Have you been watching the 2018 IMSA Sports Car Championships?
I have to admit I stopped watching auto racing on TV sometime after I stopped racing cars about 30 years ago. At that time almost all you could find on TV in the US was Indycar or NASCAR ... and frankly those two forms of racing bored the living snot out of me. About three plus years ago, my youngest son introduced me to Assetto Corsa and coincidentally at the same time I caught a look at the (new at the time) Ford GTE-GTLM ... and I was re-addicted. What made it better (worse, if you ask my wife) I found how much racing from around the world, both old archival stuff and new races, could be found on YouTube. There has been some very exciting sports car racing going on in my absence!
I know you fellas over there in Europe have some great racing, and the stuff from Australia (Mt Panorama is the home of the GODS!!!) is fabulous, but if you haven't been watching the IMSA sports car events, especially the LMP, GTE/GTLM and GT racing you really are missing out on some great stuff.
About a week ago, Round 9 of the Current IMSA championship series was held at Road America (YouTube HERE) and I gotta tell you ... it was a barn-burner for sure! I don't think I've seen racing this close and this hard since Cale Yarborough got into it with Bobby and Donnie Allison at the Daytona 500 back in 1979! At times the busted up carbon fibre piled up almost as deep as the snow up in Plymouth, Wisconsin. You want Better? This race came just a week or so after Round 8 which was held at Lime Rock Park (YouTube HERE) where the cars were busting sub-50 second laps ... door-to-door!
IMSA has a couple names for these races which makes things a little confusing (for ME ... but then, I'm OLD), so finding them on YouTube can be a little difficult. I do a search for "IMSA 2018" (or IMSA 2017 or IMSA 2016 since I mostly live in the past) and look for the most current entry. If you have a better way to find these races, please share it. I know I could subscribe to IMSA TV ... but I would have to pay for a lot of other TV that I don't want, so it's not a good alternative for me. IMSA posts the races on YouTube about 3 days after the event, so all I have to do is avoid the news for a couple days ... and it's almost like being there.
Unless I'm baddy confused, there are 3 races left in the 12 race series and the Championship in all three classes almost couldn't be more hotly contested, with ties for first place in all three classes, Prototype, GTE-GTLM, and GTD. Current standings can be viewed HERE. The remaining races include: VIR, Laguna Seca, and finally The Petit LeMans 10 hours at Road Atlanta and I have to tell you that I don't see the action slowing down until after the last lap of the last race. See IMSA Schedule for more details (IMSA SCHEDULE HERE).
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Have you been following IMSA sports car racing, either the Weathertech Championship series or the Continental Tire Championship series? Do you have a favorite car or driver? Let us know what you think about it in the comments section below!
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