The 1980 IMSA GT Series season was the 10th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was a series for GTX class Group 5 cars and GTO and GTU class grand tourer cars. It began February 2, 1980, and ended November 30, 1980, after fourteen rounds.
Not all classes participated in shorter events. Races marked with All had all classes on track at the same time.
Rnd | Race | Length | Class | Circuit | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 24 Hour Pepsi Challenge | 24 Hours | All | Daytona International Speedway | February 2 February 3 |
2 | Coca-Cola 12 Hours of Sebring | 12 Hours | All | Sebring International Raceway | March 22 |
3 | Road Atlanta Grand Prix | 50 Miles (twice) | GTX/GTO | Road Atlanta | April 12 |
45 Minutes | GTU | ||||
4 | Los Angeles Times/Toyota Grand Prix | 5 Hours | All | Riverside International Raceway | April 27 |
5 | Datsun Monterey Triple Crown | 45 Minutes | GTU | Laguna Seca Raceway | May 4 |
100 Miles | GTX/GTO | ||||
6 | Coca-Cola 400 | 45 Minutes | GTU | Lime Rock Park | May 26 |
1 Hour 30 Minutes | GTX/GTO | ||||
7 | Pepsi Grand Prix | 100 Miles | GTO/GTU | Brainerd International Raceway | June 15 |
8 | Paul Revere 250 | 250 Miles | All | Daytona International Speedway | July 4 |
9 | Datsun's Golden State Challenge | 100 Miles | GTX/GTO | Golden State International Raceway | July 27 |
75 Miles | GTU | ||||
10 | G.I. Joe's Grand Prix | 100 Miles | GTX/GTO | Portland International Raceway | August 3 |
45 Minutes | GTU | ||||
11 | Molson Canadian 1000 | 6 Hours | All | Mosport Park | August 17 |
12 | Pabst 500 | 500 Miles | All | Road America | August 31 |
13 | Grand Prix of Road Atlanta | 45 Minutes | GTU | Road Atlanta | September 21 |
50 Miles (twice) | GTX/GTO | ||||
14 | Championship Finale Daytona GT 250 | 250 Miles | All | Daytona International Speedway | November 30 |
Rnd | Circuit | GTX Winning Team | GTO Winning Team | GTU Winning Team | Results |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
GTX Winning Drivers | GTO Winning Drivers | GTU Winning Drivers | |||
1 | Daytona | #2 LM Joest Racing | #54 Montura Racing | #62 Koll Motor Sports | Results |
Reinhold Joest Rolf Stommelen Volkert Merl | Tony Garcia Alberto Vadia Terry Herman | Bill Koll Jim Cook Greg LaCava | |||
2 | Sebring | #6 Dick Barbour Racing | #44 Group 44 | #77 Mandeville Racing | Results |
Dick Barbour John Fitzpatrick | Bob Tullius Bill Adam | Roger Mandeville Jim Downing Brad Frisselle | |||
3 | Road Atlanta | #95 Whittington Bros. Racing | #99 Full-Time Racing | #7 Racing Beat | Results |
Bill Whittington | Phil Currin | Walt Bohren | |||
4 | Riverside | #6 Dick Barbour Racing | #54 Montura Racing | #47 Brad Frisselle Racing | Results |
Dick Barbour John Fitzpatrick | Tony Garcia Terry Herman | Brad Frisselle Yoshimi Katayama | |||
5 | Laguna Seca | #6 Dick Barbour Racing | #54 Montura Racing | #7 Racing Beat | Results |
John Fitzpatrick | Tony Garcia | Walt Bohren | |||
6 | Lime Rock | #09 Preston Henn | #63 Mendez Racing | #83 Electramotive | Results |
John Paul Sr. John Paul Jr. | Luis Mendez | Don Devendorf | |||
7 | Brainerd | Did not participate | #63 Mendex Racing | #17 Racing Beat | Results |
Luis Mendez | Jeff Kline | ||||
8 | Daytona | #6 Dick Barbour Racing | #44 Group 44 | #7 Racing Beat | Results |
John Fitzpatrick | Bob Tullius | Walt Bohren | |||
9 | Golden State | #6 Dick Barbour Racing | #68 Mendez Racing | #7 Racing Beat | Results |
John Fitzpatrick | Luis Mendez | Walt Bohren | |||
10 | Portland | #6 Dick Barbour Racing | #68 Mendez Racing | #7 Racing Beat | Results |
John Fitzpatrick | Luis Mendez | Walt Bohren | |||
11 | Mosport | #6 Dick Barbour Racing | #44 JRT Quaker State | #17 Racing Beat | Results |
John Fitzpatrick Brian Redman | Bob Tullius Bill Adam | John Morton Jeff Kline Walt Bohren | |||
12 | Road America | #18 JLP Racing | #44 Group 44 | #83 Electramotive | Results |
John Paul Sr. John Paul Jr. | Bob Tullius Bill Adam | Don Devendorf Tony Adamowicz | |||
13 | Road Atlanta | #30 MOMO/Electrodyne | #46 DeNarvaez Enterprises | #7 Racing Beat | Results |
Gianpiero Moretti | Terry Herman | Jeff Kline | |||
14 | Daytona | #30 MOMO/Electrodyne | #4 Group 44 | #32 Alderman Racing | Results |
Gianpiero Moretti Reinhold Joest | Bill Adam | George Alderman |
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Sports car racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing, alongside open-wheel racing, touring car racing and stock car racing. Sports car races are often, though not always, endurance races that are run over particularly long distances or large amounts of time, resulting in 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 a sports car racing series. In the high-stakes world of sports car racing, drivers don specialized fire-resistant, aerodynamic racing suits, ensuring both comfort and safety during the demanding endurance races, as exemplified by the FIA World Endurance Championship.
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.
The 1996 Exxon World Sports Car Championship and Supreme GT Series seasons were the 26th season of the IMSA GT Championship. It consisted of open-cockpit prototypes referred to as World Sports Car (WSC) and Grand Tourer-style racing cars divided into GTS-1 and GTS-2 classes. It began February 3, 1996, and ended October 6, 1996, after ten rounds.
The 1995 Exxon World Sports Car Championship and Supreme GT Series seasons were the 25th season of the IMSA GT Championship. It consisted of open-cockpit prototypes referred to as the World Sports Car (WSC) class and Grand Tourer-style racing cars divided into GTS-1 and GTS-2 classes. It lasted eleven rounds and began on February 4, 1995, and finished on October 8, 1995.
The 1994 Exxon World Sports Car Championship and Supreme GT Series seasons were the 24th season of the IMSA GT Championship. It was the first year for the new World Sports Car (WSC) class of open-cockpit prototypes in the premiere category, replacing the previous closed-cockpit GTP class. Grand Tourer-style racing cars were also raced and ran in the GTS, GTO, and GTU classes. It began February 5, 1994, and ended October 1, 1994, after nine rounds.
The 1993 Camel GT Championship and Exxon Supreme GT Championship seasons were the 23rd season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was the final year of the Camel's sponsorship of the prototype class, and the final year of the GTP and GTP Lights prototype categories before they were replaced with the World Sports Car (WSC) class of prototypes the following year.
The 1992 Camel GT Championship and Exxon Supreme GT Series seasons were the 22nd season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for GTP and Lights classes of prototypes, as well as Grand Tourer-style racing cars which ran in the GTS, GTO, and GTU classes. It began February 1, 1992, and ended October 11, 1992, after fifteen rounds.
The 1991 Camel GT Championship and Exxon Supreme GT Series seasons were the 21st season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for GTP and Lights classes of prototypes, as well as Grand Tourer-style racing cars which ran in the GTO and GTU classes, as well as a tube-frame All-American Challenge (AAC) class during select rounds. It began February 2, 1991, and ended October 13, 1991, after nineteen rounds.
The 1989 Camel GT Championship season was the 19th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for GTP and Lights classes of prototypes, as well as Grand Tourer-style racing cars which ran in the GTO and GTU classes, as well as a tube-frame American Challenge (AC) class during select GT-only rounds. It began February 4, 1989, and ended October 22, 1989, after twenty rounds.
The 1988 Camel GT Championship season was the 18th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for GTP and Lights classes of prototypes, as well as Grand Tourer-style racing cars which ran in the GTO and GTU classes. It began January 30, 1988, and ended October 23, 1988, after seventeen rounds.
The 1987 Camel GT Championship season was the 17th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for GTP and Lights classes of prototypes, as well as Grand Tourer-style racing cars which ran in the GTO and GTU classes. It began January 31, 1987, and ended October 25, 1987, after 21 rounds.
The 1985 Camel GT Championship season was the 15th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for prototypes in the existing GTP class and new, smaller Lights class, as well as Grand Tourer-style racing cars which ran in the GTO and GTU classes. It began on February 2, 1985, and ended on December 1, 1985, after seventeen rounds.
The 1984 Camel GT Championship season was the 14th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for GTP class prototypes and GTO and GTU class Grand Tourer-style racing cars. It began February 4, 1984, and ended November 25, 1984, after seventeen rounds.
The 1983 Camel GT Championship season was the 13th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for GTP class prototypes and GTO and GTU class Grand Tourer-style racing cars. It began February 5, 1983, and ended November 27, 1983, after seventeen rounds.
The 1982 Camel GT Championship season was the 12th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was the first year of the GTP class, which combined the previous GTX class of Group 5 cars and prototypes. Other competitors ran in the GTO and GTU classes of Grand Tourer-style racing cars. It began January 30, 1982, and ended November 28, 1982, after nineteen rounds.
The 1981 Camel GT Championship season was the 11th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was a series for GTX class Group 5 cars and GTO and GTU class Grand tourer cars. It began January 31, 1981, and ended November 29, 1981, after sixteen rounds.
The 1979 Winston GT season was the 9th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was a series for GTX class Group 5 cars and GTO and GTU class Grand tourer cars. It began February 3, 1979, and ended November 25, 1979, after fifteen rounds.
The 1978 Camel GT Challenge season was the 8th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was the first year of the new GTX class, which allowed for Group 5 cars to compete. The GTO and GTU class Grand tourer cars remained from before. It began February 4, 1978, and ended November 26, 1978, after fourteen rounds.
The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). It is a result of a merger between two existing North American sports car racing series, the American Le Mans Series and Rolex Sports Car Series. At its inception, the name was United SportsCar Championship, which subsequently changed to IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2016. Rolex SA's Tudor brand was the championship's title sponsor in 2014 and 2015, and since 2016 WeatherTech has served as title sponsor.
The 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship was the 49th motor racing championship sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). It was the sixth season of the United SportsCar Championship and fourth to be held under the name as the IMSA SportsCar Championship. It began on January 26 with the 24 Hours of Daytona, and ended on October 12 with the Petit Le Mans. The 2019 season marked the 50th anniversary since the founding of the International Motor Sports Association.