OPINION: IMSA is the free to watch motorsport you need in 2024

F1 can only be watched with a Sky Sports subscription, Formula E now demands you sign up for TNT Sports. Want to watch the World Rally Championship? That’ll be either a TNT subscription for some of it or a monthly RallyTV plan to see it all. WEC? Eurosport or the paid-for app. Is there top-level motorsport to watch for free anywhere these days? Why, yes. And it might be the best of the lot.

IMSA. That’s the one. The IMSA sportscar championship is possibly the most varied and entertaining motorsport series that doesn’t involve tin tops bashing into each other all the time. There’s a fair amount of panel bashing, but it’s always less wanton in sportscars isn’t it?

I don’t want to get into a continuing game of tit-for-tat, but my colleague, and our Website Editor, Simon Ostler recently wrote an opinion on how Formula E was better than F1 these days. While he might have some points, I had to take some space on this website to point out that Formula E and Formula 1 really don’t matter when it comes to picking a properly exciting motorsport to watch.

IMSA has been going from strength to strength for a few years now. First, the ridiculous split between the American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am was consigned to the past, and then a cheaper formula for top-level cars got manufacturers interested. DPi (Daytona Prototype International) as it was known brought in Mazda, Cadillac, Acura and Nissan, with cars looking and sounding different while competing incredibly closely.

Global sportscar conversion followed, the LMDh formula (DPi’s successor) was adopted by both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship and suddenly there was an explosion of interest.  LMDh cars are hybrids, rear-wheel-drive and affordable for both manufacturers and privateers to run. In its first season the class, renamed GTP in deference to IMSA’s greatest period, saw Porsche, Cadillac, BMW and Acura battling for victory around North America. Lamborghini will join the action for 2024.

Some of you are immediately shouting at me that the World Endurance Championship has more. And, you would be right. But more doesn’t necessarily mean better. While the WEC sets itself the difficult task of finding a competitive balance between two different rulesets (let’s not get into Hypercar vs Dh here) and tries to work with a greater range of OEMs, IMSA has been quietly getting the Balance of Performance between its four brands right.

So right that in 2023 all four IMSA GTP manufacturers won at least one race. Contrast that with the WEC where Toyota won every round except one. IMSA’s title came down to a final lap confrontation and yoyoed between teams the whole season. No racing series is perfect, but in its first season, GTP got pretty close. And that has attracted teams outside of the big OEMs. While there are four brands on the grid for the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, the entry list features eight separate teams running at least one of those cars.

And that’s not the whole story for IMSA. Variety is everywhere. Not just between GTP cars, but through the field. IMSA has five classes, with LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD joining in. So if one lead battle seems to have quietened down, there’s always another going on somewhere. GTD cars are globally raced GT3 cars, so you can add Aston Martin, Lexus, McLaren, Corvette, Mercedes and Ferrari to the list of brands involved. There’s something to cheer for for everyone.

In the world of IMSA a season isn’t restricted to repeating the same race format over and over again. IMSA isn’t currently wondering how it can shake up its competition with new race styles, because it already has them all.  This season alone you will have races of 24 hours, 12 hours, 10 hours, 6 hours, two hours 40 minutes and one hour 40 minutes. From the length of a Formula 1 race to a full 24-hour test.

And that’s not to mention the circuits. Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta, Road America, Indianapolis, Laguna Seca. IMSA even races on the streets of Long Beach. These are some of the most iconic motorsport venues around. While other motorsports seek to head off into the Middle East and build new shiny, but ultimately uninspiring venues, IMSA does what it does best.

And to top it all off, in the UK it is all free. Free to watch in its entirety. Just go to imsa.tv on every race weekend and watch not just the full broadcast feed, but pick from onboards to watch. Most of the races are on Saturday or Sunday evenings, so perfect timing for a weekend motorsport binge.

If you’re not watching the IMSA Sportscar Championship in 2024, then you’re just settling for less.