North American Touring Car Championship

Last updated
North American Touring Car Championship
Category Super Touring
CountryFlag of the United States.svg  United States
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Inaugural season1996
Folded1997
Last Drivers' champion Flag of the United States.svg David Donohue
Last Makes' champion Flag of Japan.svg Honda

The North American Touring Car Championship was a touring car racing series using the Supertouring formula that raced in North America in 1996 and 1997. The series was funded in part by IndyCar team owner Gerald Forsythe with input from British series supremo Alan Gow. He appointed his vice-president of Business Operations, Canadian Roger Elliott to run the operation headquartered in Tampa, Florida. The Dodge Stratus factory team engineered and crewed by PacWest Racing [1] and Honda Accord factory team operated by TC Kline Racing dominated the series as they were one of the only truly professional outfits to contest the championship. The series ran as a support series to CART road and street course races. [2]

Contents

While popular with fans, the series struggled to attract teams, with most races in the 1996 season only having 11 or 12 entrants. [3] 1997 saw even fewer entrants with only 9 or 10 cars on track for most of the races. [4] The series was not continued for 1998.

Champions

SeasonDrivers' ChampionManufacturers' ChampionRef
1996 Flag of the United States.svg Randy Pobst (Honda Accord) Flag of Japan.svg Honda [3]
1997 Flag of the United States.svg David Donohue (Dodge Stratus) Flag of Japan.svg Honda [4]

Notable drivers

Hartong Motorsports BMW driven by Darren Law Hartong Motorsports BMW 318i.jpg
Hartong Motorsports BMW driven by Darren Law

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References

  1. "About Dominic Dobson". Dobson Motorsport. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  2. "Provisional 1997 schedule released". Press release. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  3. 1 2 "North American Touring Car Championship 1996". Autocourse.ca. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  4. 1 2 "North American Touring Car Championship 1997". Autocourse.ca. Retrieved 31 January 2011.