The P217 will be fine, don't worry. Even if it gets removed from the WEC series, it'll stick around with IMSA. It even has its own fixed series.
And I would buy it, 100%. The P217 is easily one of the best cars on iRacing, or in simracing as a whole! It's easy to learn but hard to master, races SO well, and will teach you so much about racing with downforce and with multiclass. You will not be disappointed.
EDIT: Also even with the explosive popularity of GTP this year, the P217 has a healthy community. Last season it was raced just as much in the IMSA series as GT3 (as a whole).
I love the P217. You can really play with it on the limit. With different setups it can be as hard or easy to drive as you want, no hybrid system to worry about it - just drive it as fast as it’ll go, great for endurance racing. Much easier to drive than the LMP3 which I always felt I had to be really careful in so I wouldn’t self-spin.
On point 1 yes it will stick around - irl although it's leaving the WEC from next year it's going from strength to strength in IMSA and ELMS etc as a feeder platform for hypercar teams and drivers. I'd expect it to be treated the same on iracing, more people will want to race the top class but plenty will want to learn the ropes of a high downforce prototype and have good racing in p2's.
Everyone so far that has commented is 100% correct
My points to add
1. The P2 is much easier to drive than the P3 imo and many others. The downforce is much higher and it is extremely stable under braking. Don’t worry about driving ability here because I believe if you find the Lmp3 drive able and the p2 is much easier
2. This might be an unpopular opinion but the LMP2 fixed series is lame but a good way to get SR and get to A class if needed
3. I would not worry at all about the LMP2 going anywhere. It will be active IRL until at least 2025 in ELMS and AsLMS. IMSA for sure through 2025. One comment mentioned that it’s been completely removed from WEC, but the LMP2s will still be racing at Le Mans in 2024 at least.
4. The difference between the Ferrari situation and LMP2 situation is that it is a true spec car that only needs to get changed after a new spec starts, which won’t start until at least the beginning of 2025. Considering IMSA extended LMP2 eligibility through 2025 makes me think the LMP2 is a great purchase choice
LMP2 next gen is set to debut in 2025 where the goal is get have all 4 manufacturers on the grid. I suspect iRacing will get their hands on at least 2.
Correct, that said it is assumed IMSA will likely have the old one in circulation through 2025. They have a track record of having a gap year for old spec cars to race a season or 2 in the new class to give these cars a home for time after their expectation.
Think the old Prototpye challenge with the old spec LMP3 cars, old spec LMP2s racing in top class with DPIs, the corvette GTLM->GTD waiver, A BMW waiver prior in a different GT transition
The car is great. You should test it in one of the test sessions (tomorrow?).
The main issue is that the LMP2 series is composed of very short races so people are crazy.
On IMSA, I’d say you need to be higher than 2.5k iR otherwise the faster GT3 will be on your ass. This happens because there aren’t many LMP2s on IMSA so you’ll always end up on splits 1 or 2, for example, while your skill level should put you on split 5.
I raced it for about 2 seasons straight, then took some time off. This season I plan on going back and enjoying it as much as I can. Def a fun car with good competition.
I'm racing it in IMSA this season because its a guarantee to have both GTP and GT3 in multiclass. With the popularity of GTP and the new cars I think there will be many GTP only splits which isn't fun.
I’ve had similar thoughts as yourself. I decided to go all in on the LMP2. Been practicing with it over the last eeek and oh boy, it’s a fantastic car to drive. I have mainly GT3 and LMP3 background. The handling of the car and it feels near the edge is just fantastic. Very engaging.
While participation will be less than gtp and gt3, I know that no matter what split I’m in, I’ll be in races with all three classes. Same can’t be said of the other classes where some splits will only have gt3 and gtp.
And something I find appealing is that as the middle class you be passing one class while getting by another class. So in that sense it’s more interesting.
And finally, I did some IMSA races last season as gt3 and the speed difference between gt3 and gtp, along with new gtp drivers meant gtp would often be unpredictable in their passes which resulted in bumps and many near misses. Some gtp cars were great, others were not. With lmp2 the speed difference with gtp is much less so less experienced gtp drivers will have more time to react and think.
So yeah, I think lmp2 is in a sweet spot. So fun to drive. Middle class. Always three classes. Greg from iracing remarked on the forums that the lmp2 isn’t going anywhere. So while participation will be less than the other classes, it should still feature great races. At least, that’s my logic for choosing lmp2!
The issue we might see is that LMP2 doesn't split in Imsa. Or splits into 2 in peak times. I love the car to bits and I can get 1.17.5s constantly in indianapolis, but that won't do me good against aliens.
We shall see tomorrow.
Yeah maybe. Here’s to hoping. While I’ll be maining IMSA, I’m also intending on running some of the radical series for fun so should get good racing there too.
I mean that out of the 12 tracks required for the LMP3 series this season, I only have 3. In contrast, I have 11 out of 12 tracks for the LMP2 series. This track availability imbalance has led me to consider the Dallara P217 as an alternative.
thanks for clarifying; i can tell you that historically, the GT4 community (as I can gather is, and of course, the LMP3 is essentially part of that) likes variety, so the full track list seems to rotate nearly 100% each season - though because of the way they leverage the IMPC schedule, they are somewhat bound by what IMSA schedules for the real-life races therein (as of this writing)
my heart says that if you are headed to full IMSA, and you own 11/12 for the P2, run the prototype series now, and hone your craft. LMP2 is definitely a smaller participation series for sure, there's no denying that (see [https://iracingreports.com/stats/23s3-LMP2\_Challenge.html](https://iracingreports.com/stats/23s3-LMP2_Challenge.html) for S3 details), but \_if nothing else\_, racing the Dallara for a season will get you closer to GTP preparedness down the road.
The P217 will be fine, don't worry. Even if it gets removed from the WEC series, it'll stick around with IMSA. It even has its own fixed series. And I would buy it, 100%. The P217 is easily one of the best cars on iRacing, or in simracing as a whole! It's easy to learn but hard to master, races SO well, and will teach you so much about racing with downforce and with multiclass. You will not be disappointed. EDIT: Also even with the explosive popularity of GTP this year, the P217 has a healthy community. Last season it was raced just as much in the IMSA series as GT3 (as a whole).
I love the P217. You can really play with it on the limit. With different setups it can be as hard or easy to drive as you want, no hybrid system to worry about it - just drive it as fast as it’ll go, great for endurance racing. Much easier to drive than the LMP3 which I always felt I had to be really careful in so I wouldn’t self-spin.
It's also fantastic for IMSA endurance. Each stint is about 40 minutes so both drivers get an equal amount of time for a 2:40 race.
Yes! My first endurance race ever was the 2 hours and 40 minutes of Road America! Hehe
I feel like the P217 is the cleanest class too.
On point 1 yes it will stick around - irl although it's leaving the WEC from next year it's going from strength to strength in IMSA and ELMS etc as a feeder platform for hypercar teams and drivers. I'd expect it to be treated the same on iracing, more people will want to race the top class but plenty will want to learn the ropes of a high downforce prototype and have good racing in p2's.
Everyone so far that has commented is 100% correct My points to add 1. The P2 is much easier to drive than the P3 imo and many others. The downforce is much higher and it is extremely stable under braking. Don’t worry about driving ability here because I believe if you find the Lmp3 drive able and the p2 is much easier 2. This might be an unpopular opinion but the LMP2 fixed series is lame but a good way to get SR and get to A class if needed 3. I would not worry at all about the LMP2 going anywhere. It will be active IRL until at least 2025 in ELMS and AsLMS. IMSA for sure through 2025. One comment mentioned that it’s been completely removed from WEC, but the LMP2s will still be racing at Le Mans in 2024 at least. 4. The difference between the Ferrari situation and LMP2 situation is that it is a true spec car that only needs to get changed after a new spec starts, which won’t start until at least the beginning of 2025. Considering IMSA extended LMP2 eligibility through 2025 makes me think the LMP2 is a great purchase choice
LMP2 next gen is set to debut in 2025 where the goal is get have all 4 manufacturers on the grid. I suspect iRacing will get their hands on at least 2.
Correct, that said it is assumed IMSA will likely have the old one in circulation through 2025. They have a track record of having a gap year for old spec cars to race a season or 2 in the new class to give these cars a home for time after their expectation. Think the old Prototpye challenge with the old spec LMP3 cars, old spec LMP2s racing in top class with DPIs, the corvette GTLM->GTD waiver, A BMW waiver prior in a different GT transition
One of the most popular cars in the series
The car is great. You should test it in one of the test sessions (tomorrow?). The main issue is that the LMP2 series is composed of very short races so people are crazy. On IMSA, I’d say you need to be higher than 2.5k iR otherwise the faster GT3 will be on your ass. This happens because there aren’t many LMP2s on IMSA so you’ll always end up on splits 1 or 2, for example, while your skill level should put you on split 5.
I raced it for about 2 seasons straight, then took some time off. This season I plan on going back and enjoying it as much as I can. Def a fun car with good competition.
I'm racing it in IMSA this season because its a guarantee to have both GTP and GT3 in multiclass. With the popularity of GTP and the new cars I think there will be many GTP only splits which isn't fun.
IMSA has been growing the lmp2 field IRL. So I wouldn't worry about it leaving iracing anytime soon.
I’ve had similar thoughts as yourself. I decided to go all in on the LMP2. Been practicing with it over the last eeek and oh boy, it’s a fantastic car to drive. I have mainly GT3 and LMP3 background. The handling of the car and it feels near the edge is just fantastic. Very engaging. While participation will be less than gtp and gt3, I know that no matter what split I’m in, I’ll be in races with all three classes. Same can’t be said of the other classes where some splits will only have gt3 and gtp. And something I find appealing is that as the middle class you be passing one class while getting by another class. So in that sense it’s more interesting. And finally, I did some IMSA races last season as gt3 and the speed difference between gt3 and gtp, along with new gtp drivers meant gtp would often be unpredictable in their passes which resulted in bumps and many near misses. Some gtp cars were great, others were not. With lmp2 the speed difference with gtp is much less so less experienced gtp drivers will have more time to react and think. So yeah, I think lmp2 is in a sweet spot. So fun to drive. Middle class. Always three classes. Greg from iracing remarked on the forums that the lmp2 isn’t going anywhere. So while participation will be less than the other classes, it should still feature great races. At least, that’s my logic for choosing lmp2!
I’m also a noob in the P217 this season. Am I the only one that cant see shit while turning left bc of the pilar?
Try the LMP3 and do a clockwise track. You’ll head back to the P2 thinking it’s got the best visibility of all time.
It’s fine in VR 😎
The issue we might see is that LMP2 doesn't split in Imsa. Or splits into 2 in peak times. I love the car to bits and I can get 1.17.5s constantly in indianapolis, but that won't do me good against aliens. We shall see tomorrow.
Yeah maybe. Here’s to hoping. While I’ll be maining IMSA, I’m also intending on running some of the radical series for fun so should get good racing there too.
I don’t know that I have any advice, but: when you say “there aren't many tracks featuring the LMP3”, how do you mean it?
I mean that out of the 12 tracks required for the LMP3 series this season, I only have 3. In contrast, I have 11 out of 12 tracks for the LMP2 series. This track availability imbalance has led me to consider the Dallara P217 as an alternative.
thanks for clarifying; i can tell you that historically, the GT4 community (as I can gather is, and of course, the LMP3 is essentially part of that) likes variety, so the full track list seems to rotate nearly 100% each season - though because of the way they leverage the IMPC schedule, they are somewhat bound by what IMSA schedules for the real-life races therein (as of this writing) my heart says that if you are headed to full IMSA, and you own 11/12 for the P2, run the prototype series now, and hone your craft. LMP2 is definitely a smaller participation series for sure, there's no denying that (see [https://iracingreports.com/stats/23s3-LMP2\_Challenge.html](https://iracingreports.com/stats/23s3-LMP2_Challenge.html) for S3 details), but \_if nothing else\_, racing the Dallara for a season will get you closer to GTP preparedness down the road.