WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season
Category	Sports car racing
Country or region	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: João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi PC: Jon Bennett Colin Braun GTLM: Patrick Pilet GTD: Townsend Bell Bill Sweedler
Current Teams' champion	P: Action Express Racing PC: CORE Autosport GTLM: Porsche North America GTD: Scuderia Corsa
Current Makes' champion	P: Chevrolet GTLM: Porsche GTD: Ferrari
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 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:

• Prototype (P): the flagship class, combining Grand-Am's Daytona Prototype with the American Le Mans Series P2 prototypes and the DeltaWing, built to 2014 specifications.
• Prototype Challenge (PC): a spec class carried over directly from the American Le Mans Series, featuring Le Mans Prototype Challenge cars built by Oreca with engines supplied by Chevrolet and tires from Continental.
• GT Le Mans (GTLM): a continuation of the ALMS GT class, consisting of cars matching the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's GTE specification.
• GT Daytona (GTD): a class that combines the Grand-Am GT & GX classes with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars from the ALMS GTC class and cars built to FIA GT3 specifications.

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

Course	From	To
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park	2014	-
Circuit of the Americas	2014	-
Daytona International Speedway	2014	-
Detroit Belle Isle Street Circuit	2014	-
Indianapolis Motor Speedway	2014	2014
Kansas Speedway	2014	2014
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	2014	-
Lime Rock Park	2015	-
Long Beach Street Circuit	2014	-
Road America	2014	-
Road Atlanta	2014	-
Sebring International Raceway	2014	-
Virginia International Raceway	2014	-
Watkins Glen International	2014	-

Champions

IMSA Championship

Teams/Drivers

Season	Prototype	Prototype Challenge	GTLM	GTD
2014	#5 Action Express Racing	#54 CORE Autosport	#93 SRT Motorsports	#94 Turner Motorsport
	João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi	Jon Bennett Colin Braun	Kuno Wittmer	Dane Cameron
2015	#5 Action Express Racing	#54 CORE Autosport	#911 Porsche North America	#63 Scuderia Corsa
	João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi	Jon Bennett Colin Braun	Patrick Pilet	Townsend Bell Bill Sweedler

Manufacturers Season Prototype GTLM GTD 2014 Chevrolet Porsche Porsche 2015 Chevrolet Porsche Ferrari

Tires Season GTLM 2014 Michelin 2015 Michelin

North American Endurance Cup (NAEC)

Teams/Drivers

Season	Prototype	Prototype Challenge	GTLM	GTD
2014	#5 Action Express Racing	#54 CORE Autosport	#912 Porsche North America	#555 AIM Autosport
	João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi	Jon Bennett Colin Braun James Gue	Michael Christensen Patrick Long	Townsend Bell Bill Sweedler
2015	#5 Action Express Racing	#52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports	#3 Corvette Racing	#93 Riley Motorsports
	João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi	Mike Guasch Tom Kimber-Smith Andrew Palmer	Antonio García Jan Magnussen	Al Carter Cameron Lawrence

Manufacturers

Season	Prototype	GTLM	GTD
2014	Chevrolet	Porsche	Ferrari
2015	Chevrolet	Chevrolet	Porsche

References

External links

• United SportsCar Championship official site