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.
Most races on the schedule had WSC and GTS-1 classes running together, while the GTS-2 class ran separate races, sometimes with different lengths. Races marked with All had all classes on track at the same time for the whole race.
Rnd | Race | Length | Class | Circuit | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Rolex 24 at Daytona | 24 Hours | All | Daytona International Speedway | February 3 February 4 |
2 | Exxon Superflo 12 Hours of Sebring | 12 Hours | All | Sebring International Raceway | March 17 |
3 | Advance Auto Parts Grand Prix of Atlanta | 40 Minutes | GTS-2 | Road Atlanta | April 21 |
3 Hours | WSC/GTS-1 | ||||
4 | Exxon Superflo 500 at Texas | 500 Miles | All | Texas World Speedway | May 5 |
5 | The Dodge Dealers Grand Prix | 1 Hour | GTS-2 | Lime Rock Park | May 27 |
1 Hour 45 Minutes | WSC/GTS-1 | ||||
6 | First Union Six Hours at the Glen | 6 Hours | All | Watkins Glen International | June 9 |
7 | Toshiba California Grand Prix | 45 Minutes | GTS-2 | Sears Point Raceway | July 14 |
3 Hours | WSC/GTS-1 | ||||
8 | Chrysler Mosport 500 | 3 Hours | All | Mosport International Raceway | August 25 |
9 | Sprint Grand Prix of Dallas | 45 Minutes | GTS-2 | Dallas street circuit | September 1 |
2 Hours | WSC/GTS-1 | ||||
10 | Daytona IMSA Finale | 3 Hours | All | Daytona International Speedway | October 6 |
Rnd | Circuit | WSC Winning Team | GTS-1 Winning Team | GTS-2 Winning Team | Results |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
WSC Winning Drivers | GTS-1 Winning Drivers | GTS-2 Winning Drivers | |||
1 | Daytona | #4 Doyle Racing | #5 Brix Racing | #55 Stadler Motorsports | Results |
Jim Pace Scott Sharp Wayne Taylor | Rob Morgan Charles Morgan Joe Pezza Jon Gooding Irv Hoerr | Enzo Calderari Lilian Bryner Ulli Richter | |||
2 | Sebring | #4 Doyle Racing | #74 Champion Porsche | #99 Schumacher Racing | Results |
Jim Pace Wayne Taylor Eric van der Poele | Hans-Joachim Stuck Bill Adam | Larry Schumacher Will Pace Andy Pilgrim | |||
3 | Road Atlanta | #30 Momo Corse | #1 Brix Racing | #93 Ecuador Mobil 1 Racing | Results |
Gianpiero Moretti Max Papis | Irv Hoerr Darin Brassfield | Henry Taleb | |||
4 | Texas | #4 Doyle Racing | #1 Brix Racing | #99 Schumacher Racing | Results |
Jim Pace Wayne Taylor | Irv Hoerr Darin Brassfield | Larry Schumacher Andy Pilgrim | |||
5 | Lime Rock | #30 Momo Corse | #1 Brix Racing | #93 Ecuador Mobil 1 Racing | Results |
Gianpiero Moretti Max Papis | Irv Hoerr | Henry Taleb | |||
6 | Watkins Glen | #30 Momo Corse | #5 Brix Racing | #26 Alex Job Racing | Results |
Gianpiero Moretti Max Papis | Irv Hoerr Darin Brassfield Brian Cunningham Brian DeVries | Hurley Haywood Charles Slater Tom Hessert | |||
7 | Sears Point | #4 Doyle Racing | #5 Brix Racing | #07 PTG | Results |
Scott Sharp Wayne Taylor | Irv Hoerr Darin Brassfield | Pete Halsmer | |||
8 | Mosport | #20 Dyson Racing | #1 Brix Racing | #06 PTG | Results |
Butch Leitzinger John Paul Jr. | Irv Hoerr | Boris Said Pete Halsmer | |||
9 | Dallas | #20 Dyson Racing | #5 Brix Racing | #07 PTG | Results |
Butch Leitzinger | Irv Hoerr | Pete Halsmer | |||
10 | Daytona | #20 Dyson Racing | #91 Rock Valley | #06 PTG | Results |
Butch Leitzinger John Paul Jr. | Stu Hayner Roger Schramm | Javier Quiros |
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. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing, alongside open-wheel single-seater racing, touring car racing and stock car racing. Sports car races are often, though not always, endurance races that are run over relatively large distances, and there is usually a larger emphasis placed on the reliability and efficiency of the car as opposed to outright speed of the driver. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an example of a sports car racing series.
Bill Auberlen is an American factory race car driver known for his affiliation with BMW, driving cars made and run by the famous German marque for a number of years. Auberlen currently competes for Turner Motorsport in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge. He is the winningest driver in IMSA history.
A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The technical requirements for an LMP include bodywork covering all mechanical elements of the car. Currently, there are three classes within Le Mans Prototypes, designated LMP1, LMP2, and LMP3.
Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs.
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 64th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 15 and 16 June 1996. It was won by a Tom Walkinshaw-Porsche prototype run by Joest Racing with drivers Davy Jones, Manuel Reuter and Le Mans rookie Alexander Wurz completing 354 laps. While not being the fastest car on track, it hit the front in the first hour and aside from several pit-stop overlaps, was never headed as other teams hit mechanical troubles during the race. This was Reuter's second Le Mans victory, and the first for Jones and Wurz, who, at 22 years old, became the youngest ever Le Mans overall winner.
Wayne Taylor is a South African sports car racing driver and team owner. He won the 1996 and 2005 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 2005 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype drivers' championship. He drove for SunTrust Racing with Max Angelelli. He co-drove in the 2006 International Race of Champions in the United States with Angelelli. Taylor now owns and manages his own team competing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed United States Road Racing Championship. Rolex took over as series sponsor in 2002.
Spice Engineering was a British racing team founded by driver Gordon Spice with Raymond Bellm in the early 1980s, later becoming a successful sports car constructor in 1986. They competed in the World Sportscar Championship in Europe as well as the IMSA GT Championship in North America, at times partnering with major manufacturers such as General Motors and Honda as well as race engine manufacturer Comptech.
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 1998 Professional SportsCar Racing Championship season was the 28th season of the IMSA GT Championship, the final one of the original IMSA. It consisted of an open-cockpit World Sports Car (WSC) class of prototypes and Grand Tourer-style racing cars divided into GT1, GT2, and GT3 classes. It began March 22, 1998, and ended October 25, 1998, after eight rounds.
The 1997 Exxon World Sports Car Championship and Supreme GT Series seasons were the 27th 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, GTS-2, and GTS-3 classes.
The Chrysler Viper GTS-R was a successful racing variant of the Dodge Viper developed in conjunction with Chrysler of North America, Oreca of France, and Reynard Motorsport of the United Kingdom. Officially unveiled at the 1995 Pebble Beach Concours, it has won numerous championships and famous events in its history. Some chassis are still in use today.
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 began February 4, 1995, and ended October 8, 1995, after eleven rounds.
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 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 1993 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship was the inaugural season of the Japan Automobile Federation All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship and the successor series to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship as international prototypes were in a state of flux in the early 1990s, and sportscar racing globally had switched from prototypes to grand tourers. It was marked as well as the eleventh season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship.
The Chevrolet Grand Prix is an annual IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race held every July at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. The race originated in 1975 and is currently a two hour and forty minute race in order to fit the event into a television-friendly package. Previous editions of the Grand Prix were part of the World Sportscar Championship, the American Le Mans Series and the IMSA GT Championship.
The 1997 Rolex 24 at Daytona was a 24-hour endurance sports car race held on February 1–2, 1997 at the Daytona International Speedway road course. The race served as the opening round of the 1997 IMSA GT Championship.