Lamelas also won at Sebring last March driving for
Charles Wicht Racing alongside co-driver Pato O’Ward.
“I’m so grateful to everyone,” said Lamelas after his Daytona
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win. “Our team did a perfect job. It’s very special for
me too. Last year, my team, CWR, was an excellent team
also. Today, I had the opportunity to go to ANSA. I’m just
grateful for everyone who is making this possible for me.
It’s a dream for me to be here racing in IMSA.”
As the series shifts to a single-class LMP3 platform for
2019, one of many drivers moving to the LMP3 class
from MPC this season is Dave House, who last year became
IMSA’s oldest race winner at 75 years old when he
won at Sebring.
This year, he joins co-driver Paul LaHaye in the No. 86
ONE Motorsports Ligier JS P3.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” House said of returning to
Sebring. “I was 75 last year when I won. This year, I’ll be
76 when I win, assuming I can win of course. But there’s
a whole new eld, a whole new car, a much heavier car, a
lot more horsepower, power steering, so it’s not as hard
to drive.
“The MPC car is much lighter. It has less horsepower.
This has a lot more torque and weighs a lot more.
This has got power steering as opposed to very stiff,
manual steering on the other car. So, this is less work.
Maybe a year older this will be an easier car to drive
and it’ll help me. This is my rst time driving in a closed
car, racing in a closed car, rst time racing a V8, so it’s
a really big change for me. It’s taking a little bit of time
to get used to, but I’m really looking forward to it.”
In the season opener at Daytona in January, House
nished 16th. He noted that while more seat time is
certainly a help, the differences between the high
banks of Daytona and the notorious bumps of Sebring
will be a challenge.
“(Daytona) is much simpler,” he said. “A big banking,
straightaways. Sebring has got all kinds of
turns and of course, those awful bumps that
beat the daylights out of you. Hopefully with this
heavier car, it’ll be a little more comfortable going
over those bumps at Sebring.”
There have been a number of enhancements to
the IMSA Prototype Challenge in 2019. In addition
to the switch to Michelin tires and the LMP3
car exclusively, there are two three-hour endurance races
on the schedule at Daytona and Canadian Tire Motorsport
Park.
Teams will be required to have two drivers for endurance
races and have the option of using a third driver. Any
three-driver combinations will be required to have at least
one Bronze-rated driver.
The minimum pit stop time in IMSA Prototype Challenge
will be reduced to two minutes, 30 seconds from the
four-minute minimum used in 2018. Drivers may stay in
the car and teams will be allowed to work on the cars
while fueling.
With a single-class format, there will be no “wave-bys”
during full-course caution periods. The IMSA Prototype
Challenge has also introduced a new “Bronze Cup” championship
in 2019 for cars using Bronze-rated driver lineups
exclusively.
All IMSA Prototype Challenge races will be shown on
NBCSN throughout the season with the Sebring broadcast
on Thursday, March 28 at 2 p.m. ET. You can follow
along with the conversation throughout this race weekend
by using #IMSAPC.