Number 308: The Champions Issue featuring the 2021 IMSA Preview Issue

It’s that wonderful time of the year, when anything is possible and the sense of expectation and excitement for the season ahead is palpable.

Even better, it’s not 2020 anymore. Sure, COVID-19 and its ongoing effect continues to define much of everyday life, motorsports included, but we’re grateful for the resilience of auto racing and its ability to adapt and endure, and we truly appreciate that we’re able to look forward to the season ahead. 

In the latest issue of RACER, that looking ahead includes an in-depth preview of the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It’s been a frenetic off-season, with multiple team changes, a wave of new driving talent, and even a new class in the form of “baby prototype” LMP3 machinery joining for several of the toughest, longest races on the calendar. What hasn’t changed is the level of competition across the multiple classes, so expect another classic season of prototype and GT sports car racing.

We’re not going out on a limb and predicting the various championships (main reason being, it’s way too close and open to make fools of ourselves by attempting it), but we hope you enjoy our primer for the season ahead, including plenty of insight from Marshall Pruett, plus stunning imagery by the likes of Michael Levitt, Richard Dole, Jake Galstad, Richard Prince, and RACER’s in-house artist Paul Laguette, who nails another memorable cover illustration.     

We’re calling this first RACER of the year “The Champions Issue,” and the content certainly lives up to the billing. Our Formula 1 writer Chris Medland interviews 2020 champ Lewis Hamilton on how his voice and advocacy has a resonance between the wider world, and sits down with Sebastian Vettel to look back at what didn’t work at Ferrari, and forward to a fresh challenge with Aston Martin. Between them, those two guys have taken 11 of the last 13 F1 titles – quite the record.

We also get the lowdown from two serial champions who’ll be calling the NTT IndyCar Series home in 2021. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champ and candidate for stock car racing G.O.A.T. status Jimmie Johnson talks about the challenge of taking on the series’ street and road courses, while three-time Aussie Supercars title-winner Scott McLaughlin takes a deep breath and weighs up his switch from tin-tops to 230mph-plus laps of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Add in some interesting stories on a couple of champions-to-be, rally rising star Oliver Solberg and Monster Energy Supercross one-to-watch Adam Cianciarulo, plus a whole lot more, and we hope you enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together in our now well-honed, socially-distanced way.  

OK, let’s go racing…