Who's In First .... or, Where are they Now.
By: Chris Jameson
January 24, 2013
A few years back, IMSA had a great system for tracking positions of the race leaders in their endurance series with a set of lights on the side of each car. If you were in the top three, you car would display either one, two or three LED clusters so you at least knew who at least who the leaders were in each class. Many fans missed it when the leader lights system went away but now, with the advent of the TUDOR United Sports Car Series, IMSA has brought back the system and in an expenaded format where all cars will show their position. Following is IMSA's explanation of the Class nymbering and Leader Lights systems:
The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship features two (2) styles of cars, Prototype and GT (Grand Touring). Each style of car has two (2) classes, Pro and Pro-Am, meaning there are four (4) classes of racing on track together, each with their own battle for the lead.
Pro (Red) & Pro-Am (Blue)
The Pro classes typically feature a professional driver line up while the Pro-Am classes pair a professional driver and amateur driver.
To help fans easily identify a class of car, the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship implemented a new color system for 2014. A Pro class is designated by RED markings on the number panel, mirror, windscreen banner, rear wing end plate, class decal, and leader light.
A Pro-Am class is designated by BLUE markings on the number panel, mirror, windscreen banner, rear wing end plate, class decal, and leader light.
Leader Light System
To help fans follow the on track action, the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship has introduced a revolutionary and state-of-the-art Leader Light System for the 2014 season. It allows fans to easily identify the position of each car in its respective class. The position of the car is displayed on an LED panel mounted on the side of the car near the rear.
The color of the LED number corresponds with the red (Pro) and blue (Pro-Am) colors utilized in both the Prototype and GT style of cars. For instance, a red No. 5 LED number on a GT style car means that car is in 5th position in the GTLM class.
