IMSA: Shank begins Ligier P2 prep for Roar Before the 24

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Michael Shank wins Friday's Quote of the Day Award for his description of receiving a new P2 chassis after a decade of running Daytona Prototypes: "The difference between the Ligier and a DP is like the difference between a ballet and heavy metal concert!"

Shank's Ohio-based took delivery of the team's Ligier JS P2 this week, and the faithful Michael Shank Racing staff quickly stripped the carbon fiber coupe down to the bare tub for inspection. The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Prototype team is also busy updating the equipment and support items required to run the Onroak Automotive-built chassis.

"It's totally different than anything we've run before in sports cars; all the pit equipment and everything you'll need to take care of the Ligier is different than what we'd developed over the years for DPs," Shank told RACER.

"Now that we're getting a look at the car from the inside out, I'm not even sure how [IMSA technical regulation boss] Scot Elkins got the DPs and P2s as close as they were. This is really a piece of modern technology; you can see how exquisite the Ligier is built – it's a thing of beauty. The quality has really blown us away."

With the ex-Oak Racing Ligier-Honda in hand, and the car town down for a complete rebuild, MSR will look to address some of the issues that arose with the JS P2 in 2014 before the chassis is reassembled.

A brake failure during last weekend's World Endurance Championship finale in Brazil ruined the Oak-run G-DRIVE Racing team (LEFT)'s chances of winning the WEC P2 title, and it wasn't the first time problems were encountered with the Brembo brakes package on the car.

Oak tested brakes supplied by AP Racing, which could become a recommended alternative, and concerns over rear a-arm failures has also led the France-based constructor to work on a stronger solution. Shank anticipates MSR's Ligier will hit the ground with both items resolved.

"These are issues they are all over, and I'm satisfied with what they're doing to remedy the problems," he said. "The car's fast, it's had a few issues, they're not trying to hide them, and they have solutions online that we'll have for our car very soon.

"Daytona has a totally different load cycle than any other track, and the car has to be able to last. The curbing there is what does the most damage. You really have to be careful there, and we've even broken suspension on our big Riley DP there. Reliability is an even bigger priority for us now than it has ever been before."

"We anticipate shaking the car down before we go to the Roar so when we arrive, it's just a case of tuning and getting the guys time in the car," he noted.

Shank's full plans for 2015 will be revealed next week at the Performance Racing Industry show in Indianapolis.​