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 one of the best known 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.
William Anthony 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.
The All Japan Sports Prototype Championship (全日本スポーツプロトタイプ選手権), abbreviated as JSPC, formed by the Japan Automobile Federation, was a domestic championship which took place in Japan for Group C and IMSA GTP prototype cars and also featured cars that were eligible for touring car racing in its earlier years. Class A and Class B for production cars which were defined by the FIA and the lead category, Class C would be for cars that are similar to IMSA's Camel Lights and the WEC's C2, whereas Class D was for C1/GTP cars.
All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Originally titled as the Zen Nihon GT Senshuken (全日本GT選手権), generally referred to as either the JGTC the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It was the top level of sports car racing in Japan.
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.
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.
Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) is the name of a former classification designated to sports prototypes in sports car racing competing in the IMSA GT Championship, maintained by IMSA between 1981 and 1993. The early cars were based on the almost same identical ruleset as the FIA's Group C category, but eventually evolved into a separate category. It was the successor to the Grand Touring Experimental (GTX) class, which were based on FIA Group 5 and Group 6 cars.
Grand Touring Over (GTO) is the name of a former classification designated to grand touring cars competing in sports car racing, originally by IMSA in the IMSA GT Championship, and later by Grand-Am in the Rolex Sports Car Series. IMSA used the class between 1971 and 1991, and Grand-Am used the class for a single season in 2000. The class had its origins in the original "TO" class used by the SCCA in the Trans-Am series, and was also similarly modeled to the FIA's Group 4 and Group 5 racing classes, but eventually evolved over time into its own category. The class specified an engine displacement of more than 2.5 L (150 cu in), with engine design and number of cylinders being unrestricted. turbocharging and supercharging was allowed on engines up to a size of 6.0 L (370 cu in). Engines over 6.0 L (370 cu in) were required to be naturally aspirated. The original class became known as Grand Touring Supreme (GTS) in 1992.
Grand Touring Supreme (GTS) is the name of a former classification designated to grand touring cars competing in sports car racing, originally by IMSA in the IMSA GT Championship, and later by Grand-Am in the Rolex Sports Car Series. IMSA used the class between 1992 and 1997, and Grand-Am used the class between 2001 and 2003. It was an evolution and re-branding of the former Grand Touring Over (GTO) class. Like the original GTO class, the class rules specified an engine displacement of more than 2.5 L (150 cu in), with engine design and number of cylinders being free and unrestricted. turbocharging and supercharging was allowed on engines up to a size of 6.0 L (370 cu in). Engines over 6.0 L (370 cu in) were required to be naturally-aspirated. Between 1995 and 1996 in the IMSA GT Championship, the top GTS class became known as GTS-1, while the former Grand Touring Under (GTU) class became known as GTS-2. This changed again in 1997, when the GTS-2 (former GTU) class became known as GTS-3, due to the addition of a new GTS-2 category, which allowed for existing international GT2 cars, like those used in the FIA GT Championship. IMSA also used the GTS designation for the former GT2 class cars of cars (later known as GT1) in the American Le Mans Series, between 1999 and 2004.
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 1971 IMSA GT Series season was the inaugural season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for Grand Tourer-style racing cars which ran in the GTO and GTU classes, as well as former Trans Am Series cars in the TO and TU classes. It began April 18, 1971, and ended November 21, 1971, after six 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 1974 Camel GT Challenge season was the 4th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. The series was for GTO and GTU class Grand tourer racing cars. It began April 21, 1974, and ended December 1, 1974, after twelve rounds. 1974 would be the first time that the series would leave the United States, with races in Canada and Mexico. It would also be the only time IMSA GT would leave northern North America. The TO and TU classes, which had been composed of former Trans Am Series cars from before the championship's debut, were dropped due to Trans Am having been "absorbed" by IMSA GT and thus becoming nigh indistinguishable from IMSA.
The 1973 Camel GT season was the 3rd season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for Grand Tourer-style racing cars which ran in the GTO and GTU classes, as well as former Trans Am Series cars in the TO and TU classes. It began March 24, 1973, and ended November 25, 1973, after ten rounds. This year marked the decline of Trans Am and the beginning of it and IMSA GT becoming nigh indistinguishable.
The 1972 Camel GT Challenge season was the 2nd season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was for Grand Tourer-style racing cars which ran in the GTO and GTU classes, as well as former Trans Am Series cars in the TO and TU classes. It began December 4, 1971, and ended November 19, 1972, after ten 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 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.
Grand Touring Endurance, shortened to GTE, was a set of regulations maintained by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and IMSA for grand tourer racing cars used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 hours of Daytona GTLM, and its associated series. The class was formerly known as simply Group GT between 1999 and 2004, and later referred to as Group GT2 between 2005 and 2010. The GT2 name has since been revived for a different set of regulations.
Pontiac Fiero GTU
Nissan 300ZX GTU
