IMSA to make Indianapolis Motor Speedway return in 2023
The IMSA SportsCar Championship will race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time since 2014 next September, with a 160-minute contest.
The race, scheduled for 17 September, will be broadcast live on NBC and will be the climax in a full weekend of IMSA action with a four-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race on Saturday and other IMSA-sanctioned single-make support series.
It will be the first top-level IMSA competition to be staged at the Brickyard since 2014, the first season following the unification of Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series under the United SportsCar Championship banner, when Action Express Racing pair Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa claimed the spoils in a Corvette Daytona Prototype.
IMSA had previously sanctioned Grand-Am races at the track in 2012 and 2013, with both races won by Starworks Motorsport.
In more recent years, following its takeover by Roger Penske, the track had hosted an 8-hour endurance race as part of the SRO-run Intercontinental GT Challenge, with the event set to be staged for a third time this October.
Penske has also voiced an interest in bringing the World Endurance Championship to Indianapolis in the future.
IMSA President John Doonan said: “Indianapolis Motor Speedway is hallowed ground in the world of motorsport, and we are honoured to bring IMSA and the WeatherTech Championship back to IMS.
“There has been mutual interest and many conversations between IMSA and IMS leadership for quite some time to bring our brand of premium endurance sports car racing back to the Speedway and our collective fans.
“As we launch an exciting new era in 2023 and introduce GTP as our top category of prototypes alongside many of our other successful categories and sanctioned series, the timing is right for a full weekend of IMSA action in Indianapolis and on NBC next fall.”
IMS President Doug Boles said IMSA's “return to IMS is a perfect fit for our loyal fans”.
“We can’t wait to see exciting new GTP prototypes compete on the road course in yet another full weekend of action at the Speedway, complete with great racing in other classes and the Michelin Pilot Challenge,” he commented.
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