WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Category Sports car racing
Country or region United States United States
Inaugural season 2014
Prototype Classes Prototype (P), Prototype Challenge (PC)
GT Classes GT Le Mans (GTLM), GT Daytona (GTD)
Current Drivers' champion/s P: United States Dane Cameron
United States Eric Curran
PC: Colombia Alex Popow
Netherlands Renger van der Zande
GTLM: United Kingdom Oliver Gavin
United States Tommy Milner
GTD: Italy Alessandro Balzan
Denmark Christina Nielsen
Current Teams' champion P: United States Action Express Racing
PC: United States Starworks Motorsport
GTLM: United States Corvette Racing
GTD: United States Scuderia Corsa
Current Makes' champion P: United States Chevrolet
GTLM: United States Chevrolet
GTD: Germany Audi
Official website www.imsa.com

The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship 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. The initial United SportsCar Championship name of the series was announced on March 14, 2013,[1] while Rolex SA signed their Tudor brand to a title sponsorship deal.[2] WeatherTech later signed a deal to take over title sponsorship of the series starting in 2016, rebranding the series.[3]

The inaugural 2014 season began with the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona on January 25–26 and ended with the Petit Le Mans on October 4. João Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi with Action Express Racing claimed both the drivers' and team championships. Chevrolet won the manufacturer's championship.

History

On September 5, 2012 it was announced that the Grand-Am Road Racing sanctioning body would be merging with the Braselton based International Motor Sports Association, and as such both bodies would be merging their premiere sports car series, the Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series respectively, with plans to debut in 2014. On November 20, 2012 the merger committee announced that SME Branding were selected to develop the name, logo and identity of the new series.[4]

2014 Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen

On January 8, 2013, the two series' announced a preliminary class structure for the new merged series. Grand-Am's Daytona Prototype category and IMSA's P2 would combine into a single prototype class, with allowances for the unique DeltaWing to also compete in the new class. The Le Mans Prototype Challenge class of single spec cars from the American Le Mans Series would continue as is, although the cars will switch to Grand-Am's Continental Tires.[5] The GT class of the American Le Mans Series would remain unchanged, while Grand-Am's GT class will form another GT class, and be combined with the American Le Mans GTC category.[6] The only category of cars not represented in the new series is the American Le Mans Series' P1 category.

The reveal date for the new series was March 14, 2013 at the Chateau Élan Hotel and Conference Center at Sebring International Raceway, two days before the 12 Hours of Sebring. American Le Mans CEO Scott Atherton announced the new sanctioning body would remain IMSA while Ed Bennett revealed the new titles for the series' five classes. SME Branding Senior Partner Ed O'Hara then announced the new United SportsCar Racing title and logo, a name submitted through a contest won by Louis Satterlee of Florida, a racer in the Florida Karting Championship Series.[7]

On August 9, 2013 Fox Sports 1 announced it had signed a TV contract with IMSA to televise the entire USCC season between 2014 and 2018.[8]

Later, on September 12, 2013, Tudor was announced as the title sponsor for the series, which was named the United SportsCar Championship. On August 8, 2015, WeatherTech was announced as the new entitlement sponsor for the series, renaming the series to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, starting with the 2016 season.[9]

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series

Originally based on a Canadian series before being acquired by Grand-Am, the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (originally known as Grand-Am Cup) is a production-based touring car series. The series is split into two classes known as Grand Sport (GS), intended for large capacity GT-style cars, and Street Tuner (ST), consisting of smaller sedans and coupes, some of which are front-wheel drive. The IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge until 2013 supported some Rolex Series races but also headlined some of its own dates. This series continued with the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship after the merger and is somewhat comparable to the old Trans Am Series.

Class structure

There are four different classes in the United SportsCar Championship series, featuring two sports prototype categories and two grand tourer classes:

Some races may only use selected classes of cars, for example: Any class car may be permitted entry into the Rolex 24, while at the Grand Prix of Long Beach only the Prototype (P) and GT Le Mans (GTLM) will be entered.

Circuits

Races in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as of the 2016 season. Green dots represent races that are a part of the North American Endurance Cup.
Course From To
Ontario Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 2014 -
Texas Circuit of the Americas 2014 -
Florida Daytona International Speedway 2014 -
Michigan Detroit Belle Isle Street Circuit 2014 -
Indiana Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2014 2014
Kansas Kansas Speedway 2014 2014
California Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca 2014 -
Connecticut Lime Rock Park 2015 -
California Long Beach Street Circuit 2014 -
Wisconsin Road America 2014 -
Georgia (U.S. state) Road Atlanta 2014 -
Florida Sebring International Raceway 2014 -
Virginia Virginia International Raceway 2014 -
New York (state) Watkins Glen International 2014 -

Champions

IMSA Championship

Drivers

Season Prototype Prototype Challenge GTLM GTD
2014 Portugal João Barbosa
Brazil Christian Fittipaldi
United States Jon Bennett
United States Colin Braun
Canada Kuno Wittmer United States Dane Cameron
2015 Portugal João Barbosa
Brazil Christian Fittipaldi
United States Jon Bennett
United States Colin Braun
France Patrick Pilet United States Townsend Bell
United States Bill Sweedler
2016 United States Dane Cameron
United States Eric Curran
Colombia Alex Popow
Netherlands Renger van der Zande
United Kingdom Oliver Gavin
United States Tommy Milner
Italy Alessandro Balzan
Denmark Christina Nielsen

Teams

Season Prototype Prototype Challenge GTLM GTD
2014 United States #5 Action Express Racing United States #54 CORE Autosport United States #93 SRT Motorsports United States #94 Turner Motorsport
2015 United States #5 Action Express Racing United States #54 CORE Autosport United States #911 Porsche North America United States #63 Scuderia Corsa
2016 United States #31 Action Express Racing United States #8 Starworks Motorsport United States #4 Corvette Racing United States #63 Scuderia Corsa

Manufacturers

Season Prototype GTLM GTD
2014 United States Chevrolet Germany Porsche Germany Porsche
2015 United States Chevrolet Germany Porsche Italy Ferrari
2016 United States Chevrolet United States Chevrolet Germany Audi

Tires

Season GTLM
2014 France Michelin
2015 France Michelin

North American Endurance Cup (NAEC)

Drivers

Season Prototype Prototype Challenge GTLM GTD
2014 Portugal João Barbosa
Brazil Christian Fittipaldi
United States Jon Bennett
United States Colin Braun
United States James Gue
Denmark Michael Christensen
United States Patrick Long
United States Townsend Bell
United States Bill Sweedler
2015 Portugal João Barbosa
Brazil Christian Fittipaldi
United States Mike Guasch
United Kingdom Tom Kimber-Smith
United States Andrew Palmer
Spain Antonio García
Denmark Jan Magnussen
United States Al Carter
United States Cameron Lawrence
2016 Portugal João Barbosa
Brazil Christian Fittipaldi
United States Robert Alon
Mexico José Gutiérrez
United Kingdom Tom Kimber-Smith
United Kingdom Oliver Gavin
United States Tommy Milner
Italy Alessandro Balzan
Denmark Christina Nielsen

Teams

Season Prototype Prototype Challenge GTLM GTD
2014 United States #5 Action Express Racing United States #54 CORE Autosport United States #912 Porsche North America Canada #555 AIM Autosport
2015 United States #5 Action Express Racing United States #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports United States #3 Corvette Racing United States #93 Riley Motorsports
2016 United States #5 Action Express Racing United States #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports United States #4 Corvette Racing United States #44 Magnus Racing

Manufacturers

Season Prototype GTLM GTD
2014 United States Chevrolet Germany Porsche Italy Ferrari
2015 United States Chevrolet United States Chevrolet Germany Porsche
2016 Japan Honda United States Chevrolet Germany Audi

References

  1. "United SportsCar Racing To Debut In 2014". American Le Mans Series. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  2. "Tudor Named Title Sponsor". Sportscar 365. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  3. DiZinno, Tony (8 August 2015). "WeatherTech Named New Title Sponsor of IMSA SportsCar". Sportscar365. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  4. "SME Branding Selected To Develop Identity for GRAND-AM, ALMS Merger". Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  5. "ALMS: Continental Named New Spec PC Tire". ALMS Communications. 1 March 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  6. "GRAND-AM, ALMS Announce 2014 Class Structure". Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  7. "LOUIS SATTERLEE - 2012 FLORIDA KARTING CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES REVIEW". Karting News Worldwide. 7 July 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  8. "FOX to air United SportsCar Racing". Fox Sports 1. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  9. "WeatherTech Joins IMSA In Multiyear Partnership". IMSA. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.