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The rising tide that has been the Drive to Survive effect has lifted more boats in motorsport than simply Formula 1’s. Sportscar racing is enjoying its own surge in popularity internationally at races like Le Mans in France, but also in North America in IMSA’s WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. For one thing, multi-hour, multi-class racing lends itself better to the age of streaming and second screens than it did linear broadcast TV, and fans are taking advantage of that: IMSA’s audience grew by more than a third domestically and almost a quarter internationally last year. Having some of the coolest-looking cars racing today certainly helps, whether that’s the (mostly) hybrid prototypes or the GTs, racing versions of road-going cars from Porsche, Ferrari, and others. And it definitely helps that fan access at the races is virtually unmatched, with open paddocks and grid walks that now see huge crowds get up close to the cars just before the start of each race. “I think we’re just scratching the surface,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “I think besides the people that are here on the ground, the people watching, people engaging with us on social media, I’m seeing the passion come out more. Just on the grid walk, these fans coming up and being so excited to be here.” The series has certainly been making an effort, among other things getting local high school students exposed to the industry and starting a partnership to train more mechanics with ASE. IMSA’s 2026 season wrapped up at the start of the month at Road Atlanta in Georgia. Although the 10-hour Petit Le Mans is now the regular finale, the race predates the WeatherTech series as well as its predecessor, the American Le Mans Series, first being held in 1998 after Elan Pharmaceuticals founder Don Panoz got a bright idea to invite the cars that raced at the French enduro to come here to the US. It worked and led to some classic races; no one who watched it could forget Allan McNish’s recovery drive in 2008, clawing back two laps after crashing on the way to the grid to hunt down and beat the Peugeots. (Don’t take my word for it, watch it for yourself.)
document fetched 2026-10-15 02:59 · canonical https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/10/software-development-and-rules-stability-prototype-racing-in-2030