So, correct me if I’m wrong here, but up to this point, we could theoretically see this as our imsa GTP grid for next year? 1 HRC Acura 1 MSR Acura 2 WTR Cadillacs 1 AXR Cadillac 2 Penske Porsches 2 RLL BMWs 1 Iron Lynx Lamborghini 1 HOR Aston Martin 2 JDC-Miller Porsches 2 Proton Porsches (I know the second JDC and Proton cars are not confirmed yet, but they’re rumored) That list is absolutely bonkers
@@offintheesses I think both teams want it, and JDC has already taken delivery of their second chassis. Means we could see a 15 car GTP grid next season!!!
My predictions: most likely WTRA runs 2 Caddys as for drivers, I could see WTRA buying both Ricky and Jordan out of their current HRC contracts to be part of those caddy entries. Especially Jordan because of his ties to GM.
I will miss the WTRAndretti Acuras. I fell in love with the chrome liveries, especially the 40 car. But since WTR is done with Acura, I hope they'll go back to Cadillac. That is, if Cadillac will allow for more customer cars. If I'm right, Cadillac was pretty firmly against customer entries for the V-Series.R, but maybe they've cracked the door a little bit...
Yeah its but a mater of time before GM and WTR make their announcement. The DPi history and the Andretti connection really just make this the most logical conclusion.
At this point I think Ganassi would be more likely to pair up with a new manufacturer like Hyundai (which there are rumours of) but I don't think Acura has any intentions of fielding a third car on the grid right now!
when they left after 2023 my understanding it was due to something with the team restructuring internally maybe caused by what happened at the 2023 Rolex 24? I believe they hinted at it only being a one year absence from the series or something like that.
So, WTR will be moving to Cadillac... Would be cool if they stayed with HRD. With IndyCar looking at limiting teams to 3 cars soon and Ganassi runs 4 full-time teams and 5th at the 500.
Predictions and thoughts: Blomqvist without any question is gonna be one in one of the Acuras next season. He's one of the best drivers on the grid and proved his talent the last 2 seasons with MSR and there's little doubt that he'll be on a revenge mission next year to get the title after losing it last year. Likewise, Braun is a good guess for being in the full season line up and like Blomqvist, will be on a revenge mission to get the title that was taken away. Both Taylor brothers will be staying with Acura and jump to MSR. Ricky's connections to Acura factory driver status is more believable than Jordan's because Ricky was apart of the ARX-05 program from Penske's 3-year spell and WTR's 2 year run. Whether or not the Taylor brothers will be co-drivers next year is a big question that will get answered as silly season progresses. Free agents like Derani will have to look elsewhere and either join a rival manufacturer, settle on an endurance only/reserve driver role, or jump to the WEC. With Acura not an option to CGR, they are probably the biggest loser from this announcement as they were linked to acquiring the Acuras, but to no avail. Unless they can convince Alpine to bring the A424 over to IMSA, CGR is out of GTP as I just can't see them settling for a customer 963 program. Plus, with rivalry with Penske both on track and commercially, CGR might pull an MSR and sit out a season before coming back. The deal all but confirms WTR is returning to Cadillac next year and like MSR, it's going to be intriguing to see who gets the full season rides. Albuquerque and Deletraz are both contracted to WTR according to sportscar365 and likely will stay with WTR as it changes manufactures. Bourdais and van der Zande both could stay in one of the WTR cars. Should van der Zande be signed, you do have to wonder what the relationship is gonna be like with Renger and Wayne given that Renger wasn't retained after WTR joined Acura. Renger wasn't happy and who knows if that tension from 4 years ago between the two will reignite. Herta effectively will jump to whichever car at WTR is available for the endurance rounds given his connections to Andretti. Hartley as a result of this, jumps to MSR due to a policy Toyota has with it's WEC drivers not allowed to drive for a rival manufacturer who's competing in IMSA. As Acura/Honda/HRC isn't in the WEC, Hartley could remain at Acura and join MSR as an endurance driver
To throw a wrench into part of this I believe that Renger and Bourdais are contracted to Chip as opposed to Cadillac. Bourdais talks about this in a Dinner with Racers episode!
So are we at a +3 or +4 for IMSA grid size next year. I haven't heard of anyone backing out, and can't find anything that solidifies whether HOR is bring 1 or 2 cars to IMSA.
I believe that we’re +2! It looks likely that we’ll have a third Cadillac full time and a single Aston full time. Lamborghini was supposed to be full time as well but that sounds uncertain right now!
I honestly worry Bloomqvist and MSR may have fell out after the indy incident. He lost his seat in no fault of his own in IMSA. After moving over to MSR Indycar, he did a bad job. So bad that he no longer has a seat. Im not convinced that the two are going to rejoin. Also Pipo is no longer driving for AXR so I could see Bloomqvist moving from enduro driver to a permanent seat next season. So far IMSA has had. A pretty busy silly season.
I think Tom has earned himself a longer leash than that! It was a tough handful of races in IndyCar but I wonder if they opted to pull Tom from Indycar so he could help the team ramp up towards their campaign next year?
I get MSR has a better track record with the ARX-06, but why would they repartner with a team that was caught red-handed cheating? I know Andretti and Cadillac are close given his failed F1 bid so it'd make sense for a switch back to them for 2025 for WTR Andretti. Alpine or Peugeot (likely rebadged as a Dodge) would also have worked; but neither seem interested in IMSA. Plus both have lacked the pace to be competitive. This is was especially true for Alpine's embarrassing 24 Hours of Le Mans
The old saying goes something like "If you aren't cheating then you aren't trying"! I think MSR has served their time for this one, they've had to sit out a year as a result and you certainly can't argue with their track record. I don't know if there is a better team that Acura could have looked to that is capable of taking on a factory program like this right now
@@offintheesses what happen whit the rumours that talk about a possibly return from Nissan to IMSA? Nissan it's part of Nissan, Renault (alpine) association.
@@albertpratclaramunt They haven't amounted to any sort of serious rumour. Alpine is supposed to launch in the North American market in 2026/27 I think so if that car were to come stateside it's possible they just badge it as an Alpine
I wouldn't be surprised if Wayne Taylor moved to Porsche. There is a past relationship there, and Porsche seems to have the best customer program overall, but Cadillac definitely makes the most sense.
But he has driven Porsches at Le Mans before. His first LeMans start as a driver was in the 962C and that's where he got his best LeMans finish of 4th. Like I said it would make more sense to go to Cadillac because he drove Cadillacs before in 2002 and ran Cadillacs previously as well, but that Porsche has a really good customer program and have a really strong car and would be a consideration.
@@TankSlappr Got it. Thanks. I wasn’t aware that he ran in Porsches in the 80s and early 90s. I do remember that he ran Riley and Scotts and Ferrari prototypes in IMSA after that. He was the little devil that “Mad Max” Papis was chasing down at the end of the 1996 Rolex 24 at Daytona.😀
I don't think they make this one anymore unfortunately because it has the Pfaff Porsche on it but I got it from the IMSA store! They have plenty of other cool designs though! teamimsa.com/collections/tees
No indication that they're leaving Indycar just that they're back on the IMSA grid! We'll have to see what the team confirms for drivers! I'd imagine we at least see Helio in for the Rolex or Endurance rounds though!
That is a radical move indeed! I'm not sure that would solve BMW's problems though, I think they just need stability to work through things right now and continue to find pace in that program!
@richardhung3878 according to an article by Sportscar365, there's rumblings that Hyundai/Genesis could be the manufacturer that Chip Ganassi Racing will be moving to.
I wouldn't rule out Konica coming off of the car just yet! Remember that Whelen has a heavy presence on the 31! No reason that we couldn't see a blue cadillac with Konica Minolta on it!
@@offintheesses that's true but im a little biased thinking the arx 06 is sharpest on the grid, i hope konica can come up with something that makes me think that way of the caddy
So does this mean that there'll possibly be 4 ARX-06's what does this mean for the 2 WTR entries will they be left alone or would they move over to another manufacturer and with this happening would there possibly be an attempt to get acura into the WEC i predict there to be alot of silly season stuff this off season
@@offintheesses so basically with WTR racing with Cadillacs next year plus the action express entry there should be 3 caddy's in the field with god knows where CGR is heading to, am I correct
@@offintheesses Cool beans can't wait for next season there's gonna be so much going on in the GTP field with the Valkyrie coming in and all the moving going on with the other teams what a time to be a subscriber
@@mrjdmtunerboy.1463 I think there were already news that Action Express will take over the second (CGR's) Cadillac in IMSA. Plus I don't think WTR/Andretti would want to run three cars (one in IMSA and another (mandatory) two in WEC)
So, correct me if I’m wrong here, but up to this point, we could theoretically see this as our imsa GTP grid for next year?
1 HRC Acura
1 MSR Acura
2 WTR Cadillacs
1 AXR Cadillac
2 Penske Porsches
2 RLL BMWs
1 Iron Lynx Lamborghini
1 HOR Aston Martin
2 JDC-Miller Porsches
2 Proton Porsches
(I know the second JDC and Proton cars are not confirmed yet, but they’re rumored)
That list is absolutely bonkers
Looks pretty close to me! Some big question marks on the second privateer entries but I could see it happen!
@@offintheesses I think both teams want it, and JDC has already taken delivery of their second chassis. Means we could see a 15 car GTP grid next season!!!
Are you happy to see Meyer Shank Racing back on the grid?
i just want to see tom in a car in 2025.......
Yes/Hopefully they land some good drivers
What about a Hyundai closing on a Lmdh deal on joining imsa/WEC in 2026?
as a msr fan, yes as long as Tom and Colin are reunited
@@dannyjohnson1287 That would be fantastic to see them join the grid! Still a lot of things need to happen but I think they'd be a great addition!
I could see Pipo Derani race in one of the Acura GTP’s
My predictions:
most likely WTRA runs 2 Caddys
as for drivers, I could see WTRA buying both Ricky and Jordan out of their current HRC contracts to be part of those caddy entries.
Especially Jordan because of his ties to GM.
I will miss the WTRAndretti Acuras. I fell in love with the chrome liveries, especially the 40 car. But since WTR is done with Acura, I hope they'll go back to Cadillac. That is, if Cadillac will allow for more customer cars. If I'm right, Cadillac was pretty firmly against customer entries for the V-Series.R, but maybe they've cracked the door a little bit...
And made thing even clear Honda doesn't have interesting race WEC likely Andretti will go to Cadillac on this point
I'm hoping that those chrome liveries get brought over to the Caddys! Besides there is a red and blue cadillac already so it could work!
Yeah its but a mater of time before GM and WTR make their announcement. The DPi history and the Andretti connection really just make this the most logical conclusion.
HRC is getting ready for a WEC program.
I hope so!
Great news for them, and Ganassi is also rumored to run a third Acura as well!
At this point I think Ganassi would be more likely to pair up with a new manufacturer like Hyundai (which there are rumours of) but I don't think Acura has any intentions of fielding a third car on the grid right now!
when they left after 2023 my understanding it was due to something with the team restructuring internally maybe caused by what happened at the 2023 Rolex 24? I believe they hinted at it only being a one year absence from the series or something like that.
Could it be that since Honda is running on of the entries next year they’ll use it as a learning opportunity for a potential WEC entry?
We can only hope!
Maybe we get Tom and Colin back together in one car and Pipo Derani and Simon Pagenaud in the other with Helio Castroneves being Shanks enduro driver
So, WTR will be moving to Cadillac... Would be cool if they stayed with HRD. With IndyCar looking at limiting teams to 3 cars soon and Ganassi runs 4 full-time teams and 5th at the 500.
nice to see them finally back. even if it was a one year break
I'd love to see Simon Pagenaud in one of the cars. I know he's recovering from injury, but I hope its not the end for him.
So this pretty much confirms WTR Andretti will run the Caddys next year
Predictions and thoughts:
Blomqvist without any question is gonna be one in one of the Acuras next season. He's one of the best drivers on the grid and proved his talent the last 2 seasons with MSR and there's little doubt that he'll be on a revenge mission next year to get the title after losing it last year. Likewise, Braun is a good guess for being in the full season line up and like Blomqvist, will be on a revenge mission to get the title that was taken away. Both Taylor brothers will be staying with Acura and jump to MSR. Ricky's connections to Acura factory driver status is more believable than Jordan's because Ricky was apart of the ARX-05 program from Penske's 3-year spell and WTR's 2 year run. Whether or not the Taylor brothers will be co-drivers next year is a big question that will get answered as silly season progresses. Free agents like Derani will have to look elsewhere and either join a rival manufacturer, settle on an endurance only/reserve driver role, or jump to the WEC. With Acura not an option to CGR, they are probably the biggest loser from this announcement as they were linked to acquiring the Acuras, but to no avail. Unless they can convince Alpine to bring the A424 over to IMSA, CGR is out of GTP as I just can't see them settling for a customer 963 program. Plus, with rivalry with Penske both on track and commercially, CGR might pull an MSR and sit out a season before coming back. The deal all but confirms WTR is returning to Cadillac next year and like MSR, it's going to be intriguing to see who gets the full season rides. Albuquerque and Deletraz are both contracted to WTR according to sportscar365 and likely will stay with WTR as it changes manufactures. Bourdais and van der Zande both could stay in one of the WTR cars. Should van der Zande be signed, you do have to wonder what the relationship is gonna be like with Renger and Wayne given that Renger wasn't retained after WTR joined Acura. Renger wasn't happy and who knows if that tension from 4 years ago between the two will reignite. Herta effectively will jump to whichever car at WTR is available for the endurance rounds given his connections to Andretti. Hartley as a result of this, jumps to MSR due to a policy Toyota has with it's WEC drivers not allowed to drive for a rival manufacturer who's competing in IMSA. As Acura/Honda/HRC isn't in the WEC, Hartley could remain at Acura and join MSR as an endurance driver
Ganassi said during the Glen he intends to run another season and Acura would 100% be an option, I don’t think he’d look elsewhere
@@definitely_not_nick41Acura has ruled out customer cars which leaves CGR out of options for next season
@@samuelgt2811 damn, i guess they will run the genesis then.
To throw a wrench into part of this I believe that Renger and Bourdais are contracted to Chip as opposed to Cadillac. Bourdais talks about this in a Dinner with Racers episode!
So are we at a +3 or +4 for IMSA grid size next year. I haven't heard of anyone backing out, and can't find anything that solidifies whether HOR is bring 1 or 2 cars to IMSA.
I believe that we’re +2! It looks likely that we’ll have a third Cadillac full time and a single Aston full time. Lamborghini was supposed to be full time as well but that sounds uncertain right now!
I honestly worry Bloomqvist and MSR may have fell out after the indy incident. He lost his seat in no fault of his own in IMSA. After moving over to MSR Indycar, he did a bad job. So bad that he no longer has a seat. Im not convinced that the two are going to rejoin. Also Pipo is no longer driving for AXR so I could see Bloomqvist moving from enduro driver to a permanent seat next season.
So far IMSA has had. A pretty busy silly season.
I think Tom has earned himself a longer leash than that! It was a tough handful of races in IndyCar but I wonder if they opted to pull Tom from Indycar so he could help the team ramp up towards their campaign next year?
Nice video. Keep up the good work.
I get MSR has a better track record with the ARX-06, but why would they repartner with a team that was caught red-handed cheating? I know Andretti and Cadillac are close given his failed F1 bid so it'd make sense for a switch back to them for 2025 for WTR Andretti.
Alpine or Peugeot (likely rebadged as a Dodge) would also have worked; but neither seem interested in IMSA. Plus both have lacked the pace to be competitive. This is was especially true for Alpine's embarrassing 24 Hours of Le Mans
The old saying goes something like "If you aren't cheating then you aren't trying"! I think MSR has served their time for this one, they've had to sit out a year as a result and you certainly can't argue with their track record. I don't know if there is a better team that Acura could have looked to that is capable of taking on a factory program like this right now
@@offintheesses what happen whit the rumours that talk about a possibly return from Nissan to IMSA?
Nissan it's part of Nissan, Renault (alpine) association.
@@albertpratclaramunt They haven't amounted to any sort of serious rumour. Alpine is supposed to launch in the North American market in 2026/27 I think so if that car were to come stateside it's possible they just badge it as an Alpine
I wouldn't be surprised if Wayne Taylor moved to Porsche. There is a past relationship there, and Porsche seems to have the best customer program overall, but Cadillac definitely makes the most sense.
What relationship? WT has run GMs and Honda/Acuras but I don't remember them running Porsches and in the video he only mentioned Cadillac and Acuras.
But he has driven Porsches at Le Mans before. His first LeMans start as a driver was in the 962C and that's where he got his best LeMans finish of 4th. Like I said it would make more sense to go to Cadillac because he drove Cadillacs before in 2002 and ran Cadillacs previously as well, but that Porsche has a really good customer program and have a really strong car and would be a consideration.
@@TankSlappr Got it. Thanks. I wasn’t aware that he ran in Porsches in the 80s and early 90s. I do remember that he ran Riley and Scotts and Ferrari prototypes in IMSA after that. He was the little devil that “Mad Max” Papis was chasing down at the end of the 1996 Rolex 24 at Daytona.😀
honestly they should have never left just saying.
That's a cool shirt, where did you get it and what's the design?
I don't think they make this one anymore unfortunately because it has the Pfaff Porsche on it but I got it from the IMSA store! They have plenty of other cool designs though! teamimsa.com/collections/tees
man if both Taylors comes to MSR.......
Goodbye Indycar! What about Helio?
No indication that they're leaving Indycar just that they're back on the IMSA grid! We'll have to see what the team confirms for drivers! I'd imagine we at least see Helio in for the Rolex or Endurance rounds though!
Radical move, but i think BMW should drop RLL and hire Ganassi Racing
That is a radical move indeed! I'm not sure that would solve BMW's problems though, I think they just need stability to work through things right now and continue to find pace in that program!
Hello, did you hear about the rumors of Hyundai making an LMdH???
Sure did! That would be awesome if they choose to join the grid!
@@offintheesses I am wondering who will run the cars
@richardhung3878 according to an article by Sportscar365, there's rumblings that Hyundai/Genesis could be the manufacturer that Chip Ganassi Racing will be moving to.
These teams are just playing musical chairs at this point. MSR to Acura, WTR to Cadillac most likely, and CGR might run a Porsche
sad to see the #10 konica wtr go it was such a good looking car
I wouldn't rule out Konica coming off of the car just yet! Remember that Whelen has a heavy presence on the 31! No reason that we couldn't see a blue cadillac with Konica Minolta on it!
@@offintheesses that's true but im a little biased thinking the arx 06 is sharpest on the grid, i hope konica can come up with something that makes me think that way of the caddy
So does this mean that there'll possibly be 4 ARX-06's what does this mean for the 2 WTR entries will they be left alone or would they move over to another manufacturer and with this happening would there possibly be an attempt to get acura into the WEC i predict there to be alot of silly season stuff this off season
No the WRT Honda entree's will not be racing next year, WRT will be moving on to Cadillac. Just 2 Acuras next year
It's all but confirmed at this point that WTR will be running 2 Cadillacs next year. There should only be these 2 Acuras on the grid!
@@offintheesses so basically with WTR racing with Cadillacs next year plus the action express entry there should be 3 caddy's in the field with god knows where CGR is heading to, am I correct
@@Joseph_Ochoa. Yes that is what it it shaping up to look like!
@@offintheesses Cool beans can't wait for next season there's gonna be so much going on in the GTP field with the Valkyrie coming in and all the moving going on with the other teams what a time to be a subscriber
so i wonder if wtr will go to le mans hopefully so. maybe the acura/honda in le mans
I imagine if they sign on with Cadillac that they will have a car at Le Mans!
yep, silly season is going to be a good one this year.... :)
It's shaping up to be a doozy!
Now enter WEC pls....
When I saw the post online I thought they were announcing joining WEC
I think Whelen/Action Express Racing will take over CGR's IMSA Cadillac, while WTR/Andretti will be taking care of Cadillac's WEC program.
Nope Andretti will do both imsa and WEC they have new factory ready at Britain I am sure they will used it for WEC program since F1 project delay
@@mrjdmtunerboy.1463 I think there were already news that Action Express will take over the second (CGR's) Cadillac in IMSA. Plus I don't think WTR/Andretti would want to run three cars (one in IMSA and another (mandatory) two in WEC)
WTR will do both IMSA and WEC. Not sure how many entries they’ll have in IMSA, but JOTA and Andretti will run the 2 V-Series.R no doubt in WEC