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.
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, and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France Sr. of NASCAR. Beginning in 2014, IMSA 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.
Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. It sanctioned five auto racing series. The series announced in September 2012 that it would be merging with the American Le Mans Series, which had been Grand-Am's main US competitor since its inception. The two series fully merged in 2014 under the banner of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, with the International Motor Sports Association.
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 Daytona Prototype is a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series as their top class of car, which replaced their main prototype racing class, specifically Le Mans Prototypes (LMPs). The cars later competed in the merged series of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, from 2014-2016, before being phased out and replaced by the Daytona Prototype International class in 2017. They are named after the main series event, the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
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.
The 2005 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the sixth season of the Rolex Sports Car Series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The format was reduced to two classes, Daytona Prototypes (DP) and Grand Touring (GT). 14 races were run from February 5, 2005 to November 5, 2005. Laguna-Seca and Hermanos Rodríguez were added. It set the record for the longest Rolex season.
The 2004 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the fifth season of the Rolex Sports Car Series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The season involved three classes, Daytona Prototypes (DP), Grand Touring (GT), and Super Grand Sport (SGS). Twelve races were run from January 31, 2004, to October 31, 2004.
The 2003 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the fourth season of the Rolex Sports Car Series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The season involved four classes, Daytona Prototypes (DP), Sports Racing Prototype II (SRPII), Grand Touring Sport (GTS), and Grand Touring (GT). 12 races were run from February 1, 2003 to November 2, 2003. Barber Motorsports Park was added.
The 2001 Grand American Road Racing Championship was the second season of the Rolex Sports Car Series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The season involved five classes: Sports Racing Prototype I and II, Grand Touring Sport (GTS), Grand Touring (GT), and American GT (AGT). 10 races were run from February 3, 2001 to November 3, 2001, with Watkins Glen International gaining a date in August.
The 2000 Grand American Road Racing Championship was the inaugural season of the Rolex Sports Car Series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. The season involved five classes: Sports Racing Prototypes I and II and three Grand Touring classes referred to as GTO, GTU, and AGT. 9 races were run from February 5, 2000 to August 17, 2000.
The 1999 United States Road Racing Championship was the second and final season of the revived United States Road Racing Championship run by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). The season involved four classes: Can-Am prototypes and three Grand Touring classes referred to as GT2, GT3, and GTT. Five races were scheduled from January 30, 1999, to October 2, 1999, but the series was cancelled after three rounds on June 6, 1999.
The Riley & Scott Mark III was a sports prototype auto racing car developed by Bob Riley, Bill Riley, and Mark Scott of Riley & Scott Cars Inc. Initially designed in 1993, the car was created for the World Sports Car (WSC) category which was to debut in the North American IMSA GT Championship during their 1994 season. It was not until 1995 that the first Mk III was completed, but the construction of further cars allowed a variety of teams to campaign in several North American and European racing series, including competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
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.
Darren Law is a Canadian-born American racing driver.
The 2010 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the 11th season of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. It began on January 30 with the Rolex 24 at Daytona and concluded on September 12 at Miller Motorsports Park.
The 2012 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the thirteenth running of the Grand American Road Racing Association's premier series. It began with the 24 Hours of Daytona on January 28–29.
The 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona was a long-distance motor race for sports cars conforming to the regulations of the Grand-Am Road Racing series. The race was held over a duration of 24 hours, starting at 3:30pm on Saturday, January 28, finishing at 3:30pm the following day. The race was held on the sports car version of Daytona International Speedway, which includes only a portion of the NASCAR Superspeedway course and a loop of circuit which winds through the infield of the speedway.
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 2003 Rolex 24 at Daytona was a Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series 24-hour endurance sports car race held on February 1–2, 2003 at the Daytona International Speedway road course. The race served as the first round of the 2003 Rolex Sports Car Series. The race saw the debut of the Daytona Prototype as the new top class of the series. However, the new cars proved only marginally faster than the lower classes and suffered frequent mechanical failures during the race, allowing a car from the GT class to take overall victory. Overall victory and victory in the GT class went to the No. 66 Porsche 996 GT3-RS from The Racer's Group, driven by Kevin Buckler, Michael Schrom, Jörg Bergmeister, and Timo Bernhard. The Daytona Prototype class was won by the No. 88 Multimatic MDP1 from Multimatic driven by Scott Maxwell, David Brabham, and David Empringham. The SRP II class was won by the No. 5 Lola-Nissan from Team Seattle/Essex Racing, driven by Ross Bentley, Don Kitch Jr., Joe Pruskowski, and Justin Pruskowski. Finally, the GTS class was won by the No. 24 Mosler MT900 from Perspective Racing, driven by Jérôme Policand, Michel Neugarten, João Barbosa, and Andy Wallace.
