IMSA has released the sporting regulations and updated technical regulations for the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Michelin Pilot Challenge and Prototype Challenge.
Notable changes for the 2020 WeatherTech Championship season are; a requirement of one bronze-rated driver for all LMP2 entries, a maximum of one platinum-rated driver allowed at Daytona; and a ban on platinum-rated drivers for all other LMP2 races.
As previously announced for the LMP2 class, the Rolex 24 At Daytona will not count toward overall WeatherTech Championship points but will count toward IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup points.
A Long Beach event has also been added to the GT Daytona (GTD) class, now serving as the season opener for the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup. The eight-race Sprint Cup season also includes Detroit as a Sprint Cup-only event.
The IMSA has introduced a Premium Entry package for GTD teams committing to compete in the full, eight-race Sprint Cup season.
In addition, all WeatherTech Championship teams may use pit lane fuel rigs for all sessions. Teams also now have the choice of lining their cars up at Pit Out during qualifying or any session stoppage or going to their assigned pit boxes before being released by race control.
The base drive-time has also been eliminated for 2020. Instead, all drivers must meet minimum drive times as designated for their class in the supplementary regulations for each race.
In the case of the WeatherTech Championship, Michelin Pilot Challenge and IMSA Prototype Challenge, if a race is red-flagged after 50% has been completed and the race is not restarted, final race results will be determined as of the last completed green-flag lap.
In these competitions Michelin RFID readers will be solely used to identify qualifying tires, eliminating the need to physically mark the tires for identification purposes.
Additional changes to the 2020 IMSA Prototype Challenge regulations now mean that two drivers will be mandatory for all cars, with each car requiring one bronze-rated driver for qualifying and to start the race.
IMSA is also now allowing teams to pit during full-course caution periods once the pits are open. The mandatory pit stop time has been shortened for 2020 and will be based on pit-lane distance to ensure a consistent, wheels-stopped time, regardless of the pit lane length.
