Laguna Seca ready for IMSA's return this weekend

Legendary track set to feature numerous storylines, including final West Coast race for LMP3

From the dropping of a class for 2024 to the debut of the first GTP customer car, this weekend’s IMSA race at Laguna Seca is set to arguably be one of the most pivotal and eye-catching races of the season, just based on all the news over the past few weeks.

Let's break down the various storylines:

Goodbye,  LMP3

IMSA announced last week that the LMP3 class would be dropped in 2024, leaving them only to race in the VP Sportscar Challenge come next season.

This class, which was seen as the entry level for drivers wanting to pilot prototypes, has been pushed back in recent seasons due to an influx of other class entries, resulting in the necessity of the class headed towards the exit door.

This announcement does play a big part from a team’s perspective, potentially resulting in teams moving up to LMP2 for competitive racing.

There are other options that are available for the LMP3 teams that still want to be able to run at the highest level of IMSA without running a full season, such as focusing on sprint or endurance races, but the fact of the matter is that teams and even drivers must now figure out those plans before the start of next season.

From a driver and team perspective, there may be many avenues to take here in this pending move, which will create an interesting weekend around the garage, even if LMP3s will not be at Laguna Seca this weekend.

Happy Customer

The GTPs will need to make some room this weekend.

JDC Miller Motorsports will be running its #5 Porsche 963 in what will be the team’s first race in the newly resurrected GTP class; however, their entry features a bit of a twist, which is that it is the first GTP customer car being run.

Their driver lineup this weekend will feature experienced racing names in the personas of Tijmen van der Helm and Mike Rockenfeller, who will also be piloting another historic entry later in June with the Garage 56 entry.

JDC Miller is no stranger to racing in the highest class in IMSA, having put out DPi entries in the past. However, this will be their first crack at the GTP class, which is much different than their predecessors.

The key this weekend will be to see how the JDC Miller customer entry will fare against some of the experienced teams in GTP, who have already had 3–4 races under their belts.

What To Expect

Laguna Seca is arguably one of the most challenging tracks on the schedule.

With what can be an abrasive track surface and cause issues with tire wear, Laguna Seca has many similarities to the older version of Atlanta Motor Speedway in NASCAR.

While it is a very competitive track to race on, tire wear will become a factor, and pit stop timing will play a part in the very first 2-hour and 40-minute race of the season.

In terms of teams to watch out for this weekend, keep an eye on the #01 Chip Ganassi Cadillac, a team looking for redemption after a miserable race at Long Beach.

Another team that should be very competitive is Pfaff Motorsports #9, which won the GTD Pro class last year with Matthieu Jaminet as one of the drivers behind the wheel and comes off a victory at Long Beach in the GTPs.