The 1998 Visa Sports Car Championships was the tenth and final round the 1998 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the Laguna Seca Raceway, California, United States on October 25, 1998.
This race shared the weekend with a Professional SportsCar Racing Championship event.
Class winners are in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).
Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Tyre | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Engine | |||||||
1 | GT1 | 2 | AMG Mercedes | Klaus Ludwig Ricardo Zonta | Mercedes-Benz CLK LM | B | 139 |
Mercedes-Benz M119 6.0L V8 | |||||||
2 | GT1 | 1 | AMG Mercedes | Bernd Schneider Mark Webber | Mercedes-Benz CLK LM | B | 139 |
Mercedes-Benz M119 6.0L V8 | |||||||
3 | GT1 | 8 | Porsche AG | Jörg Müller Uwe Alzen | Porsche 911 GT1-98 | M | 138 |
Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
4 | GT1 | 3 | DAMS | Éric Bernard David Brabham | Panoz GTR-1 | M | 137 |
Ford (Roush) 6.0L V8 | |||||||
5 | GT1 | 6 | Zakspeed Racing | Michael Bartels Max Angelelli | Porsche 911 GT1-98 | P | 138 |
Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
6 | GT1 | 11 | Team Persson Motorsport | Christophe Bouchut Bernd Mayländer | Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR | B | 135 |
Mercedes-Benz M120 6.0L V12 | |||||||
7 | GT2 | 51 | Viper Team Oreca | Olivier Beretta Pedro Lamy | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | M | 127 |
Chrysler 8.0L V10 | |||||||
8 | GT2 | 57 | Roock Racing | Bruno Eichmann Mike Hezemans | Porsche 911 GT2 | Y | 126 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
9 | GT2 | 63 | Krauss Race Sports International | Michael Trunk Bernhard Müller | Porsche 911 GT2 | D | 123 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
10 | GT2 | 58 | Roock Sportsystem | André Ahrlé Robert Schirle Dirk Layer | Porsche 911 GT2 | Y | 122 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
11 | GT1 | 12 | Team Persson Motorsport | Jean-Marc Gounon Marcel Tiemann | Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR | B | 121 |
Mercedes-Benz M120 6.0L V12 | |||||||
12 | GT2 | 60 | Elf Haberthur Racing | Michel Neugarten Gerd Ruch Zak Brown | Porsche 911 GT2 | G | 118 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
13 | GT2 | 80 | GP Motorsport | Daniel Dor John Young Peter Gregg | Saleen Mustang SR | ? | 118 |
Ford 5.9L V8 | |||||||
14 | GT2 | 69 | Proton Competition | Gerold Ried Patrick Vuillaume | Porsche 911 GT2 | P | 65 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
15 | GT2 | 53 | Chamberlain Engineering | Ni Amorim Spencer Trenery Hans Hugenholtz | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | D | 117 |
Chrysler 8.0L V10 | |||||||
16 | GT2 | 87 | Seikel Motorsport | Tony Burgess Gerhard Marchner Manfred Jurasz | Porsche 911 GT2 | P | 113 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
17 | GT2 | 65 | Konrad Motorsport | Martin Stretton Toni Seiler | Porsche 911 GT2 | D | 105 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
18 DNF | GT2 | 81 | Freisinger Motorsport | Wolfgang Kaufmann Michel Ligonnet | Porsche 911 GT2 | ? | 84 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
19 DNF | GT2 | 61 | Elf Haberthur Racing | Bruno Lambert Mike Conte | Porsche 911 GT2 | G | 76 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
20 DNF | GT2 | 76 | Seikel Motorsport | Nigel Smith Andrew Bagnall Max Cohen-Olivar | Porsche 911 GT2 | P | 62 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
21 DNF | GT1 | 7 | Porsche AG | Yannick Dalmas Allan McNish | Porsche 911 GT1-98 | M | 44 |
Porsche 3.2L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
22 DNF | GT2 | 71 | Marcos Racing International | Herman Buurman Manno Schaafsma | Marcos LM600 | D | 33 |
Chevrolet 5.9L V8 | |||||||
23 DNF | GT2 | 70 | Marcos Racing International | Christian Vann Harald Becker Cor Euser | Marcos LM600 | D | 21 |
Chevrolet 5.9L V8 | |||||||
24 DNF | GT2 | 62 | Stadler Motorsport | Renato Mastropietro Uwe Sick William Langhorne | Porsche 911 GT2 | P | 19 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
25 DNF | GT2 | 86 | Larbre Compétition | Jean-Luc Chéreau Jack Leconte | Porsche 911 GT2 | M | 15 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
26 DNF | GT2 | 56 | Roock Racing | Claudia Hürtgen Stéphane Ortelli | Porsche 911 GT2 | Y | 7 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
27 DNF | GT2 | 66 | Konrad Motorsport | Jan Lammers Franz Konrad | Porsche 911 GT2 | D | 7 |
Porsche 3.6L Turbo Flat-6 | |||||||
DNS | GT2 | 52 | Viper Team Oreca | Karl Wendlinger David Donohue | Chrysler Viper GTS-R | M | – |
Chrysler 8.0L V10 | |||||||
DNS | GT2 | 55 | Saleen-Allen Speedlab | Andy Pilgrim Ron Johnson Terry Borcheller | Saleen Mustang SR | ? | – |
Ford 5.9L V8 |
Laguna Seca Raceway is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, United States.
The Mercedes-Benz CLR was a set of racing cars developed for Mercedes-Benz through a collaboration with in-house tuning division Mercedes-AMG and motorsports specialists HWA GmbH. Designed to meet Le Mans Grand Touring Prototype (LMGTP) regulations, the CLRs were intended to compete in sports car events during 1999, most notably at the 24 Hours of Le Mans which Mercedes had last won in 1989. It was the third in a series of sports cars raced by Mercedes, following the CLK GTRs and CLK LMs that had debuted in 1997 and 1998 respectively. Like its predecessors the CLR retained elements of Mercedes-Benz's production cars, including a V8 engine loosely based on the Mercedes M119 as well as a front fascia, headlamps and grille inspired by the then new Mercedes flagship CL Class. The CLR's bodywork was lower in overall height than that used on the CLKs to produce less drag.
The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR is a GT1 sports car built and produced by Mercedes-Benz in conjunction with their then motorsport partner AMG. Intended for racing in the new FIA GT Championship series in 1997, the CLK GTR was designed primarily as a race car, with the road cars necessary in order to meet homologation standards being secondary in the car's design, i.e. it was a homologation special.
The Mercedes-Benz CLK LM was a Group GT1 sports car designed and built by Mercedes-Benz in partnership with AMG to compete in the FIA GT Championship. To satisfy the requirements of competing in the FIA GT Championship, a road-legal version had to be built to homologate the car. That car was known as the Mercedes-Benz CLK LM Straßenversion, and Mercedes-Benz assembled two chassis, one of which was destroyed for crash-testing. The CLK LM went on to win every single championship event in the 1998 FIA GT season, retiring only at the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans, which was a non-championship event. The removal of the GT1 class from the FIA GT Championship due to the lack of entrants and rising costs meant that Mercedes' GT1 program was brought to a close at the end of 1998. Mercedes instead focussed their efforts on the newly introduced LMGTP class for the 1999 season, which produced the Mercedes-Benz CLR.
The 1998 FIA GT Championship was the second season of FIA GT Championship, an auto racing series endorsed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO). The races featured grand touring cars conforming to two categories of regulations, GT1 and GT2, and awarded driver and team championships in each category. The season began on 12 April 1998 and ended on 25 October 1998 after ten rounds, visiting Europe, Japan, and the United States.
The 1997 FIA GT Championship was the inaugural season of FIA GT Championship, an auto racing series endorsed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO). The FIA GT Championship replaced the BPR Global GT Series which had been held races and championships from 1994 to 1996 after the series was promoted by the FIA, while Stéphane Ratel took over as promoter and organizer of the new championship, replaced the former BPR Organisation after the departure of partners Jürgen Barth and Patrick Peter. The races featured grand touring cars conforming to two categories of regulations, GT1 and GT2, and awarded driver and team championships in each category. The season began on 13 April 1997 and ended on 26 October 1997 after 11 rounds, visiting Europe, Japan, and the United States.
The 1997 FIA GT Laguna Seca 3 Hours was the eleventh and final race of the 1997 FIA GT Championship season. It was run at Laguna Seca Raceway, United States on October 26, 1997.
The 1998 FIA GT Hockenheim 500 km was the third round the 1998 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the Hockenheimring, Germany, on June 28, 1998.
The 1998 FIA GT Dijon 500 km was the fourth round the 1998 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at Dijon-Prenois, France, on July 12, 1998.
The 1998 FIA GT Budapest 500 km was the fifth round the 1998 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the Hungaroring, Hungary, on July 19, 1998.
The 1998 Suzuka 1000 km was the nineteenth running of the 1000km Suzuka and the sixth round the 1998 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the Suzuka Circuit, Japan, on August 23, 1998.
The 1998 FIA GT Donington 500 km was the seventh round the 1998 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at Donington Park, United Kingdom, on 6 September 1998.
The 1998 FIA GT A1-Ring 500 km was the eighth round the 1998 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the A1-Ring, Austria, on September 20, 1998.
The 1998 FIA GT Homestead 500 km was the ninth round the 1998 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Florida, United States on October 18, 1998.
Maro René Engel is a German professional racing driver based in Monaco. He is a long-time Mercedes-AMG factory driver, FIA GT World Cup Champion, Nürburgring 24 hour winner, DTM race winner, Suzuka 10h winner, Macau GT Cup winner. currently racing in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and in the FIA Formula E championship. He has previously raced in the DTM, V8 Supercars, F3000, F3 and Formula E.
Tristan Vautier is a French professional racing driver who is currently competing in the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship for the Vanwall Racing Team.
The 2017 FIA GT World Cup was a non-championship Grand Touring (GT) sports car race held on the streets of the Macau autonomous territory on 19 November 2017. It was the event's third edition, and the tenth Macau GT3-specification cars race. The Automobile General Association Macau-China appointed the motorsports organiser Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) to form a grid for the race. The race itself consisted of an 11-lap qualifying race that set the starting order for the 18-lap main race.
The 2019 Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, and was the fourth round of the 2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The 2020 Intercontinental GT Challenge was the fifth season of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. The season again features five rounds, starting with the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour on 2 February and concluding with the Kyalami 9 Hours on 12 December. Dennis Olsen is the defending Drivers' champion and Porsche is the defending Manufacturers' champion.
Russell Ward is an American racing driver who currently competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for HTP Winward Motorsport. Ward also serves as Winward Racing's team principal.