SUSPENDED: IMSA Goodyear North American Championship

Introduction

Starting in 1991, IMSA hosted support races for their popular GT class races, usually featuring higher end sports cars close to stock form. I would like to reimagine this series of support races using cars that would have been marketed as "medium range" sports cars to the United States.

As participants in this support series, you will now take the role as driver for a factory supported team or a privateer team taking place in the early 1990s. There will be only two slots available for each factory-backed team, which will enjoy budget advantages, but will be less flexible in updating their cars and may be at risk to the whims of the manufacturer. Privateer teams on the other hand will be able to more quickly adapt their car from event to event, but will have a slightly more limited budget initially available to them and have to please their sponsors.

Cars and Regulations

The manufacturers and models participating in this series are listed below:

1987 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am GTA
1990 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z
1990 Mazda Savanna RX-7
1991 BMW M3
1992 Toyota Supra 2.0 GT Twin Turbo
1992 Nissan 240 SX (Silvia CLUB Ks)
1993 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra

Regardless of factory or privateer team, each car will first be upgraded to meet race requirements:

Full Roll cage added
Race Roll bars added
Race Brakes added
Race Differential added
(Silvia, Supra, and RX-7 +2 tire width)

As each team begins to prep their cars for racing, they must meet the following restrictions:

300HP or less
No engine swaps
No drivetrain swaps
No turbo/supercharger conversions

After making the car purchase (if necessary) and adding the required upgrades, the driver may then select upgrades using the remaining budget from the following:

Forza Aero - 1000cr per spoiler
Non-functional Aero - 125cr per part
Rims - 500cr
Tire Compound - 1000cr per upgrade
Tire Width - 1000cr per upgrade
Transmission - 1000cr per upgrade
Clutch - 500cr per upgrade
Driveline - 250cr per upgrade
Springs - 1000cr per upgrade
Weight Redux - 1000cr per upgrade
Engine Upgrades - 1000cr per upgrade

Factory Team:

Spoiler:

Private Team:

Spoiler:

After making the car purchase (if necessary) and adding the required upgrades, the driver may then select upgrades using the remaining budget from the following. Please note when purchasing upgrades you'll need to "buy" each item along the same path. For example, if you want the race transmission, you'll need to purchase street, sport, then race, which would cost 3000cr:

Spoiler:

Livery

For livery requirements, the Goodyear logo, IMSA logo, and your MSM race number are required to be displayed on each car. For Factory teams, the Manufacturer must be your primary sponsor. For Privateer teams they may use any sponsor for their car. When selecting your sponsor, it would be appreciated if it were era relevant (ie no websites or companies that did not exist yet in 1993).

Scoring

Scoring will be award point per driver through 10th position:

1st: 14
2nd: 10
3rd: 8
4th: 7
5th: 6
6th: 5
7th: 4
8th: 3
9th: 2
10th: 1

Damage

All races will be at SIMULATION damage. There will be one restart if there is a first lap accident. After the one restart, there will be no additional restarts.

Events

Each race will be a separate thread, because there will be potential "events" which can affect some team and drivers, as well as other random goodies. Because I intend to be an active participant, I have recruited Toasterr x to be the psuedo director of these races, where he will either add events in the thread or PM to specific drivers when applicable. These events can include extra money for budgets, among other things, so be prepared for anything.

Race Dates

The date for each race is listed below:

Week 1 - April 8 - 4:00PM EDT / 8:00PM GMT / 9:00 BST
Road America: 15 Laps (pit window lap 3 - 12)
Week 2 - April 15 - 4:00PM EDT / 8:00PM GMT / 9:00 BST
Sunset Peninsula Club Reverse: 30 Laps (pit Window 5 - 25)
Week 3 - April 22 - 4:00PM EDT / 8:00PM GMT / 9:00 BST
Sedona Club Reverse: 30 Laps (pit window 5 - 25)
Week 4 - April 29 - 4:00PM EDT / 8:00PM GMT / 9:00 BST
Infineon NASCAR: 25 Laps (pit window 5 - 20)
Week 5 - May 6 - 4:00PM EDT / 8:00PM GMT / 9:00 BST
Maple Valley Reverse: 25 Laps (pit window 5 - 20)

The grid for each event will be set by a 3 lap qualifier before each race, by best single lap time.

If you are interested in participating, please post a comment to announce your factory affiliation or your privateer team name. The first post below will be updated with the factory and privateer teams already entered. Remember there are only two factory slots open per manufacturer.

PS: I know because this is a brand new concept there are going to be details that I've missed, so please let me know if it appears I've overlooked something. Also, I am aware at first glance these cars do not appear to be balanced, but a combination of factory vs privateer and the potential for the previously mentioned events will make this a different experience. Thanks for your patience.

Factory Drivers:
BMW - Dominic Mako
BMW - CallMehDarkside
Ford - Clark
Ford - Slasher

Privateer Teams:
Sponsor? Toyota - Angel
Sponsor? Nissan - BlmThug

Im def in. I'll run wherever

Who wants to pair with me in a Factory ride?

i think might run in the private team class,this could be interesting

I might give this a look depending on how busy I end up being with my Uni work.

I'll go for this............may go factory with Gunforhire if he's in

This sounds fun, I'll hop on any team, Trans am was fun, so, if you are looking for a partner, I'm here.

Im in. Going to be either a privateer or factory team running the either 1991 BMW M3, RX-7 or 240SX. Anyone wanna join forces?

[grumble grumble] Another awesome sounding series I cannot get in on due to my darn time zone [grumble grumble]

get in this miah..

hmm sounds cool but also much too complicated and too many rules... just dont have hours to sit and setup a car

hhmmm....

This is perfeeeeect, but alas I cant make the races...

thats cause you race with TORA silly

This sounds interesting and I would like to give it a go. I'll need to read through the rules about another 10 times or so for it to sink in though. But first I need to get the 3rd GT 500 race out of the way. I've been running so many practice laps around Silverstone lately it almost feels like my 2nd home. And Clarke, Slash, BlmThug...I'll run with any of you if you haven't already found someone.

I would like to run the Mustang.

Just to clarify, you do not have to be joined with another driver as a "team" to participate. You can be a factory driver without sharing any of your tuning information with another person if you wish. Of course, being able to work with another person using the same car and setup has its advantages.

I can't commit to all the races and most likely won't have time for the tuning... BUT, I'll post myself up as a freelance driver.

If you need replacement, need a driver only teamate I'm sure I can make a few races.

Ill take up a privateer Supra and show up to half the races I guess. This is just such a good idea I cant miss it

BMW has partnered with Schnitzer Motorsport to prepare their factory sponsored race team for this season's IMSA NAC. They've first hired veteran driver Dominic Mako to pilto the M3. Dominic was recently released from his contract with the British Touring Car Championship team Ecosse Motorsport. During an interview, Dominic was quoted as saying "I appreciate the opportunity I was given by the Ecosse Motorsport last season. I'm proud to represent BMW Motorports in this new partnership, and I believe we'll be able to show our competitive spirit from the first event until the end."

[Only admins are allowed to see this image]

car looks great, and congrats on the factory drive

car looks great, and congrats on the factory drive

I think I wouls roll solo in the Mustang, I don't want to drag a partner down by not showing up to all the races.

Just to clarify, you do not have to be joined with another driver as a "team" to participate. You can be a factory driver without sharing any of your tuning information with another person if you wish. Of course, being able to work with another person using the same car and setup has its advantages.

will this be taking place after the miata series finishs