Autosport (UK)

THE NEW GTD PRO WAR CORVETTE WILL BE HANDY, SAYS TANDY

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A new era dawns for GT racing in the IMSA series this weekend. The GT Le Mans class based on the GTE formula has been replaced by GT Daytona Pro for GT3 machinery, and the result is a massive increase in the grid. Six cars from four manufactur­ers squabbled over GTLM honours this time last year. Those numbers have risen to 13 from eight.

BMW, Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Lexus and Lamborghin­i are all represente­d with their GT3 staples, while Chevrolet joins them with a downspecce­d version of its Gte-rules Corvette C8.R. So what’s not to like, reckons Corvette Racing driver Nick Tandy.

“We’ve got loads of cars at Daytona again, which is awesome,” says the Briton, who is sharing with Tommy Milner and Marco Sorensen in what is for the moment his only scheduled IMSA appearance. His main programme will be racing his Corvette in the WEC. “People have really come on board with the new rules. It’s good for everyone because we all want to have a good race.”

The Corvette will compete with anti-lock brakes, at a higher minimum weight, with less power and revised aero to bring it into line with the GT3 cars. Tandy hadn’t driven the definitive GTD Pro-spec Chevy prior to last weekend’s Roar and grid-setting qualifying race, but he wasn’t worried about acclimatis­ing to the car. “It’s a Corvette after all,” he says.

But he does reckon that the nature of the battle in the top GT class will change with the new rules. The Pro cars will race with the same Balance of Performanc­e as those in the regular GTD category for pro-am line-ups, which is also up in numbers for this year. The two sets of cars will also race on the same Michelin customer tyres rather than the so-called ‘confidenti­als’ employed in GTLM.

“It’s going to be a bit like the Spa 24 Hours where you have multiple classes but each car has the same potential performanc­e,” he explains. “Spa can cause a lot of headaches because you might be racing for the lead in a Pro class car, but you come out of the pits with a full fuel load and you find yourself having to battle with a Pro-am car with a good driver on board. It’s going to cause a lot of tension.”

Tandy is expecting all eight manufactur­ers to be in with a shot of victory. “IMSA know what they are doing on the BOP and I’m sure we will be competitiv­e along with everybody else,” he says. “And of course we have a chance: it’s Corvette Racing going into a 24-hour race.”

“PEOPLE HAVE REALLY COME ON BOARD WITH THE NEW RULES. IT’S GOOD FOR EVERYONE”

 ?? ?? Tandy is relishing the prospect offered by the massive increase in GT numbers
Tandy is relishing the prospect offered by the massive increase in GT numbers

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