International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) officials today announced plans for a pair of sanctioned test sessions in late 2017 and early 2018 in addition to the previously announced traditional three-day Roar Before The Rolex 24 At Daytona test in early January.
Daytona International Speedway will be the site of a two-day sanctioned test on Dec. 5-6, 2017, while Sebring International Raceway will have four days of testing on Feb. 20-23, 2018.
The Daytona test will be open to all registered IMSA SportsCar Championship Prototype (P) and GT Le Mans (GTLM) only. GT Daytona (GTD) cars will not participate.
IMSA will require mandatory participation from entrants representing selected manufacturers and constructors. Each of four WeatherTech Championship sessions across the two-day test will be two-hours, 45-minutes in length.
In addition to the WeatherTech Championship race cars, the Daytona test will be open to all registered IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge GS and TCR race cars, with the same mandatory participation requirements for selected manufacturers. The test will not include ST race cars.
The IMSA Prototype Challenge Presented by Mazda, which will open its 2018 season with its first race at Daytona International Speedway, also will participate in the December test. It is open to all participants in both LM P3 and MPC classes, with required participation from selected entrants.
IMSA Prototype Challenge will have two, one-hour sessions on Tuesday, Dec. 5. A pair of one-hour test sessions for the Continental Tire Challenge will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 6.
At Sebring, the first two days of testing on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 20-21, will include the Continental Tire Challenge, IMSA Prototype Challenge, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama and Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama.
IMSA SportsCar Championship testing will be held on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 22-23, with a night session planned for the evening of Feb. 22.
As announced with 2018 schedules in August, the Roar Before The Rolex 24 At Daytona will be held Jan. 5-7, 2018. The test is mandatory for all Championship Rolex 24 At Daytona participants and will be open to all three Challenge classes. The Roar also will include a one-hour, 45-minute IMSA Prototype Challenge race.