Hi IMSA fans!

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After taking last week off, the Esses is back (albeit a day late, oops)!

The season-opening Rolex 24 did not disappoint, and coming out of this year's race, I think there's plenty to talk about! Porsche picked up a very strong victory after a great battle with Cadillac. There were some incredible battles that lasted all race long in LMP2, and the war of attrition that we saw take place in the GTD classes were some of the headlines that really stood out to me! Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be diving into some of those topics in more depth in videos but until then, let's look at a couple of the big stories coming out of the Rolex 24!

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Early Checkered Flag Causes Rolex 24 to End One Lap Early

✍️ John Dagys/Sportscar365

🔗 Full Article 👉 https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/imsa-officiating-error-led-to-early-rolex-24-checkered-flag/

🏎️ Why it matters: An officiating error led to the premature ending of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, with the checkered flag displayed 1 minute and 35 seconds before the 24-hour mark. Despite this, the results stand due to a rule that deems the race ended if the checkered flag is displayed early. The No. 7 Penske Porsche 963 won the race, marking Porsche’s 19th overall victory in the Rolex 24.

It was one of the more confusing moments in recent history. However, if you are going to make a mistake, you should at least own up to it and clarify for the fans what’s going on. You need to applaud him in this situation for doing so, even though it ended up coming a day after the race. I think the way they handled this and clarified the confusion was exactly what we needed to see from a governing body. With the clarification, I believe we can all move forward to Sebring. Of course, it’s not the way we wanted to see this year’s Rolex 24, and there was a great battle shaping up in GTP as well as in some of the other classes. Ultimately, I don’t think ending this race one lap early influenced the ultimate outcome of the race.

Rolex 24 Post Race Report Off in the Esses ​ Sure, this video has been out for over a week now, but if you're reading this, then you are likely one of the biggest fans of the channel! I'm looking for feedback on the video as I decide how I want to handle post-race videos this season. Do you want a more in-depth report on race results (Statistics from last season showed these weren't all that popular)? Do you want a brief recap focusing on just a few of the big storylines from the weekend and a larger focus on the news stories of the weekend, or do you want a mix of both? Reply to this email and let me know!

Lamborghini Bringing a Second Car for Select US Rounds?

✍️ John Dagys/Sportscar365

🔗 Full Article 👉https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/two-lamborghini-sc63s-possible-for-cota-indianapolis/​

🏎️ Why it matters: Lamborghini Iron Lynx is considering doubling its efforts at two more races, beyond its planned two-car participation at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team may add an additional entry for the FIA World Endurance Championship event at Circuit of The Americas and the IMSA Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Both races happen in September and are part of Lamborghini’s confirmed program which includes a full season WEC effort and a four-race IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup program. However, the team’s participation in the additional races is yet to be confirmed.

This is great news if Lamborghini is indeed going to bring two cars to the GTP class for a round at Indianapolis! Of course, the car has unfortunately yet to make its IMSA debut (or any race debut for that matter), but we do have that to look forward to at Sebring! With this year’s Battle of the Bricks being a part of the Michelin Endurance Cup, and a six-hour long race, this would be another great talking point heading into the second last race of the season. I’m personally interested to know if Lamborghini will be just bringing their IMSA car to the WEC round and their WEC car in the IMSA round or if a new car will be brought along as the 2nd car for those two races. I’m sure we’ll hear more about this in the coming months!

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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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