Hi IMSA fans!

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Wow, just 2 more newsletters until it's the Rolex 24 weekend! In the meantime, you should brush up on your IMSA knowledge, or maybe you have a friend or family member whom you're trying to introduce to the sport! This week's newsletter has everything you need to know about IMSA!

P.S. Feel free to forward this email to anyone you know who wants to learn a bit more about IMSA!

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What is IMSA?

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The first step in learning about IMSA is to know the basics. Learn a little bit about how the sport was founded, get some information on the rules (there are a lot of them), find out where and when the cars will be racing, and get a basic overview of what you will see out on the track. Having all of this baseline knowledge is extremely important to help you understand what is happening in a race. Check out the video above to learn everything you need to know about IMSA!

P1 Web Development ​ Whether you’re a small business, a race team, or a driver, you need a professional-looking website to present yourself to potential customers and fans! That’s why I’m excited to tell you about P1 Web Development! I met their team at the 6 Hours of the Glen last year, and it was immediately clear that they are very passionate about racing! They want to help drivers and teams attract new sponsors and fans through a unique and custom website! So when you’re looking for someone to help you build or transform your website into something that customers or fans will WANT to visit, then look no further than P1 Web Development! You can check out their entire portfolio of websites and see if they’re the right fit for you by heading to p1webdevelopment.com/theesses/ A big thank you to P1 Web Development for sponsoring this weeks newsletter!

GTP Class

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The newest class on the IMSA grid is GTP, and often it is the one talked about the most! Consisting of the quickest cars on track, the GTPs all take subtle styling cues from the manufacturers' road cars and put them into a prototype race car. While these cars race in the GTP class in IMSA, they are built under the LMDh ruleset, and the same cars are also eligible to run in the WEC as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans! In the video, you can find out which manufacturers are participating and learn more about this great class!

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LMP2 Class

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LMP2 remains the only PRO/AM prototype class in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship. PRO/AM means that this class allows for a fully professional driver to be paired up with an amateur driver. These amateur drivers are not your average Joe, though, as they typically consist of wealthy business owners or executives who are extremely passionate about racing! While at first glance, the LMP2s may share some of their spaceship-like features with the GTPs, they are completely different cars designed to be more cost-effective than those LMDhs mentioned earlier.

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GTD PRO Class

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Ah yes, GTD PRO, quite possibly my favorite class on the IMSA grid! This class has only been in IMSA for a few seasons but continues to produce some incredible racing despite having a lower number of cars participating in it. Well, that changes this year (the number of entries in the class, hopefully not the quality of racing!) as the class doubles in size with the addition of a couple of new Ford Mustangs, a couple of new Corvettes, and other new teams taking the step up from the GTD class! Like the GTP class, GTD PRO has no driver restrictions, so it's usually the best professional drivers racing in these cars. The resulting racing is incredible, and since these cars look so similar to their road-going counterparts, you might even see the car that you own (albeit the race car version of it!) out on the track!

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GTD Class

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The same cars that race in GTD PRO are also eligible to race in GTD. The only real difference in the two classes is which drivers are eligible to race. Like LMP2, this class is a PRO/AM class and requires an amateur driver to be part of the lineup. This is also the largest class on the IMSA grid by a considerable margin, largely due to the popularity of the GT3 spec cars that compete in the class. Not only are they eligible to be run in IMSA, but also in many other major championships and some of the most prestigious sportscar races in the world, such as the Spa 24 hours, Nurburgring 24 hours, and 24 hours of Le Mans!

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Final Lap

I want to hear about what you want in this newsletter! Are there any big pieces of news you'd like to hear more about? Or maybe you have questions about something that happened in a recent race!

Hit reply and let me know!

Thanks,

Stu

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