IMSA Sets Course For Future Of Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge

Please see attached press release, below is a text-only version.

IMSA Sets Course For Future Of Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge

Sanctioning Body Renews Commitment To Series Identity, Cost Containment

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 3, 2015) – The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) outlined its strategy today for the future direction of the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, with a renewed commitment to the long-running series’ identity and substantial efforts to reduce operating expenses for competitors.

“The IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge is a staple of our event weekends,” said IMSA Managing Director, Racing Operations Simon Hodgson. “We have heard from many long-time competitors and stakeholders in the series, and believe the timing is right for us to re-establish what the Continental Tire Challenge stands for to everybody involved. This series has a legacy of close and relatively cost-effective competition and we plan to honor that legacy by introducing a number of key initiatives.”

Through a Mission Statement distributed to competitors, the Continental Tire Challenge was defined as a “multi-class, multi-driver, endurance road racing series for selected mass-produced automobile makes and models available through the manufacturer’s normal retail channels and individually prepared for competition.”

The series “encourages individual entrepreneurial motorsports organizations to participate in a cost-contained professional racing environment, developing team and driver expertise and automotive hardware, while demonstrating and promoting the performance, quality and reliability of the cars through close competition.”

IMSA plans to be proactive through each stage of construction for Continental Tire Challenge race cars to ensure compliance and understand each car’s performance, components and cost. IMSA will establish baseline performance benchmarks and ensure each car can be sufficiently adjusted for performance enhancement or restriction to facilitate the performance balancing process.

Performance balancing will be administered with a focus on maintaining competitive balance, cost containment and restricted development.

Specific details on cost-containment initiatives and approved vehicles for competition in 2016 will be announced shortly.

Next up for the Continental Tire Challenge will be Round 9 of the 10-race 2015 season at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas on Friday, Sept. 18. The race will be streamed live on IMSA.tv and the IMSA mobile app and will be televised on FOX Sports 1 at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 27.

Contact:
Nate Siebens
Senior Manager, IMSA Communications
(386) 310-6568
nsiebens

IMSA CTSC Future Direction Rls.pdf