DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 26, 2022) – Global manufacturers again find IMSA the perfect place to showcase their technology on the circuit. For the second year in a row, 18 OEMs – original equipment manufacturers – are set to compete in the six series sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship opens its 2022 season with its biggest and longest race, the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA, which runs for the 60th time starting Saturday. Eleven equipment manufacturers are involved. A day earlier, the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge kicks off its season at Daytona International Speedway with the four-hour BMW M Endurance Challenge featuring a dozen manufacturers.
Tickets are available for the week’s activities and include the following. For all ticketing information for the Rolex 24 At DAYTONA weekend, log on to www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or call 1-800-PITSHOP.
4-day adult tickets at the gate: $125 (infield/outdoor/garage access); FREE for children 12 and under
Adult tickets Saturday-Sunday at the door: $75 (infield/front line/garage access); FREE for children 12 and under
Adult tickets Saturday-Sunday at the gate: $50 (access to infield, front stretch): children 12 and under FREE
Saturday-Sunday adult tickets at the door: $50 (non-reserved front seats): children 12 and under FREE
Friday adult tickets at the door: $30 (Frontstrech seats not reserved): children 12 and under FREE
Sunday adult tickets at the door: $35 (Frontstrech seats not reserved): children 12 and under FREE
IMSA also sanctions three one-make series and the IMSA Prototype Challenge. All of this gives manufacturers, teams and drivers plenty of opportunities to shine. The list of participating manufacturers and programs for 2022, in alphabetical order, is as follows:
Acura– Features two ARX-05 Daytona Prototype International (DPi) cars in the WeatherTech Championship, one for Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian and Wayne Taylor Racing. WTR number 10 Konica Minolta Acura is the defending winner of the Rolex 24. The brand is also represented by Gradient Racing’s Acura NSX GT3 in the GT Daytona (GTD) class.
Alfa Romeo- Continue in the Michelin Pilot Challenge Touring Car (TCR) category with an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR entered by KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering at Daytona. The manufacturer took its first TCR victories last season, winning at Road America and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Aston Martin – Doubled its presence to four cars in the WeatherTech Championship and four in the Michelin Pilot Challenge. The Heart of Racing team has one car in each of the GTD PRO and GTD categories in the WeatherTech Championship, with Magnus Racing and Northwest AMR also fielding a GTD car. There are four Vantage GT4s entered in the Grand Sport (GS) category for the Michelin Pilot Challenge race, two for Automatic Racing and one for NTE Sport and Volt Racing.
Audi- Competing with three cars from the Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR class at Daytona. Road Shagger Racing and Unitronic JDC-Miller MotorSports each field an Audi RS3 LMS SEQ, while NGP Motorsports has an Audi RS3 LMS DSG.
BMW- A longtime IMSA competitor with WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge entries sporting the new BMW M4 GT3 in 2022, a year in which the manufacturer celebrates 50 years of its M performance brand. The WeatherTech Championship program finds three M4 GT3s in action, two from BMW M Team RLL in GTD PRO and the third for Turner Motorsport in GTD. Turner also operates two BMW M4 GT4s in the Michelin Pilot Challenge, with Random Vandals Racing entering a third GT4 at Daytona.
Cadillac– General Motors’ premium brand has the most entries of any WeatherTech Championship DPi maker, with five Cadillac DPi-VR machines set to compete in the Rolex 24 – two each from Action Express Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing and one from JDC-Miller MotorSports. Action Express’ #31 Cadillac Whelen Engineering won the 2021 DPi Championship.
Chevrolet- Pilot two of its most popular brands, one in the WeatherTech Championship and the other in the Michelin Pilot Challenge. The Corvette Racing Corvette C8.R GTD is part of the new GTD PRO class of the WeatherTech Championship after winning the GT Le Mans title for the past two seasons. A Corvette will race all season, with a second entered in the Rolex 24. Meanwhile, in the Michelin Pilot Challenge, Rebel Rock Racing is piloting a Camaro GT4.R.
Ferrari- A staple of sports car racing for decades, the Italian brand is represented in the WeatherTech Championship at the Rolex 24 by the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE in GTD PRO and by AF Corse and Cetilar Racing in GTD. IMSA also sanctions the one-make Ferrari Challenge North America series which uses Ferrari Challenge 488 EVO machines.
Ford- The “blue oval” has four Ford Mustang GT4s entered for the opening of the Michelin Pilot Challenge GS class, three from PF Racing and the fourth from Kohr Motorsports.
Honda- Return to the Michelin Pilot Challenge in 2022 with three Honda Civic FK7 TCRs entered, the #73 LA Honda World Racing, the #89 Civic HART (Honda of America Race Team) and the #99 operated by the Victor Gonzalez team Racing.
Hyundai- Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian has won the last three Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR championships and will be looking for a quadruple with an expected armada of six Hyundai Elantra N TCR cars. Van der Steur Racing is also back with a single Hyundai Veloster N TCR.
Lamborghini- The Italian manufacturer won the GTD PRO class in Sunday’s Rolex 24 qualifying race and will start on pole for the extravagant 24 hours in TR3 Racing’s Lamborghini Huracán GT3. There are also four Huracán GT3s entered in the GTD class, one for CarBahn with Peregrine Racing, NTE Sport, T3 Racing and TR3 Racing. IMSA also sanctions the one-make Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series, with all entrants running the new Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 specification in 2022.
Lexus– Vasser Sullivan will field a pair of Lexus RC F GT3s in the WeatherTech Championship – one in each of the GTD PRO and GTD categories this year.
Mazda– For the second year, IMSA sanctions the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires, the thrilling entry-level series that saw more than half of its 14 races last year decided by less than 0.6 seconds .
McLaren– The British marque has two entries in the WeatherTech Championship GTD class, one for Crucial Motorsports and one for Launch Racing.
Mercedes-AMG – There are six Mercedes-AMG GT3 cars competing in the WeatherTech Championship, two in GTD PRO (both for the WeatherTech Racing/Proton USA team) and four in GTD (one for Alegra Motorsports, Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports, Sun Energy 1 and Winward Racing). Winward is the defending GTD champion at the Rolex 24. There are also four Mercedes-AMG GT4 entries for Daytona in the Michelin Pilot Challenge GS class; three from Murillo Racing and the fourth from Capstone Motorsports.
Porsche– IMSA’s most successful constructor will again be well represented in 2022. The WeatherTech Championship will see seven Porsche 911 GT3 Rs in action at the Rolex 24 – three in the GTD PRO class (one for KCMG, Pfaff Motorsports and WeatherTech Racing) and four in GTD (one each for GMG Racing, Hardpoint, Team TGM and Wright Motorsports). Porsche’s presence in the Michelin Pilot Challenge has grown considerably, with seven cars entered in the GS class at Daytona, all racing the Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport. Participating teams are Team TGM with two cars and BG Motorsports, Black Swan Racing, CarBahn with Peregrine Racing, GMG Racing and McCann Racing. On top of that, the Porsche Carrera Cup North America series returns under IMSA sanction after a successful 2021 debut for the one-make support series using Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars.
Toyota– After joining the ranks of the Michelin Pilot Challenge in 2021, the manufacturer has significantly upped its game, going from just one Daytona entry to five this year. Riley Motorsports, which launched the program a season ago, is back with two Toyota Supra GT4s in 22. Joining them on the BMW M Endurance Challenge grid with individual entries from Forbush Performance, JG Wentworth by Infinity Autosport and Smooge Racing.
During the 2021 season, 10 of the 13 manufacturers competing in the WeatherTech Championship have won at least one race. In the Michelin Pilot Challenge, 10 of the 12 manufacturers won races during the year. It showed once again that there is no better place for an automaker to compete with the best than IMSA.
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About Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a state-of-the-art motorsports facility and received SportsBusiness Journal’s prestigious Sports Business Award for Sports Facility of the Year in 2016. Daytona International Speedway is home to the Great American Race – the DAYTONA 500. Although the NASCAR Cup Series season-opening event attracts the most attention – as well as the biggest audience in motorsport – the approximately 500-acre motorsports complex, also known as the name of World Center of Racing, offers the most diverse racing calendar in the world. In addition to at least nine major event weekends, the grounds of the Speedway are also used extensively for events such as concerts, civic and social gatherings, car shows, photo shoots, vehicle test drives, production and training of police motorcycles. The iconic venue will be the site of a host of motorsport events in early 2022, starting with the AHRMA Classic Motofest and Rolex 24 At DAYTONA in January, and the 64and DAYTONA 500, which will launch the first points race for NASCAR’s “Next Gen” car as part of Speedweeks presented by AdventHealth in February. The rich tradition 81st Annual DAYTONA Bike Week returns in March, with DAYTONA Supercross and the DAYTONA 200, and in May with the Heroes Honor Festival. Later in the summer, during Independence Day weekend, the track, in association with Torneos, will host Soccer Fest before the NASCAR Cup Series returns for the final race of the regular season with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on August 27.
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