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.
It began February 1, 1997, and ended October 26, 1997, after eleven rounds. 1997 would mark the final year in IMSA GT for the 24 Hours of Daytona and the Six Hours of Watkins Glen. In 1998, the SCCA's revived United States Road Racing Championship would acquire the events.
Most races on the schedule ran with the GTS and WSC classes running separate races, sometimes with different lengths. Races marked with Both had both classes on track at the same time for the whole race.
| Rnd | Race | Length | Class | Circuit | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rolex 24 at Daytona | 24 Hours | Both | Daytona International Speedway | February 1 February 2 |
| 2 | Superflo 12 Hours of Sebring | 12 Hours | Both | Sebring International Raceway | March 15 |
| 3 | NAPA Grand Prix of Atlanta | 2 Hours | GTS | Road Atlanta | April 19 |
| WSC | April 20 | ||||
| 4 | Dodge Dealers Grand Prix | 1 Hour 45 Minutes | GTS | Lime Rock Park | May 26 |
| WSC | |||||
| 5 | First Union Six Hours at the Glen | 6 Hours | Both | Watkins Glen International | June 1 |
| 6 | California Grand Prix | 1 Hour 45 Minutes | GTS | Sears Point Raceway | July 13 |
| 2 Hours | WSC | ||||
| 7 | Mosport Festival | 1 Hour 45 Minutes | GTS | Mosport International Raceway | August 31 |
| 2 Hours | WSC | ||||
| 8 | Sportscar Grand Prix | 1 Hour 45 Minutes | GTS | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | September 20 |
| 2 Hours | WSC | ||||
| 9 | Festival of Road Racing | 2 Hours | WSC | Pikes Peak International Raceway | September 28 |
| 1 Hour 45 Minutes | GTS | ||||
| 10 | NAPA Sebring Octoberfest | 2 Hours | WSC | Sebring International Raceway | October 18 |
| 1 Hour 45 Minutes | GTS | ||||
| 11 | Visa Sports Car Championship | 1 Hour 45 Minutes | GTS | Laguna Seca Raceway | October 26 |
| WSC |
Points are awarded to the finishers in the following order:
Exception however for the 12 Hours of Sebring, which awarded in the following order:
And the 24 Hours of Daytona, which is awarded in the following order:
Teams only score the points of their highest finishing entry in each race.
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.
John Lee Paul Jr. was an American racing driver. He competed in CART and the Indy Racing League competitions, but primarily in IMSA GT Championship, winning the title in 1982.
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.
Colin James Braun is an American racing driver. He is the 2014 and 2015 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge Champion and currently drives the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 for Meyer Shank Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the No. 04 CrowdStrike Mercedes AMG-GT3 in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America Series. Driving the ARX-06, he was part of the winning team of the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona. He formerly competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the Xfinity Series. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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 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 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.
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.
Risi Competizione is an Italo-American auto racing Ferrari factory-backed team formed by Giuseppe Risi in 1997. Initially, the team had a partnership with Doyle Racing using the name Doyle-Risi Racing, but soon Giuseppe Risi took full control of the project and it was rebranded with its current name in 2000. Risi Competizione has won races and championships in the IMSA GT championship, American Le Mans Series, and Rolex Sports Car Series, as well as earning three class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998, 2008 and 2009. Much of Risi Competizione's success has come through the use of Ferrari machines.
Terry Borcheller is an American professional racing driver who races in the Grand American Road Racing Association Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series.
Peter "P.D." Cunningham is an American race car driver and owner of RealTime R&L, Inc., based in Saukville, Wisconsin and currently competing in the Pirelli World Challenge GT Championship. His name and his team, RealTime Racing, have become synonymous with the Honda and Acura brands. Through 2013, he has claimed 91 professional race wins across 12 different North American road racing series and holds numerous World Challenge records.
The 2014 United SportsCar Championship was the inaugural season of the International Motor Sports Association's new series created out of a merger of the Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series and the first to be held under the name as the United SportsCar Championship. It began with the 24 Hours of Daytona, the first time since the 1997 IMSA GT Championship season that IMSA sanctioned an event at Daytona International Speedway on 25 January and ended on 4 October at Petit Le Mans. It was the 44th overall season of IMSA GT championship racing tracing its lineage to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship.
The 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship was the third season of the United SportsCar Championship and first to be under the name as the IMSA SportsCar Championship organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). It was the 46th season of IMSA-sanctioned GT Championship sportscar racing tracing its lineage to the 1971 IMSA Camel GT season. It began on January 30 with the 24 Hours of Daytona and ended on October 1 at Petit Le Mans.
The 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship was the 47th season of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) GT Championship that traces its lineage to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship. It was the fourth season of the United SportsCar Championship and second under the name as the IMSA SportsCar Championship. It began on 28 January with the 24 Hours of Daytona, and ended on 7 October with the Petit Le Mans.
The 2021 24 Hours of Daytona was an endurance sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The event was held at Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Florida, on January 30–31, 2021. This event was the 59th running of the 24 Hours of Daytona, and the first of 12 races across multiple classes in the 2021 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as the first of four rounds in the 2021 Michelin Endurance Cup.
