Alfa Romeo wants to expand its brand in the United States, so what better way than through sportscar racing? According to Racer, multiple sources claim that Alfa has met with IMSA officials about joining in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s revised P2 class after the 2017 rules go into effect.
The Series Formerly Known As United SportsCar will transition away from its mixed class of Daytona Prototypes and LMP2 racers to cars that are all based on the LMP2 rules starting in 2017. Several sources now claim that Alfa Romeo has reached out to IMSA (the sanctioning body over the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship) about what it would take to compete as a marque in the P2 class.
One source who requested anonymity told Racer:
Alfa Romeo has very ambitious plans in the United States. They’ve made it clear that racing is part of their heritage, and part of what they plan to carry forward. So it’s not that big of a stretch to say that if they are going to go be involved in racing in the United States, it’s going to be IMSA, so the most logical place for them to land is Prototype.
Oh, yes. Please make this happen. There’s some beastly sounding prototypes out there, but I know an Alfa powerplant could upstage them all.
There are four official chassis builders confirmed for the P2 class, so Alfa Romeo would have to work with the likes of Oreca or Riley-Multimatic to design the custom bodywork and engine installation kit for their engine.
What is that engine, you ask? Racer’s sources suggest it will be none other than a production-based 2.9-liter V6, which sounds exactly like the Ferrari-developed screamer in the Giulia Quadrifoglio.
Please make this happen, Alfa. Please, please, please make this happen.
I can think of no better use for that fantastic sounding engine than in a purpose-built racing prototype. Alfa makes some of the best sounding V6 engines in the world, and what the world needs is that engine blasting through a race car’s exhaust.
May bleeding eardrums greet us all in 2017.
Photo of the Alfa 33 TT 12 via Newspress/Alfa Romeo
Contact the author at stef.schrader@jalopnik.com.