Bay Airport, British Columbia
* Crawford Lake Conservation Area, Ontario
United Kingdom
* Crawford, Lancashire, a small village near Rainford, Merseyside, England
* Crawford, South Lanarkshire, a ...
DP03 Porsche
File:Cheever Racing Coyote Pontiac.JPG, Coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
File:Doran Dallara Ford.JPG, Dallara
Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created ...
DP01 Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
File:Doran JE4.jpg, Doran JE4 Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
File:Krohn Lola Pontiac.JPG, Lola B08/70 Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
File:AIM Riley Ford.JPG, Riley MkXX Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
Engine
![DaytonaPrototypeEngine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/DaytonaPrototypeEngine.jpg)
As well as the chassis, the engines used are also standardized and regulated. Unlike chassis, engines must come from a major production car manufacturer, using the block from an engine used on a production car. However, these engines can have their displacements modified in order to equalize the field. For 2007, all engines will also be required to use standardized
ECUs in order to better regulate engine performance.
The following engines are currently approved by GARRA:
*
BMW 5.0 L V8
*
BMW 4.5L V8
*
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
5.0 L V8
*
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
3.5 L Twin Turbo V6
*
Infiniti
is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989, in North America. The marketing network for Infiniti-branded vehicles included dealers in over 50 countries in ...
4.35 L V8
*
Lexus
is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...
5.0 L V8 (can also be branded as Toyota)
*
Porsche 3.99 L Flat-6
*
Porsche 5.0 L V8 (approved in late 2007)
*
Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
5.0 L V8 (can also be branded as Chevrolet or Cadillac)
*
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
3.9 L V6
*
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
3.5 L V6
Each engine also has specific restrictions on what can be modified beyond stock parts, as well as restrictions on intake and exhaust dimensions,
RPM
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
, and various technical details.
During the 2007 season, a second Porsche engine was approved by Grand Am. The 5.0L V8 unit is not actually constructed by Porsche, but is based on the V8 engine used in the
Porsche Cayenne
The Porsche Cayenne is a series of mid-size luxury crossover sport utility vehicles manufactured by the German automaker Porsche since 2002 (Type 9PA or E1), with North American sales beginning in 2003. It is the first V8-engined vehicle built b ...
, built by Lozano Bros. Porting.
File:BMW Dinan E39 M5 S62 engine in 2008 team SigalSport Daytona Prototype.jpg, A Dinan
Dinan (; ) is a walled Breton town and a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in northwestern France. On 1 January 2018, the former commune of Léhon was merged into Dinan.
Geography
Its geographical setting is exceptional. Instead o ...
-prepared BMW V8.
File:Pontiac Prototype engine.jpg, A Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
V8.
File:Ford Prototype engine.jpg, A Roush/ Yates-prepared Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
V8.
Specifications
(as of 2014 IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship rules for DP-based prototypes)
* Engine displacement: 5.5 L Maximum for Normally aspirated, 3.5 for forced induction, 2.5 liters for diesel engines
* Transmission: 2014 and later: 6 speed
sequential manual transmission
A sequential manual transmission, also known as a sequential gearbox, or a sequential transmission, is a type of non-synchronous manual transmission used mostly for motorcycles and racing cars. It produces faster shift times than traditional ...
- 2013 and earlier: Above 4.5 L (275 in³) - 5 forward gears (maximum)
4.5 L (275 in³) displacement and below - 6 forward gears (maximum)
manual or
sequential manual transmission
A sequential manual transmission, also known as a sequential gearbox, or a sequential transmission, is a type of non-synchronous manual transmission used mostly for motorcycles and racing cars. It produces faster shift times than traditional ...
paddle shift allowed
* Weight: 4.0 L (244 in³) displacement and above-2,275 lb (1,032 kg)
Below 4.0 L (244 in³)-2,225 lb (1,010 kg)
* Power Output: 2014 and later 550-600
hp - 2013 and earlier: 500
hp (370
kW)
* Fuel: 100
octane
Octane is a hydrocarbon and an alkane with the chemical formula , and the condensed structural formula . Octane has many structural isomers that differ by the amount and location of branching in the carbon chain. One of these isomers, 2,2,4-Tri ...
unleaded gasoline
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic com ...
* Fuel capacity: 24 U.S. gallons (91 liters)
* Fuel delivery:
Fuel injection
Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines.
All comp ...
* Aspiration:
Naturally aspirated or
Turbo charged engine
* Steering:
Power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may a ...
,
rack and pinion
History
Debuting in the 2003 season, specifically at the
Rolex 24 at Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layout ...
, six Daytona Prototypes initially ran: A Fabcar-Toyota, a Picchio-BMW, a Doran-Chevrolet, two Fabcar-Porsches, and a Multimatic-Ford. A second Multimatic-Ford was planned to race, but it never appeared. In qualifying, a Chevrolet Corvette and a Ford Mustang, both from the GTS class, set the fastest two lap times, while the leading Daytona Prototype was the Multimatic-Ford. Grand-Am however reserved "the first three rows of the grid for the Daytona Prototypes, regardless of their qualifying times," to ensure the Daytona Prototypes started at the front of the field. The Daytona Prototypes also failed to even take the overall pole position from heavily restricted SRP prototypes. In the race itself, only two DPs managed to finish, far behind a much lower
Grand Touring
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either ...
class car. However, after the teething problems were worked out, the cars began to take overall victories as the season progressed.
For 2004, the SRP cars were finally banned, and the number of DPs grew, with 17 appearing at the season opener at Daytona where they managed to take the overall win. By 2006, thanks to the low cost of the design, the number of DPs at some races grew to above thirty entrants, allowing for full fields and close racing.
In 2012, Grand-Am released the next generation Daytona Prototypes. Some of these include the new
Corvette Daytona Prototype
The Corvette Daytona Prototype is a prototype racing car that began competing in the Rolex series in North America in 2012. It marked Chevrolet's return to Daytona racing as a full constructor, not just as an engine manufacturer. Previously Gen ...
which also marks Chevrolet's return to the DP class and other manufacturers already in the series changed to multiple chassis designs from the chassis producers.
GARRA planned to continue using the Daytona Prototype in the foreseeable future, with new chassis designs being allowed into the series in 2008.
When the Rolex Sports Car Series merged with the American Le Mans Series, Daytona Prototypes were being raced alongside the LMP2 prototypes from the ALMS as the main prototype class.
Between 2006 and 2012, DP cars were permitted to compete in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
's
Super GT
Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...
in the secondary GT300 class with outstanding results, one entrant, the ''
Mooncraft Shiden
The Mooncraft Shiden (also known as 紫電, SHI-DEN or MC/RT-16) is a Japanese Super GT GT300 class prototype race car. The Shiden is a joint venture with a body designed by the Japanese automotive design company Mooncraft ( :ja: ムーンクム...
'' lost out to an
RE Amemiya RX-7
The Mazda RX-7 is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, rotary engine-powered sports car that was manufactured and marketed by Mazda from 1978 until 2002 across three generations, all of which made use of a compact, lightweight Wankel rotary engine. ...
(although tied for points) in the drivers' title and again to a
MR-S, but took the team title in 2007.
Daytona Prototype International
From 2017 forward, a new generation of Daytona Prototypes, branded Daytona Prototype International (DPi), has been replacing the original tube-framed Daytona Prototypes. These new prototypes will be based on the four
ACO homologated
LMP2
A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were crea ...
chassis made by
Dallara
Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created ...
,
Onroak (Ligier),
Oreca
ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French racing team and race car constructor, founded in 1973 and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team AGS. Oreca has had success in many areas of motorsport. ...
, and
Riley-
Multimatic
Multimatic Inc. is a privately held Canadian corporation that supplies components, systems and engineering services to the global automotive industry. Headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Multimatic has manufacturing divisions and engineering facili ...
, with brand specific bodywork and homologated engines. Manufacturers are asked to partner with a privateer team, and each car will sport manufacturer bodywork, corresponding to their brand-identity. These rules are made to both control costs and attract manufacturers to the series.
![Nissan Onroak DPi Petit Le Mans](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Nissan_Onroak_DPi_Petit_Le_Mans.jpg)
These cars compete in the Prototype class, along with ACO-FIA spec LMP2 cars, which feature chassis from the same four manufacturers and a spec Gibson V8 engine. Originally, the hope was for DPi cars to be Le Mans eligible in the LMP2 class, but disagreements between the ACO and IMSA did not allow this to come to fruition.
![Mustang Cadillac DPi- V](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Mustang_Cadillac_DPi-_V.R.jpg)
The new cars are:
*
Cadillac DPi-V.R (based on
Dallara P217
The Dallara P217 is a sportscar prototype built by Dallara Automobili to the 2017 FIA/ACO regulations for the Le Mans Prototype LMP2 class. The car also meets the regulations for the Le Mans Prototype 2 Class of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar C ...
chassis)
*
Nissan Onroak DPi (based on
Ligier JS P217
The Ligier JS P217 is a Le Mans Prototype built by Onroak Automotive and named in a partnership with French racing driver Guy Ligier. The Ligier JS P217 was built to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO regulations for 2017 for the LMP2 category in the F ...
chassis)
*
Mazda RT24-P
The Mazda RT24-P also known as the Mazda Road to 24 – Prototype is a Daytona Prototype International built to the 2017 IMSA DPi regulations. The car is designed and built by Mazda Motorsports, in collaboration with Multimatic Motorsports, and is ...
(based on
Riley-Multimatic MkXXX
The Riley-Multimatic MkXXX, also known as the Riley-Multimatic Mk.30, or simply the Riley Mk.30, is a Le Mans Prototype 2 built to the 2017 FIA/ ACO regulations. This car can be raced globally in the European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series, ...
chassis)
*
Acura ARX-05
The Acura ARX-05 is a sports prototype racing car built to Daytona Prototype International regulations. It was developed in partnership by Honda Performance Development and Oreca, and is based on the Oreca 07 chassis and powered by the Acura AR35 ...
(based on
Oreca 07
The Oreca 07 is a Le Mans Prototype built by French manufacturer Oreca to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO LMP2 regulations. It made its official race debut in the opening round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 24 Hours of Dayto ...
chassis), starting in 2018.
Notes
References
*
External links
Grand American Road Racing Association website*
{{Class of Auto racing
Sports prototypes
Sports car racing
Grand-Am
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Racing car classes