IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

Endurance classics such as the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans make the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship one of the most attractive racing series in the world. This season’s calendar is made up of twelve rounds on the most demanding racetracks in the USA and Canada. For 2019, the Porsche GT Team again fields two 911 RSR in the GTLM class. In the GTD class, Porsche customer teams compete with the new 911 GT3 R with support from factory drivers.

Sharing the cockpit of the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR are Patrick Pilet (France) and Nick Tandy (Great Britain) – thus one of the most successful driving duo in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship remain united. Frédéric Makowiecki (France) joins them as the third driver for the endurance events at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans. In 2018, this trio won the rounds in Sebring and Braselton. The regular crew of the No. 912 sister car also remains unchanged. Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) will contest all rounds, with Mathieu Jaminet (France) supporting them at the endurance classics.

Porsche customer teams such as Park Place Motorsports and Pfaff Motorsports tackle the GTD class with the latest generation 911 GT3 R. Porsche works driver Patrick Long will contest the entire season. At the races over longer distances, works driver Dirk Werner (Germany) as well as both Porsche Young Professionals Matt Campbell (Australia) and Matteo Cairoli (Italy) will compete.

The races at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans count towards the prestigious North American Endurance Cup. In 2017, Porsche won the drivers’ and team titles in the toughest and most coveted category in terms of performance and reliability that exists globally in GT racing.

Worldwide coverage

Traditionally, sports car racing enjoys huge popularity amongst American motorsport fans. Spectator interest in Porsche’s most important sports car market in the world is unwavering. Every year, around 150,000 fans make the pilgrimage to Sebring alone. Petit Le Mans at the legendary Road Atlanta circuit regularly attracts more than 100,000 spectators. And the street race through the port district of Long Beach, one of the absolute highlights of the season, continues to lure racing fans every year.

The huge interest in North America’s premier sports car racing series is also reflected in the broadcasting times of the NBC TV network. The TV giant broadcasts the races of this thrilling championship live or pre-recorded on its main channel as well as on the NBS Sports, CNBC and NBCSN channels. Sports car fans outside the USA can also witness the action live and at no cost on www.imsa.com.

The classes

In the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, sports prototypes and sports cars start in four different classes. For the 2019 season, the previous prototype class has been split into the categories DPi and LMP2. All classes start together at the races in Daytona, Sebring, Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, Bowmanville, Road America, Laguna Seca and Petit Le Mans. The GTLM class is contested at all races except at Detroit.

GTLM (GT Le Mans): Open to heavily-modified GT vehicles that are based on production sports cars, including the Porsche 911 RSR. Internationally, this is the equivalent of the GTE-Pro class.

GTD (GT Daytona): This class consists of near-standard GT vehicles complying with the FIA GT3 regulations, like the Porsche 911 GT3 R.

DPi (Daytona Prototype international): This is the class for prototypes complying with Dpi regulations.

LMP2 (Le Man Prototype 2): Prototypes complying with LMP2 regulations of the Le Mans organiser ACO are permitted to compete in this category.

A championship title is awarded for drivers, teams and manufacturers. The same applies to the classes of the North American Endurance Cup.

The classifications

The 2019 races

Die Rennstrecken

The organisation

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is
contested with the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)
as the governing body.

International Motor Sports Association
One Daytona Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
USA
Phone: +1 386 310 6500
Fax: +1 386 310 650
Email: info@imsa.com
Internet: www.imsa.com