141-558: The International Motor Sports Association ( IMSA ) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida , under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA . It was started by John Bishop, a former executive director of SCCA (Sports Car Club of America), and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France Sr. of NASCAR . Beginning in 2014, IMSA
282-461: A heart bypass surgery , forcing him to rethink his priorities. He began to realise that the Camel GT series was in danger of becoming oriented toward the factory-backed teams and less to the privateers as Bishop originally intended. Rules were modified to accommodate the factory teams, which wanted to get into the series, despite Bishop's belief that such changes would be unfavorable to the series in
423-662: A Silver or Bronze categorization from the FIA . The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama is a one-make series dedicated to the Porsche 911 GT3 , similar in concept to the Porsche Carrera Cup , held since 2005. Drivers are allowed to race in two different classes, Platinum and Gold. The entries were allowed in the American Le Mans Series starting in 2009 , in the GTC Class. The series became
564-615: A back seat to GT cars with the FIA replacing the World Championship for Sports Cars with the International Championship for GT Manufacturers. In national rather than international racing, sports car competition in the 1950s and early 1960s tended to reflect what was locally popular, with the cars that were successful locally often influencing each nation's approach to competing on the international stage. In
705-599: A car with a similar powerplant (Peugeot 908). P2 cars can weigh much less — first 675 kg, then 750 kg and now 825 kg — but are restricted to 3400 cc V6 or V8 normally aspirated or 2000 cc turbocharged powerplants. In the European series in which endurance is a priority and P2s have been run largely by privateers, P2s have not challenged P1s for outright victories; in the American Le Mans Series with generally shorter races P2 has become
846-538: A crop of large-engined "big bangers" the technology of which largely gave rise to Can-Am but soon died out. Clubmans provided much entertainment at club-racing level from the 1960s into the 1990s and John Webb revived interest in big sports prototypes with Thundersports in the 1980s. There was even enough interest in Group C to sustain a C2 championship for a few years; at 'club' level Modified Sports Car ("ModSports") and Production Sports Car ("ProdSports") races remained
987-509: A feature of most British race meetings into the 1980s, evolving into a "Special GT" series that was essentially Formula Libre for sports or saloon cars. After a relative period of decline in the 1980s a British GT Championship emerged in the mid-90s. Italy found itself with both grassroots racing with a plethora of Fiat based specials (often termed "etceterinis") and small Alfa Romeos , and exotica such as Maserati and Ferrari – who also sold cars to domestic customers as well as racing on
1128-515: A franchise-like approval system in which only approved constructors are eligible, with rules stability enforced for several years at a time, although this led in 2007 to established constructors like Lola and Dallara entering the 2008 series by taking over the rights of existing constructors (Multimatic and Doran respectively). Grand Touring (from the Italian Gran Turismo ) racing is the most common form of sports car racing, and
1269-632: A high point in the history of the sport. In Europe, the FIA adopted the ACO GTP rules virtually unchanged and sanctioned the Group C World Endurance Championship (or World Sportscar Championship ), featuring high-tech closed-cockpit prototypes from Porsche, Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz , Nissan , Jaguar and others. In the US, the IMSA Camel GTP series boasted close competition between huge fields of manufacturer-backed teams and privateer squads –
1410-456: A larger emphasis on the reliability and efficiency of the car and its drivers as opposed to outright car performance or driver skills. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an example of one of the best known sports car racing series. A type of hybrid between the purism of open-wheelers and the familiarity of touring car racing, this style is often best associated with the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. First run in 1923, Le Mans
1551-399: A long Japanese tradition of such hybrids; a Grand Champion series ran for many years with rebodied Formula 2 and Formula 3000 cars, rather similar to the second incarnation of Can-Am ). In the US, however, road racing actually saw a decline. The IMSA GT Championship had been prototype-based since 1983, with less emphasis on production cars. NASCAR was becoming increasingly dominant, and
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#17327872184821692-477: A management position on the SCCA Contest Board, which Bishop quickly accepted. Bishop moved to Westport, Connecticut shortly thereafter. Bishop's duties consisted of defining technical rules and general administration of SCCA competition, as well as providing artwork for many of the club's magazines and event programmes. He became well known in the motorsport scene and enjoyed a good relationship with
1833-703: A mechanic if necessary or permitted. Cars such as the Bugatti Type 35 were almost equally at home in Grands Prix and endurance events, but specialisation gradually started to differentiate the sports-racer from the Grand Prix car. The legendary Alfa Romeo Tipo A Monoposto started the evolution of the true single-seater in the early 1930s; the Grand Prix racer and its miniature voiturette offspring rapidly evolved into high performance single seaters optimised for relatively short races, by dropping fenders and
1974-566: A new prototype-only series for both LMP3 Gen 1 and Gen 2 cars called the IMSA HSR Prototype Challenge. A minimum 20-car grid was announced as the requirement for standalone races to be held, if not incorporated into races with other prototypes. The six-event calendar will follow HSR's usual events, including the Classic 24 Hour at Daytona and the Classic 12 Hour at Sebring. These are the series that were formerly run by
2115-810: A number of GT series sprung up at national and European level, with the BPR series eventually evolving into the FIA GT Championship . IMSA GTP continued for a few more years but was replaced by a series for World Sports Cars – relatively simple open-top prototypes – which gave rise to cars such as the Ferrari 333SP and the Riley & Scott Mk 3, supported by GTs. As the 1990s progressed, these prototypes and others like them started to be raced in Europe and an FIA Sports Car series evolved for them. Since
2256-518: A pair of Jean Rondeau -built Inaltera 's to compete as "special prototypes". They became the foundation of the newly formed Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) category in 1981 , with separate rules similar to Group C (Bishop was unhappy with the fuel consumption formula of the latter). In 1984 , Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA), the organizers of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), attempted to unite
2397-550: A race car. The series entered a sanctioning agreement with IMSA beginning with the 2021 season. In July 27, 2023, Ford and IMSA announced that the 7th Generation Mustang would have its own spec-racing series called Mustang Challenge, IMSA will sanction the championship with the organization of Ford themselves via the Ford Performance Racing School. On October 24, 2023, it was announced that HSR (owned by IMSA since January 2022) and IMSA were forming
2538-513: A race for touring cars ) and sports cars, whether descended from primarily road-going vehicles or developed from pure-bred racing cars came to dominate races such as Le Mans and the Mille Miglia . In open-road endurance races across Europe such as the Mille Miglia , Tour de France and Targa Florio , which were often run on dusty roads, the need for fenders and a mechanic or navigator was still there. As mainly Italian cars and races defined
2679-496: A result, some cars racing in the GT category did pass as true sports prototypes, in turn leading to some road-going versions for homologation purposes. The Dauer- Porsche 962 LM, Porsche 911 GT1 -98, Mercedes CLK-GTR and Toyota GT-One were prime examples of prototypes masquerading as GTs. In simplistic terms, sports prototypes are two-seat racing cars with bodywork covering their wheels, and are as technically advanced and, depending on
2820-486: A result, sports car racing is seen more as a team endeavour than an individual sport, with team managers such as John Wyer , Tom Walkinshaw , driver-turned-constructor Henri Pescarolo , Peter Sauber and Reinhold Joest becoming almost as famous as some of their drivers. The prestige of storied marques such as Porsche , Audi , Chevrolet , Ferrari , Jaguar , Bentley , Aston Martin , Lotus , Maserati , Lamborghini , Alfa Romeo , Lancia , Mercedes-Benz , and BMW
2961-452: A resurgence of interest in sports car racing in the US, with the network originally showing a large amount of sports car racing and sports car–related programming before being replaced by Fox Sports. The IMSA GT Series evolved into the American Le Mans Series ; the European races eventually became the closely related Le Mans Series , both of which mix prototypes and GTs; the FIA remains more interested in its own GT and GT3 championships, with
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#17327872184823102-570: A single race, such as in the 24 Hours of Le Mans . In mixed-class races, an overall winner is awarded, though individual class winners are often recognised as well. Sports prototype is the name given to a type of car used in sports car racing and is effectively the next automotive design and technological step-up from road-going sports cars and are, along with open-wheel cars, the pinnacle of racing car design. The highest level in sports car racing, these cars are purpose-built racing cars with enclosed wheels, and either open or closed cockpits. Ever since
3243-616: A support series for the Rolex Series, provides a similar series to the old Trans Am Series, mixing conventional sports cars and touring cars. Due to Grand Am's affiliation with NASCAR, many NASCAR drivers occasionally participate in the Rolex Sports Car Series. Max Papis is a notable example in that he was a road racer prior to his tenure in the Sprint Cup Series. Many of these drivers only participate in
3384-399: A vast amount of experience and began to show his qualities as a manager. Rush would later depart due to his disagreement with the club as it moved to promote professional motor sports. Bishop took his place as executive director and was now responsible for both amateur and professional programs. To ensure a more serious level of competition, he was tasked with rewriting the technical rules for
3525-655: A vehicle to increase performance as a season progresses, DPs are restricted to their original conception of the car from the start of the season. For these reasons, the category being labeled as a "prototype" has occasionally been criticised as misleading and being more in line with traditional "spec" race series prevalent in the United States. The intention of the DP formula was to provide a class in which tight technical regulations encouraged close competition and where budget would be relatively unimportant. DP chassis are subject to
3666-665: Is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge was the support series for GRAND-AM's premier offering, the Rolex Sports Car Series . In 2014 it became the support series for the United SportsCar Championship series upon the merger of the Rolex Series and the American Le Mans Series . The series branded as
3807-533: Is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built sports prototypes which are the highest level in sports car racing or grand tourers (GT cars) based on road-going models and therefore, in general, not as fast as sports prototypes. Sports car racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing , alongside open-wheel racing (such as Formula One , IndyCar Series and Super Formula Championship ), touring car racing (such as
3948-401: Is built in part upon success in sports car racing. These makers' top road cars have often been very similar both in engineering and styling to those raced. This close association with the 'exotic' nature of the cars serves as a useful distinction between sports car racing and touring cars. The 12 Hours of Sebring , 24 Hours of Daytona , and 24 Hours of Le Mans have in the past been considered
4089-403: Is found all over the world, in both international and national series. Historically, Grand Touring cars had to be in series production, but in 1976 the class was split into production-based Group 4 Grand Touring Cars and Group 5 Special Production Cars , the latter of which were essentially pure-bred racing cars with production-lookalike bodies. GT racing gradually fell into abeyance in Europe in
4230-656: Is one of the oldest motor races still in existence. Other classic but now defunct sports car races include the Italian classics, the Targa Florio (1906–1977) and Mille Miglia (1927–1957), and the Mexican Carrera Panamericana (1950–1954). Most top-class sports car races emphasise endurance (generally between 6 and 24 hours), reliability, and strategy, over pure speed. Longer races usually involve complex pit strategy and regular driver changes. As
4371-507: Is the sanctioning body of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship , the premier series resulting from the merger of Grand-Am Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series . IMSA is owned by NASCAR, as a division of the company. John Bishop, a Sikorsky employee, first became involved in motorsport in the 1950s when he met Dave Allen, a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) staff member. Allen offered Bishop
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4512-587: The 1978 - 1981 seasons) and Grand Touring (GT) (except of the 1953 - 1961 and 1982 seasons). In 1985 - 1992 seasons titles were awarded only to teams entering sports prototypes (instead of manufacturers of sports prototypes), excluding teams entering GT cars. In 1962 - 1967 seasons titles in both categories were awarded in several engine capacity divisions . In 1962 - 1963 seasons titles were also awarded in three engine capacity subdivisions (or series ) within each division of GT cars category. Key: Winning manufacturer = The company that owned
4653-575: The ACO regulations, two categories of sports prototypes are now recognised: P1 and P2. Cars competing in the P1 category must weigh no less than 900 kg and are limited to 6000 cc naturally aspirated and 4000 cc turbocharged engines. 5500 cc turbo- Diesel engines are also permitted in P1 ;– Audi scored Le Mans victories with such a car in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and Peugeot returned to racing in 2007 with
4794-563: The BMW M1 engine or the new Cosworth DFL , but, like in the main class, a variety of solutions were employed by each individual manufacturer. Alba , Tiga , Spice and Ecurie Ecosse were among the most competitive in this class. While the Group C formula had brought manufacturers back to the sport, it was again Porsche - with its 956 & 962 Group C line - that continued their domination of
4935-614: The Baby Grand Series , in 1971. Originally sponsored by B.F. Goodrich (therefore known as Goodrich Radial Challenge ) until they dropped sponsorship midway through 1975 (or 1976) and then by Goodyear (becoming the Goodyear Radial Challenge ), and later as Champion Spark Plug Challenge . The initial race held was in 1969 at Talladega Superspeedway Road Course. Gaston Andrey was first overall in an Alfa Romeo Giulia Super sedan. The Series' first year
5076-549: The British Touring Car Championship , which is based on 'saloon cars' as opposed to the 'exotics' seen in sports cars. Supercars Championship , is an Production Touring Car Racing specs consists with 5-litre V8 Engine and the fastest touring car racing in the world) and stock car racing (such as NASCAR ). Sports car races are often, though not always, endurance races that are run over particularly long distances or large amounts of time, resulting in
5217-586: The C- and D-Types . In 1962, the calendar was expanded to include smaller races, while the FIA shifted the focus to production based GT cars. The World Sportscar Championship title was discontinued, being replaced by the International Championship for GT Manufacturers . They group cars into three categories with specific engine sizes; less than one litre, less than two litres, and over two litres. Hillclimbs , sprint races and smaller races expanded
5358-517: The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), from 1953 to 1992 . The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance , and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid to a professional racing series where the world's largest automakers spent millions of dollars per year. The official name of the series frequently changed throughout
5499-582: The Grand American Road Racing Association was created with full support of NASCAR's France family and other motorsports notables and had its inaugural season in 2000 . Grand-Am struggled early on, but proved to be a formidable competitor to the ALMS in later years with a different philosophy based on lower-tech cars, most notably its prototype category Daytona Prototype , giving larger fields and closer competition. Much like
5640-753: The IMSA Prototype Challenge series. Races in this series are usually run in support of events for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Events consist of two 45-minute sprint races with no pit stops or driver changes. Unlike its predecessor series, the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge features multi-class racing with prototypes and GTs on track at the same time. As the series is a development series for higher tier series among IMSA's championships, drivers are required to hold either
5781-565: The Porsche Carrera Cup North America beginning in the 2021 season. The Ferrari Challenge is a one-make series dedicated currently to the Ferrari 488 , which was previously sanctioned by Grand-Am prior to the merger. The Lamborghini Super Trofeo is a one-make series dedicated currently to multi-class racing, showcasing both the new Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo and the Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo that
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5922-542: The Targa Florio and as they grew bigger (via the Porsche 910 to the Porsche 908 and finally the Porsche 917 ) the Stuttgart marque became first a competitor for overall wins and then came to dominate sports car racing – both they and Mercedes have made intermittent returns to the top level of the sport through the 1970s, 80s, 90s and 2010s. Sports car racing has intermittently been popular in Japan ;– in
6063-559: The Triple Crown of endurance car racing . And also the additional of Bathurst 12 Hour , Spa 24 Hours , Nürburgring 24 Hours and Suzuka 1000km are considered the Crown Jewel of Endurance race. According to historian Richard Hough , "It is obviously impossible to distinguish between the designers of sports cars and Grand Prix machines during the pre-1914 period. The late Georges Faroux contended that sports-car racing
6204-578: The World Championship for Sports Cars , but this was to last only for two seasons (1976–1977). In 1981, the FIA instituted a drivers championship. In 1982, the FIA attempted to counter a worrying climb in engine output of the Group 5 Special Production Cars by introducing Group C , a new category for closed sports-prototypes (purpose built racing cars) that limited fuel consumption (the theory being that by limiting fuel consumption, engine regulations could be more relaxed). While this change
6345-482: The World Sportscar Championship was conceived, there have been various regulations regarding bodywork, engine style and size, tyres and aerodynamics to which these cars must be built. Sports prototypes may be (and often are) one-of-a-kind machines, and need bear no relation to any road-going vehicle, although during the 1990s, some manufacturers exploited a loophole in the FIA and ACO rules. As
6486-403: The 1950s, sports car racing was regarded as almost as important as Grand Prix competition, with major marques like Ferrari , Maserati , Jaguar and Aston Martin investing much effort in their works programmes and supplying cars to customers; sports racers lost their close relationship to road-going sports cars in the 1950s and the major races were contested by dedicated competition cars such as
6627-515: The 1960s and 1970s. In Britain 2-litre sports cars were initially popular (the Bristol engine being readily available and cheap), subsequently 1100 cc sports racers became a very popular category for young drivers (effectively supplanting 500 cc F3), with Lola , Lotus , Cooper and others being very competitive, although at the other end of the scale in the early to mid-1960s the national sports racing scene also attracted sophisticated GTs and later
6768-424: The 1960s progressed, with worldwide battles between Ferrari, Ford, Porsche, Lotus, Alfa Romeo and Matra as well as other more specialist marques running on into the early 1970s. The competition at Le Mans even made it to the movie screens, with Steve McQueen 's film Le Mans . This era was seen by many as the highpoint of sports car racing, with the technology and performance of the cars comfortably in excess of what
6909-544: The 1960s small-capacity sports racers and even a local version of the Group 7 cars as raced in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup were popular; a healthy local sports prototype championship ran until the early 1990s and now the Super GT series provides high-budget exposure to manufacturers, with many international drivers appearing. The Japanese manufacturers have also been frequent visitors to
7050-634: The 1980s and 1990s, with silhouette cars continuing to race in IMSA races in the USA. When GT racing revived after the collapse of the World Sports Car Championship at the end of 1992, the lead in defining rules was taken by the ACO. Under the ACO rules, Grand Touring cars are divided into two categories, Grand Touring 1 (GT1, formerly GT) and Grand Touring 2 (GT2, formerly N-GT). As the name of
7191-694: The 24 Hours of Daytona. The original Trans-Am Series dissolved in 2006, but returned to action in 2009 with tube frame TA1 and TA2 divisions racing with production-based TA3-American and TA3-International divisions. In addition, the SCCA continues to provide a major support series for Trans-Am. This series, known as the SCCA World Challenge , consists of a one-hour race for each round, combining three classes: GT ( Chevrolet Corvette , Aston Martin DB9 , etc.), "GTS" ( Acura TSX , BMW 3 Series , etc.; replaced
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#17327872184827332-653: The ACO & FIA to come together to create the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) starting in 2012. This new series replaced the ILMC and was a spiritual successor to the former FIA World Sportscar Championship. In 2012, the Rolex Sports Car Series overhauled its Daytona Prototype class, allowing for production-based designs. The ALMS's new LMP/LMC format, however, has not held up. The prototype classes split again in 2011, with LMP1 having three cars and LMP2 having one. A new "GT Pro Am" class
7473-524: The ACO launched their own international championship, the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup , the same year. Following the success of the ACO's Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC), the FIA reached an agreement with the ACO to create a new FIA World Endurance Championship for 2012. The series shares many elements of the ILMC, including the use of the 24 Hours of Le Mans as part of the series schedule. The series continued to utilise
7614-424: The ACO split GT2 into two categories, GTE-Pro (for all-professional teams with current-spec cars) and GTE-Am (for teams with one amateur and one professional per car using previous-spec cars), as a way to entice rookies to enter one of the three Le Mans Series. World Championship for Makes The World Sportscar Championship was the world endurance racing series run for sports car racing , sanctioned by
7755-529: The ACO's rules the basis for the LMS and ALMS. The Le Mans Prototype is somewhat reminiscent of the old Can Am prototype. Further splits in the American scene saw the Grand American Road Racing Association form a separate series, the Rolex Sports Car Series , with its own GT and prototype rules aimed at providing cheaper, lower-cost racing for independent teams. Grand Am's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge ,
7896-775: The ACO's two primary classes, Le Mans Prototypes and GT Endurance (GTE). Hypercar replaced LMP1 as the primary class in 2021, running LMH and LMDh cars, the same as used in the IMSA Sportscar Championship's top class GTP . Championship titles are awarded for constructors and drivers in prototypes, while a constructors cup are awarded in the GTE categories. From 2017 championship titles are awarded also for constructors and drivers in GTE category. LMGT3 replaced GTE in 2024. Note: In 1953 - 1984 seasons titles were awarded to manufacturers of sports cars belonging to two main categories: Sports prototype (except of
8037-653: The American Le Mans Series. Don Panoz renamed the sanctioning organization back to the International Motor Sports Association and was the official sanctioning body of the ALMS, as well as its support series, the Prototype Lites , the Star Mazda series, GT3 Cup Challenge and the Panoz GT Pro series. IMSA became part of Panoz Motorsports Group, which included the ALMS, Elan Motorsports Technology and Mosport, Sebring and Road Atlanta race tracks. Scott Atherton
8178-669: The Continental Challenge's Grand Sport class, promoting its other touring car class to "GTS". This came after several years of the old TC class being an Acura-BMW- Mazda affair. For 2012, the series adopted a "B-spec" touring car class comparable to that of the Continental Challenge's Street Tuner class. 2010 also saw the introduction of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) by the ACO, featuring events in America, Asia and Europe. This in turn led
8319-522: The Daytona oval and prohibitively expensive for smaller teams to run. Compared to the LMPs, DPs are severely limited in terms of approved technology; for instance, they are required to be constructed of steel tube frames with carbon-fibre skins, rather than being carbon-fibre monocoques, and must use production-based engines. In addition, contrary to their European counterparts who continuously alter and develop
8460-415: The FIA's newly renamed World Championship for Makes from 1972 to 1975. From 1976 to 1981 the World Championship for Makes was open to Group 5 Special Production Cars and other production based categories including Group 4 Grand Touring cars and it was during this period that the nearly-invincible Porsche 935 dominated the championship. Prototypes returned in 1976 as Group 6 cars with their own series,
8601-515: The Ford's won four years in a row, in what is now considered the Golden Age of sports car racing. In 1972 the Group 6 Prototype and Group 5 Sports Car classes were both replaced by a new Group 5 Sports Car class. These cars were limited to 3.0 L engines by the FIA, and manufacturers gradually lost interest. The new Group 5 Sports Cars, together with Group 4 Grand Touring Cars, would contest
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#17327872184828742-561: The French car industry switched from making large powerful cars to small utilitarian ones, French sports cars of the 1950s and early 1960s tended to be small-capacity and highly aerodynamic (often based on Panhard or Renault components), aimed at winning the "Index of Performance" at Le Mans and Reims and triumphing in handicap races. Between the late 1960s and late 1970s, Matra and Renault made significant and successful efforts to win at Le Mans. In Germany, domestic production based racing
8883-511: The IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, with Continental Tire having been title sponsor since the 2010 season until 2018. In 2019 Michelin replaced Continental Tire as supplier and title sponsor. This series uses TCR Touring Cars and GT4 cars. The IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge is a development series featuring LMP3 and GT4 cars. The series was introduced in 2023 as a replacement for
9024-638: The IMSA organization. The International Sedan Series was short-lived and the genesis of the Radial Sedan Series . It is unclear if the 1969 inaugural IMSA Sedan race held at the Talladega Superspeedway Road Course was designated International Sedan Series or not. That being the only race held in 1969 details are sketchy, but over the winter of 1969–70 rules were officially promulgated for this Series. It
9165-461: The IMSA organization. The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was created in 2014 through the merger of Grand-Am Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series . It debuted under the name Tudor United SportsCar Championship on January 25–26, 2014 at Daytona International Speedway . For the 2016 season title sponsorship changed from Tudor to WeatherTech. This series currently features LMDh , LMP2 , and GT3 cars. The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
9306-440: The IndyCar Series' split from CART in 1996 put more emphasis on ovals regarding domestic open-wheel racing. Also contributing to the decline was the retirement of Mario Andretti from Formula One. It would be over a decade before another American driver would join Formula One, viz. Scott Speed , although Speed was ultimately unsuccessful and eventually joined NASCAR himself. The debut of the SpeedVision television network brought
9447-439: The International Sports Racing Series which evolved into the short-lived FIA Sportscar Championship in 2001 until 2003. Sports prototypes then came exclusively under the control of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and their sanctioned series, the American Le Mans Series in North America and the Le Mans Series in Europe. The FIA's championship for GTs was eventually promoted to world championship status in 2010 , while
9588-453: The Jaguar C and D types, the Mercedes 300SLR, Maserati 300S, Aston Martin DBR1 and assorted Ferraris including the first Testa Rossas. Top Grand Prix drivers also competed regularly in sports car racing. After major accidents at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1957 Mille Miglia the power of sports cars was curbed with a 3-litre engine capacity limit applied to them in the World Championship from 1958. From 1962 sports cars temporarily took
9729-454: The NASCAR-owned Grand Am series. The ALMS has now introduced "GTE-PRO" and "GTE-AM" for endurance races. In 2014, American Le Mans Series and Rolex Sports Car Series were merged into United SportsCar Championship , with IMSA as its sanctioning body. Fox Sports 1 (successor of Speed Channel) was returned as main broadcaster of the unified series. Daytona Prototype was replaced in 2017 by Daytona Prototype International (DPi), which based on
9870-453: The SCCA's World Challenge, and failing to garner a television contract. A major factor in this is the fact that Trans Am's teams still use vehicles dating back to 1999. In most other series, teams tended to update their vehicles every few years or so (examples include the 2005 vs. 2010 Mustangs in the Continental Challenge and the two different generations of Mazda RX-8 in the Rolex Series). Other television changes include Speed Channel losing
10011-535: The US sports car scene ( Nissan and Toyota in particular during the heyday of IMSA) and to the European scene, in particular Le Mans, where despite many years of trying by all the main Japanese marques the only victory to have been scored by a Japanese marque was by Mazda in 1991, until 2018 when Toyota scored a first and second-place finish. Toyota followed this with another 1-2 finish in 2019. Powerful prototypes (effectively pure-bred two-seater racing cars with no real link to production vehicles) started to appear as
10152-426: The US, imported Italian, German and British cars battled local hybrids, with initially very distinct East and West Coast scenes; these gradually converged and a number of classic races and important teams emerged including Camoradi , Briggs Cunningham and so on. The US scene tended to feature small MG and Porsche cars in the smaller classes, and imported Jaguar, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Allard and Ferrari cars in
10293-529: The United States. When this initially failed, as a result Don Panoz and Barber departed to affiliate themselves with PSCR. In the spring of 1998, Don Panoz created a partnership with the Automobile Club de L'Ouest (ACO), the organizers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans , to begin a 10-hour race in the spirit of Le Mans, dubbed the Petit Le Mans to be held at Panoz's Road Atlanta facility. After
10434-503: The World title. The Mercedes-Benz work team pulled out of the championship after 1955 due to their crash at Le Mans , while the small Aston Martin factory team struggled to find success in 1957 and 1958 until it managed to win the championship in 1959. Notably absent from the overall results were the Jaguar works team, who did not enter any events other than Le Mans, despite the potential of
10575-405: The cars were technically similar to Group Cs but used a sliding scale of weights and engine capacities to try to limit performance. Both Group C and GTP had secondary categories, respectively Group C2 and Camel Lights, for less powerful cars, targeting entries by small specialist constructors or serious amateur teams. The FIA attempted to make Group C into a virtual "two seater Grand Prix" format in
10716-525: The championship (as Group C Category 2 cars) during the one transitional year. They were however seriously handicapped in terms of weight, fuel allocation and grid positions. For 1991 the championship took on yet another new name, the FIA Sportscar World Championship and the new 3.5 litre rules took full effect for the 1992 championship with the old Group C cars no longer included. The new generation of WSC racing engines, with
10857-516: The championship, which now had about 15 races per season. The famous races like Le Mans still counted towards the prototype championship, however, the points valuation wasn't very tabular so the FIA returned to the original form of the championship with about 6 to 10 races. For 1963 the three engine capacity classes remained but a prototype category was added. For 1965 the engine classes became for cars under 1300 cc (Class I), under 2000 cc (Class II), and over 2000 cc (Class III). Class III
10998-601: The championships in certain years: In the early years, now legendary races such as the Mille Miglia , Carrera Panamericana and Targa Florio were part of the calendar, alongside the 24 Hours of Le Mans , the 12 Hours of Sebring , the Tourist Trophy and Nurburgring 1000 km. Manufacturers such as Ferrari , Maserati , Mercedes-Benz , Porsche , and Aston Martin fielded entries, often featuring professional racing drivers with experience in Formula One , but
11139-400: The circuit management and asked them to block IMSA from racing there. The event was held, although IMSA had to pay an additional $ 10,000 in rental fees. The race had an attendance of 328 spectators. The organization soldiered on despite the small crowds, and another ten races were planned. Bill France, suffering from financial setbacks, brought on new investors to take over part of his stake in
11280-539: The class (and European GT racing altogether) disappeared from the series, with sports-prototypes dominating the championship. Porsche was the first constructor to join the series, with the 956 , but soon several other makes joined the series, including Jaguar Cars , Mercedes-Benz , Nissan , Toyota , Mazda and Aston Martin . As costs increased, a C2 class (originally named C Junior) was created for privateer teams and small manufacturers, with greater limits to fuel consumption. In this lower class, most cars used either
11421-505: The class implies, the exterior of the car closely resembles that of the production version, while the internal fittings may differ greatly. GT2 cars are very similar to the FIA GT2 classification, and are considered 'pure' GT cars; that is production exotic cars with relatively few internal modifications for racing. The Porsche 911 is currently the most popular car in the GT2 class. 2009 will be
11562-482: The demise of Group C (where Japan and Germany both had successful series of their own) Japan has largely gone its own way in sports car racing; the Super GT series is for very highly modified production-based cars; although prototypes are slowly returning to Japanese racing in the Japan Le Mans Challenge many of these 'prototypes' are little more than rebodied Formula 3 cars (although there has been
11703-413: The dispute by announcing that turbochargers and fuel restrictions would be phased out by 1989 (excepting naturally aspirated engines below 3.5 liters). This attempt failed, as did another in 1991, in which with chassis ballast penalties for turbocharged cars rendered them uncompetitive, except at Le Mans. IMSA continued to have success with its own Camel GT series. In 1987, John Bishop had to undergo
11844-555: The early 1990s, with engine rules in common with F1, short race distances, and a schedule dovetailing with that of the F1 rounds. This drove up costs and drove away entrants and crowds, and by 1993 prototype racing was dead in Europe, with the Peugeot , Jaguar, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz teams all having withdrawn. In an attempt to provide a top-class endurance racing series to replace the WSPC,
11985-445: The exhaust systems and shock absorbers were free. Later rules regarding headlights, seats, upholstery, window cranks, original springs, and other stock elements were loosened up somewhat. From the beginning, engine modifications similar to Sports Car Club of America B Sedan were permitted, with the main difference being that over-boring cylinders was not allowed, and stock carburetors being required, but modifications allowed. The series
12126-648: The field, with their protruding wheels rubbing Racey's "immaculate" Alfa Romeo . Infuriated, Feezell quit and never ran another IMSA RS race after that. The idea was to attract racers who did not have the budgets that were required in the GT category as well as an emphasis on compact sedans such as the AMC Gremlin and the Opel Manta . There were two classes from 1970 through 1973: Class A for under two liters and under 1.6 liters with overhead cam and Class B for over 1.6 L with overhead cam and over two liters up to
12267-399: The former touring car class), and Touring Car (a "showroom stock" class similar to Grand Am's Continental Challenge). The Trans Am series returned in 2009, but has yet to establish a television contract. The 2010s have seen a major overhaul of sports car racing in the United States. The Pirelli World Challenge reformatted in 2010 to have a showroom stock touring car group comparable to that of
12408-438: The four ACO homologated LMP2 chassis made by Dallara , Onroak (Ligier) , Oreca , and Riley - Multimatic , with brand bodywork and homologated engines. Manufacturers are asked to partner with a privateer team, and each car will sport manufacturer bodywork, corresponding to their brand-identity. These rules are made to both control costs and attract manufacturers to the series. In 2018, SRO Motorsports Group has taken over
12549-514: The genre, the category came to be known as Gran Turismo (particularly in the 1950s), as long distances had to be travelled, rather than running around on short circuits only. Reliability and some basic comfort were necessary in order to endure the task. After the Second World War , sports car racing emerged as a distinct form of racing with its own classic races, and, from 1953, its own FIA sanctioned World Sportscar Championship . In
12690-530: The larger classes. A breed of powerful hybrids appeared in the 50s and 60s and raced on both sides of the Atlantic, featuring European chassis and large American engines – from the early Allard cars via hybrids such as Lotus 19s fitted with large engines through to the AC Cobra . The combination of mostly British chassis and American V8 engines gave rise to the popular and spectacular Can-Am series in
12831-465: The largest permitted engine being the 232 cubic inches (3.80 L) AMC Gremlin. In 1974 all cars were placed in one class, with the only parity for the smaller engines being free carburetion for under 1.6 liters. Limited preparation was permitted, and since the entrants were meant to be street-driven race cars, the original rules required the retention of headlights, seats, upholstery, window cranks, stock brakes and original springs and radial tires. Only
12972-450: The last run of the GT1 class as a result of budgeting issues. GT1 teams are currently enlisting to run their cars in the GT2 class next year. The American Le Mans Series also runs a "GT-Challenge" class, which currently only uses Porsche 911 GT3 Cups but will open to other cars next year. This category is designed for privateer and rookie teams as an easier way to enter the series. For 2011,
13113-706: The long run, especially if they failed to meet their objectives. In January 1989, the Bishops sold the company to Mike Cone and Jeff Parker, owners of the IMSA Grand Prix of St. Petersburg . Bishop shortly stepped down as the organisation's president in favor of Mark Raffauf, his deputy president and the organisation's representative on the ACCUS (Automobile Competition Committee for the United States), an FIA recognised sporting body. Cone and Parker in turn sold
13254-411: The majority of the fields were made up of gentleman drivers ( privateers ) in the likes of Nardis and Bandinis . Cars were split into Sports Car and GT (production car) categories and were further divided into engine displacement classes. The Ferrari and Maserati works teams were fierce competitors throughout much of the decade, but although Maserati cars won many races the make never managed to clinch
13395-482: The management of Pirelli World Challenge , with USAC as its sanctioning body since 2017. Beginning in 2019, NBC Sports will be replacing Fox Sports as main broadcaster of WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with six-year broadcasting rights. There are many kinds of sports cars that compete, but they can be broadly broken down into two main categories: Sports prototypes and Grand Touring (GT) cars. These two categories (or "classes") are often mixed together in
13536-697: The manufacturers left the top class of sportscar racing, the series essentially collapsed. A lack of entries meant the 1993 season was cancelled before the first race. In 1994, the World Sportscar title would return, this time in the hands of the International Motor Sports Association in North America for use in the IMSA GT series. The name would be used for the series' top class of prototypes until 1998 when
13677-743: The most active prototype category with serious involvement from Porsche and Acura and whereas P2 in Europe tends to involve races of attrition, in the US series the P2s, particularly the Porsche RS Spyder are often quicker round a lap than P1s, with the Porsche having scored many overall victories against the Audis in P1. Prototype rules for 2010 and beyond will encourage production-based engines (GT1 engines in LMP1, GT2 engines in LMP2) and rules to equalise
13818-617: The new series, operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of NASCAR. On September 19, 2019, Scott Atherton announced retirement from his position as the President of the International Motor Sports Association at the end of 2019. He had held that role since the merger of IMSA's American Le Mans Series with the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series in 2014. One month following that announcement, then-director of Mazda 's motorsports program in North America, John Doonan,
13959-412: The new series, so he tried to ensure that the rules were not biased in their favor. He was in favor of looking after privateer teams and helping them to become competitive. As European cars began to dominate, a new series was formed in 1975 called All American Grand Touring (AAGT) to give equal latitude to foreign cars. Turbocharged cars were permitted in 1977 . In the same year, Bishop invited
14100-523: The new sponsor of the GT series and the sedan series became known as the B.F. Goodrich Radial Challenge. In 1973 , the 12 Hours of Sebring joined the IMSA GT Championship's schedule. Later that year, the organization gained recognition from the ACCUS and the FIA. IMSA was scheduled to sanction the 1974 24 Hours of Daytona , but the race was cancelled because of the oil crisis. Bishop did not believe that factory teams would stick with
14241-635: The newly formed Pro Racing program. The SCCA had now taken the big step up to professional racing. By 1962, the SCCA was tasked with managing major World Championship for Makes rounds, particularly at Daytona , Sebring , Bridgehampton and Watkins Glen . The club was also involved in the US Grand Prix . Bishop helped to create the USRRC ( United States Road Racing Championship ) series for Group 7 sports cars to recover races that had been taken by rival United States Automobile Club (USAC). Bishop
14382-504: The organization to businessman Charles Slater by the early 1990s. In 1996 Slater sold the organization with previously accumulated debt to Roberto Muller (ex-CEO of Reebok ) and Wall Street based portfolio manager for Bill Gates , Andy Evans , who also was an IndyCar owner and owner/driver of the Scandia World Sports Car team. These changes would lead to the departure of many of the executive board members. Evans
14523-454: The organization's president and Kimberly-Clark heir, James H. Kimberly. In 1958, things changed for Bishop as the SCCA experienced internal changes. A new executive director position was created, to which each regional executive reported. This position was taken by Hugo Rush, who later became instrumental in Allen's departure. Although Bishop's relationship with Rush was not good, Bishop gained
14664-416: The performance of petrol and diesel LMP1s are also being addressed. Daytona Prototypes are a product of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series , and offer a different interpretation of the prototype theme. DPs, as they are often called, are closed-cockpit, purpose-built racing machines which are less expensive and (deliberately) somewhat slower than Le Mans Prototypes, which were becoming dangerously quick on
14805-466: The premier form of "sports car" racing from 1976, with prototypes going into a general decline apart from Porsche 936 domination at Le Mans and a lower-key series of races for smaller two-litre Group 6 prototypes. A peculiarly American form of sports car racing was the Can-Am series, in which virtually unlimited sports prototypes competed in relatively short races. This series ran from 1966 to 1974 and
14946-437: The regulations they are built to, as quick as or quicker than their single-seat counterparts. Although not widely known, sports-prototypes (along with Formula 1 cars) are responsible for introducing the most numbers of new technologies and ideas to motorsport, including rear-wings, ground effect 'venturi' tunnels, fan-assisted aerodynamics and dual-shift gearboxes. Some of these technologies eventually filter down to road cars. In
15087-420: The rights to almost every series. The World Challenge was transferred to Versus, while the ALMS was transferred to an ESPN/ABC partnership. ALMS races are shown live online with a telecast the following day (although Speed still has the rights to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is still televised live). For 2012, some races will be televised live. Speed, having a partnership with NASCAR, still has exclusive rights to
15228-581: The second seat. During the later 1930s, French constructors, unable to keep up with the progress of the Mercedes-Benz and Auto-Union cars in GP racing, withdrew into primarily domestic competition with large-capacity sports cars – marques such as Delahaye , Talbot and the later Bugattis were locally prominent. Similarly, through the 1920s and 1930s the road-going sports/GT car started to emerge as distinct from fast tourers (Le Mans had originally been
15369-477: The series ended. 1994 also signaled the return of an international GT series after an absence of over a decade with the introduction of the BPR Global GT Series . The success of the series lead to a friendly takeover by the FIA in 1997, becoming the FIA GT Championship . Prototypes were mainly absent from European tracks (Le Mans being the sole notable exception) until 1997, which saw the creation of
15510-426: The series in the '70s and early '80s. In addition, most races ran for either 500 or 1000 km, usually going over three and six hours, respectively, so it was possible to emphasize the "endurance" aspect of the competition as well. Group B cars, which was a GT class, were also allowed to race, but entries in this class were sparse; combined with fatal accidents in rallying where the Group B class saw more popularity,
15651-644: The series, it was always run as a support race to the premier GT series. Starting in 1977, the series ran until 1989. In 1992, the premier GTO category was renamed to GTS due to sponsor reasons, and rather than leaving the GTO category redundant, the title was reallocated to the former American Challenge cars. As a result, they would be run alongside GTS cars. This series started the careers of Irv Hoerr , Kenny Irwin Jr. , Patty Moise , Clay Young , Lyn St. James and Paul Gentilozzi . Sports car racing Sports car racing
15792-478: The series. At the end of the 1970 season, Bishop helped to establish the foundations of the FIA ( Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile ) "J appendix" for World Championship for Makes sports cars. For the end of the 1970 season, he advertised a new championship for Group 2 and Group 4 cars with equity between competitors. The 1971 Grand Touring (GT) season introduced international endurance racing to North America . In 1972 , Camel Cigarettes became
15933-706: The split between Champ Car and the IRL , this split was seen by many as being detrimental to the sport as a whole. In 2012, Don Panoz sold the Braselton, Georgia-based ALMS to Grand-Am Road Racing , in turn owned directly by NASCAR and helped organize a merger between the ALMS and the Rolex Sports Car Series . In 2013 the unified series was announced as the Tudor United SportsCar Championship (now IMSA SportsCar Championship ). The announcement also confirmed that IMSA will manage and sanction
16074-754: The sport. For 1986, the World Endurance Championship became the World Sports-Prototype Championship . Although the Group C formula was a success, with regular crowds of 50,000 to 70,000 at WSC events (a modern Grand Prix in Europe will have similar crowds), and upwards of 350,000 at the 24 hours of Le Mans, the FIA introduced new rules for 1991 at the behest of FIA vice president Bernie Ecclestone; 750 kg machines with contemporary normally aspirated engines, which were purpose-built 3500cc racing units. The new classification, known as Group C Category 1 ,
16215-521: The stated intent of cost reduction and improved competition, quickly proved highly suspect. Costs rose massively as works teams developed cars capable of qualifying around halfway up a Formula 1 grid, despite weighing some 200 kg more. Manufacturers again abandoned the sportscar series, realising they now had an engine suitable for F1. In particular, Mercedes and Peugeot elected to either concentrate on or move solely to F1. The more exotic engines were unaffordable for teams like Spice and ADA , thus after
16356-608: The success of the inaugural Petit Le Mans as a part of the 1998 Professional SportsCar Racing Championship season , Panoz announced a new full season championship for 1999 , to be known as the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) which adopted the ACO's rulebook under PSCR sanction. The new series replaced the Professional Sports Car Racing championship as PSCR's headline series. Under tremendous pressure from team owners and management, Evans sold Professional Sports Car Racing to Don Panoz in 2001, to solidify
16497-417: The two organizations by scrapping the existing formula and adopting IMSA rules. This did not please Porsche , which was spending vast sums of money on engine development at the time. Porsche responded by boycotting the 24 Hours of Le Mans of that year . FISA responded by abandoning the rule change for the time being. In 1987 , FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre almost made a successful attempt to settle
16638-453: The world stage. Road races such as the Mille Miglia included everything from stock touring cars to World Championship contenders. The Mille Miglia was the largest sporting event in Italy until a fatal accident caused its demise in 1957. The Targa Florio , another tough road race, remained part of the world championship until the 1970s and remained as a local race for many years afterwards. As
16779-684: The years but was generally known as the World Sportscar Championship from its inception in 1953. Alongside the Formula One World Championship , it was one of the two major World Championships in circuit motor racing. The championship was revived in the 2012 season under the new name as the FIA World Endurance Championship . The series was known under different names throughout the years: Titles were given to manufacturers from 1953 to 1984 and to teams from 1985 to 1992. The most famous event
16920-527: Was actually 1970 with only two races, the inaugural race was at the newly constructed Summit Point Motorsports Park on Memorial Day weekend; Rasey Feezell was first overall in an Alfa Romeo Giulia TI Super sedan; the second race was held at the Montgomery Speedway , Alabama, Red Farmer won in a specially prepared Datsun 510 . Feezell didn't fare too well having to drive against the local four-cylinder "beater class" cars brought in to fill out
17061-556: Was added. Initially, this format was only to be used in endurance races, but was eventually applied to all races. For 2012, only a handful of LMPs are being entered, with almost all of them being powered by Japanese manufacturers ( Nissan , Honda , etc.). The British manufacturer Morgan has entered a Judd -powered LMP. Aston Martin Racing , who for several years had entered an LMP, has returned to GT for 2012. The reformatted Trans-Am Series remained stagnant, being heavily overshadowed by
17202-533: Was also instrumental in founding the SCCA Trans-Am series and the SCCA/ CASC Can-Am series. In 1969, the tension and in-fighting caused Bishop to resign. Bill France Sr. was instrumental in the creation of the International Motor Sports Association. France founded NASCAR as a professional oval track series and wanted to do the same for road racing. After discussions with Bishop, IMSA
17343-609: Was an expansion of the USRRC that conformed to FIA Group 7 rules. The original Can-Am fell victim to rising costs and the energy crisis . The ACO, organisers of the Le Mans 24 Hours, attempted to come up with a formula that would encourage more prototypes back to the race but would also be relatively economical – their Grand Touring Prototype rules in the late 1970s, based on fuel consumption rules, gave rise to two different varieties of sports car racing that were widely held to be
17484-411: Was appointed President of Panoz Motorsports Group and he appointed Tim Mayer to manage IMSA. IMSA's main series, the ALMS focused on manufacturer entries along with top privateers with the worldwide prestige of championship greatly increasing. After the 1999 USRRC season was cancelled halfway through its schedule due to a lack of competitors, a second attempt at a new sports car sanction body known as
17625-556: Was born and Bishop was given the sole control of the organization (like NASCAR, there was no board of directors). France financed the majority of the organization and owned 75% of the stock; Bishop owned the remaining 25%. The articles of incorporation were filed in Connecticut on June 23, 1969. The first race to be organized by IMSA was a Formula Vee and Formula Ford event at Pocono Raceway in October 1969. The SCCA threatened
17766-400: Was confirmed to be Atherton's replacement. Ed Bennett, longtime NASCAR executive, was also President and CEO of Grand-Am Road Racing from August 2011 to December 2013 during the merger period and has continued as CEO of the modern era IMSA since January 2014. At the 2021 Daytona 24 Hours, IMSA and the ACO announced the historic alignment of the technical regulations for sportscar racing, which
17907-535: Was designed to attract more American manufacturers, with no upper limit on engine displacement. The period between 1966 and 1971 was possibly the most successful era of the World Championship, with S (5 L sports cars ) and P (3 L prototypes) classes, and cars such as the Ferrari 512S , Ferrari 330 P4 , Ford GT40 , Lola T70 , Chaparral , Alfa Romeo 33 , and Porsche 's 908 , 917 battled for supremacy on classic circuits such as Sebring , Nürburgring , Spa-Francorchamps , Monza , Targa Florio , and Le Mans where
18048-441: Was designed to mandate Formula One engines. Although power was generally less than existing Group C cars (around 650 bhp compared to around 750 bhp upwards) the new cars are considered to be among the quickest sportscars ever. However, the take up of these new regulations was slow and only a handful of Category 1 cars were ready for the 1991 season. Consequently, the FIA also allowed cars complying with pre-1991 Group C rules to contest
18189-454: Was for Sedans under 2 L., except for overhead cam engines which were limited to 1.6 L. Class B was for larger engines up to whatever IMSA decided appropriate for the Class which was the AMC Gremlin 's 232 c.i. for the duration of the 'original' RS Series. As an aside, the "Baby Grand" moniker frequently applied to these IMSA Series was just that, a nickname. Around this same time a series that
18330-544: Was further detailed in June of that year, which brought about the convergence of all sportscar regulations between the FIA, IMSA and the ACO. In January 2022, IMSA bought Historic Sportscar Racing , whose events include the Classic 24 Hours of Daytona, the Classic 12 Hours of Sebring and the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion . These are the series that are currently sanctioned and managed by
18471-605: Was initially to be known as the International 100 Series as it was intended for sedans up to 100 c.i or 1600 cc., however was revised prior to the start of the 1970 season to include larger engines and presumably the name change to International Sedan Series . The next year, 1971, the Series was revamped and became the Radial Sedan Series with the revolutionary innovation of requiring DOT radial tires. New rules allowed for cars over 1.6 L divided between two classes. Class A
18612-526: Was largely dominated by BMW , Porsche and Mercedes-Benz , although sports car/GT racing gradually became eclipsed by touring cars and the initially sports car based Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft gradually evolved into the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft . Porsche started to evolve a line of sports prototypes from the late 1950s; noted for their toughness and reliability they started to win in races of attrition such as
18753-579: Was loosely based on rival SCCA Trans-Am 's Two-Five Challenge rules. The series became dominated mostly by Mazda 's rotary-powered RX-2 and RX-3 prompting IMSA to specify heavier weights than piston-engined cars and prohibited any modifications to the rotors and more importantly to intake and exhaust ports. Datsun also had a fair share of success within the series with cars such as the 510 and 200SX . Many drivers would cut their teeth in this series such as Don Devendorf, of Electramotive fame, Jim Downing , of Kudzu, and Bobby Rahal . The final season
18894-467: Was not born until the first 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1923 , and while as a joint-creator of that race he may have been prejudiced in his opinion, it is certainly true that sports-car racing as it was known after 1919 did not exist before the First World War." In the 1920s, the cars used in endurance racing and Grand Prix were still basically identical, with fenders and two seats, to carry
19035-504: Was officially designated Baby Grand (better and later known as the Goody's Dash Series ) was sanctioned by NASCAR and consisted of 4-cylinder cars purpose-built to run NASCAR ovals. A few RS regulars are known to have run both Series with the same car making minimal changes to accommodate the difference in rules. Carson Baird, driving a Dodge Colt , was one of these 'crossover' competitors. The IMSA RS Series (for radial sedan ) began as
19176-599: Was responsible for the name change to Professional Sports Car Racing (PSCR). In 1998 the United States Road Racing Championship was revived as an alternative to Professional Sports Car Racing, involving the Sports Car Club of America and headed by a group of competitors and ex-IMSA personnel, including John Bishop, Bill France Jr. , Rob Dyson , Roger Penske , Skip Barber , and Ralph Sanchez. They wanted to keep rules within
19317-554: Was run in 1984 before it was replaced by the IMSA Showroom Stock class the following year, while retaining its sponsor until 1988. As with most now-defunct racing classes, there are revival races run for this category and the SCCA sanctions events for mostly-stock and all-stock cars. The American Challenge (in full, Kelly American Challenge ), otherwise abbreviated as AAC was a category for US-built cars and throughout
19458-657: Was seen in Formula 1. Homologation saw many out-and-out racing cars produced in sufficient quantities to see them classed as production vehicles; the FIA responded by placing more restrictions on even the allegedly production-based cars and placed draconian limits on the power available to prototypes – these prototypes of the late 1960s/early 1970s were comfortably quicker than contemporary Grand Prix machinery and for 1972 they were constrained to run much smaller engines to F1 rules, often de-tuned for endurance. Group 4 Grand Touring Cars and Group 5 Special Production Cars became
19599-505: Was the 24 Hours of Le Mans which was the part of the championship in every season except of the 1956 , 1975 – 79 and 1989 – 90 seasons. The 24 Hours of Daytona followed near-continuous inclusion on the World Sportscar Championship. In 1982, the race was dropped as the series attempted to cut costs by both keeping teams in Europe and running shorter races. Among others, the following races also counted towards
19740-638: Was the exclusive car for the first two seasons of the North America championship in 2013 and 2014. The series debuted in North America under IMSA sanction in 2013. The Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires is the signature spec series for the Mazda Road to 24. The MX-5 Cup race cars start as complete MX-5 road cars from the Mazda Hiroshima, Japan factory before being transported to engineering development partner Flis Performance in Daytona Beach, Florida , where they are transformed into
19881-474: Was unwelcome amongst some of the private teams, manufacturer support for the new regulations was immense. Several of the 'old guard' manufacturers returned to the WSC within the next two years, with each marque adding to the diversity of the series. Under the new rules, it was theoretically possible for normally aspirated engines to compete with the (expensive to maintain) forced induction engines that had dominated
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