With the introduction of new race cars and the anticipation of expanding grids in several of its sanctioned series, International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) officials today announced some organizational changes to the its competition team heading into the 2017 season.
Geoff Carter, who joined the sanctioning body as senior series manager for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship prior to the 2015 racing season, has been promoted to senior director, technical regulations and compliance. Carter will continue to serve as chair of IMSA’s technical committee, and now has a dedicated role as the primary technical liaison with manufacturers and teams. He is responsible for the technical management for all IMSA-sanctioned series. A search for a new WeatherTech Championship manager is under way.
Kyle Novak adds the position of race director for the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge in 2017 to his existing race director duties for the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama and the IMSA Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama. Novak originally joined IMSA’s Race Control team in 2015 as race director for the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America.
“As more competitors join IMSA’s racing platforms, it has created the opportunity for our competition team to grow as well,” said IMSA vice president, competition Simon Hodgson. “Geoff Carter has provided strong leadership since the formation of IMSA’s technical committee, and has played a pivotal role in conjunction with the technical committee in the development of IMSA’s BoP process and expanding technical capability. He has earned this promotion.
“The increased interest we’ve seen in both the WeatherTech Championship and Continental Tire Challenge heading into the 2017 season provides an opportunity for Beaux Barfield to focus his attention on the WeatherTech Championship while Kyle Novak takes over similar responsibilities in the Continental Tire Challenge. Kyle has done an excellent job with some of our single-make championships and we are pleased to be able to expand his role and responsibilities.”
The 2017 IMSA season gets under way on Jan. 26-29 at Daytona International Speedway, highlighted by the four-hour BMW Endurance Challenge for the Continental Tire Challenge on Friday, Jan. 27 and the 55th Rolex 24 At Daytona on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 28-29.
