IMSA issues 2026 regulation update
IMSA has published its 2026 Sporting Regulations for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, which include some noteworthy changes for the upcoming season.
The “Short FCY” protocol will now be used for any full course yellow (FCY) deployed within 30 minutes of the start of the race, and will continue to be used for any FCYs initiated within 15 minutes of a green flag restart.
Under a Short FCY, the pit lane remains closed, though IMSA may convert to a Standard FCY process and open pit lane if the “short” full course yellow exceeds 15 minutes.
This change should cut down on the amount of time spent under full course yellow, particularly at the beginning stages of a race.
There has also been a change to the 24 Hours of Le Mans entry invitations extended to the IMSA GTP Champion team, and the winners of the Jim Trueman and Bob Akin Awards, given to the top Bronze driver in LMP2 and GTD, respectively.
As written in the IMSA Sporting Supplementary Regulation Attachment 7.1.1, Section H: "Entries (Trueman/Akin, or otherwise) are invitations at the discretion of the organizers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and are not guaranteed.”
However, RACER understands that the change was made due to the extraordinary circumstances regarding a potential Porsche withdrawal from the FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar category – and that Trueman/Akin Award contenders would not be at any heightened risk of having their invitations revoked.
Regarding Porsche Penske Motorsport’s invitation to the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans, IMSA President John Doonan told RACER yesterday, “We’ve had a lot of conversations, and we’re still having conversations with Pierre Fillon (President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest) and Frederic (Lequien, CEO of the FIA World Endurance Championship).
“We are big advocates of our champion. We hope that something could come together, but in the end, it’s ultimately the ACO’s decision to make. We haven’t decided what we would do with that entry. Obviously, they had their finale at Bahrain, so we will have further discussions and see how it comes out.”
Pertinent to the Rolex 24 At Daytona in particular, Bronze drivers must now apply to IMSA in order to race in either the GTP or GTD PRO categories, and will now be required to complete the same minimum drive time as a Bronze driver running in LMP2 or GTD. In the case of Daytona, that minimum obligation would be four hours and 30 minutes, instead of two hours.
The IMSA Sanctioned Test has only two Bronze drivers in GTD PRO, Kenny Habul (75 Express) and Scott Noble (Winward Racing), who would be required to apply for permission to race in the category. Habul, Ben Keating, and Claudio Schiavoni raced in GTD PRO last year as Bronze drivers.
Michelin and the teams will also be required, at IMSA’s request, to make available any relevant tire performance data – including, but not limited, to, wear, degradation, and related parameters – obtained during races.
If in the event of a collision that the blue impact warning light is illuminated, the driver of the damaged vehicle must be taken to the circuit’s infield care center. If the car is able to continue on track after the impact warning light comes on, the car must return to the pits, the driver must go to the infield care center, and a different driver can replace them in the car.
Drivers and teams will now be given freedom to use private in-car camera footage on their website and social media accounts, so long as the driver or team applies with IMSA for a footage license agreement.
Teams in the LMP2, GTD PRO, and GTD categories will also be allowed two additional test days during the year: 12 test days in LMP2 (was 10), and six test days in the GT classes (was four).
In addition, the 2026 IMSA Sanctioned Test at Daytona has been moved further back in the calendar to December 11–13.
