2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Previous: 2018 Next: 2020
Support series:
Michelin Pilot Challenge
WeatherTech Sprint Cup
IMSA Prototype Challenge

The 2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be the 49th season of International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) GT Championship that traces its lineage to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship, and the sixth as the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It will begin on 26 January with the 24 Hours of Daytona, and conclude on 12 October with the Petit Le Mans.

Series News

  • NBC Sports Group will take over from Fox Sports as the series' official broadcaster.
  • Michelin is set to become the new official tire supplier of the series, following the departure of Continental Tire at the end of 2018.
  • As part of a plan to attempt to cut costs for the series' GT Daytona (GTD) class, the 2019 season will feature a new support series called the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. Competition will be available to GTD cars only, featuring seven races on the calendar, six of which are in support of the main three-hour races.[1]
  • After an eleven year partnership, Tequila Patrón will end their involvement with IMSA altogether at the end of the 2018 season. They will also end their sponsorship of the Extreme Speed Motorsports prototype team. Michelin will take Patrón's place as the sponsor of the endurance cup.[2]

Classes

  • Daytona Prototype international (DPi)
  • Le Mans Prototype (LMP)
  • GT Le Mans (GTLM)
  • GT Daytona (GTD)

Beginning in the 2019 season, the "Prototype" class will be split into DPi and LMP, the two classes of cars that comprised the former prototype class.

Schedule

Race Schedule

The 2019 schedule was released on 3 August 2019 and features twelve rounds.[3]

   Race is part of the Michelin Endurance Cup
Rnd. Race Length Classes Circuit Location Date
1 Rolex 24 at Daytona 24 hours All Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida January 26-27
2 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring 12 hours All Sebring International Raceway Sebring, Florida March 16
3 NBCSN Sports Car Grand Prix Of Long Beach 1 hour 40 minutes[4] DPi, LMP, GTLM Long Beach Street Circuit Long Beach, California April 13
4 TBA 2 hour 40 minutes[4] All Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio May 5
5 TBA 1 hour 40 minutes[4] DPi, LMP, GTD [N 1] The Raceway on Belle Isle Detroit, Michigan June 1
6 Go Bowling.com Six Hours of The Glen 6 hours All Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York June 30
7 Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix 2 hour 40 minutes[4] All Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Bowmanville, Ontario July 7
8 Northeast Grand Prix 2 hour 40 minutes[4] GTLM, GTD Lime Rock Park Lakeville, Connecticut July 20
9 Michelin Road Race Showcase 2 hour 40 minutes[4] All Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 4
10 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR 2 hour 40 minutes[4] GTLM, GTD Virginia International Raceway Alton, Virginia August 25
11 WeatherTech Monterey Grand Prix 2 hour 40 minutes[4] All WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California September 15
12 Motul Petit Le Mans 10 hours All Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia October 12

Notes

  1. ↑ GTD for participants in the WeatherTech Sprint Cup only.

Entries

Protoype (DPi)/(LMP)

The prototype class is split into the DPi and LMP categories for 2019.

Team Chassis Engine No. Drivers Class Rounds
United States Action Express Racing[5] Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 5.5L V8 5 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi[5] DPi TBA
TBA[5] TBA
TBA[5] TBA
31 Brazil Pipo Derani[6] DPi TBA
Brazil Felipe Nasr[6] TBA
TBA[6] TBA
United States JDC-Miller Motorsports[7] Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 5.5L V8 TBA TBA[7] DPi TBA
TBA[7] TBA
TBA[7] TBA
TBA TBA[7] DPi TBA
TBA[7] TBA
TBA[7] TBA
United States Juncos Racing[8] Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 5.5L V8 TBA TBA[8] DPi TBA
TBA[8] TBA
TBA[8] TBA
Germany Mazda Team Joest[9] Mazda RT24-P Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 TBA TBA[9] DPi TBA
TBA[9] TBA
TBA[9] TBA
TBA TBA[9] DPi TBA
TBA[9] TBA
TBA[9] TBA
Icon Class
DPi Daytona Protoype international
LMP Le Mans Prototype

GT Le Mans

Team Chassis Engine No. Drivers Rounds
United States Porsche GT Team[10] Porsche 911 RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 TBA TBA[10] TBA
TBA[10] TBA
TBA[10] TBA
TBA TBA[10] TBA
TBA[10] TBA
TBA[10] TBA

GT Daytona (GTD)

Team Chassis Engine No. Drivers Rounds
United States Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian[11] Acura NSX GT3 Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6 57 Brazil Ana Beatriz[11] TBA
United States Jackie Heinricher[11] TBA
United Kingdom Katherine Legge[11] TBA
Switzerland Simona de Silvestro[11] TBA
TBA TBA[11] TBA
TBA[11] TBA
TBA[11] TBA
Austria GRT Grasser Racing Team[12] Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 TBA TBA[12] TBA
TBA[12] TBA
TBA[12] TBA

References

  1. ↑ Dagys, John (3 August 2018). "IMSA Launches Sprint Cup for GTD". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  2. ↑ "LONGTIME SPONSOR PATRON SPIRITS LEAVING IMSA, TEQUILA PATRON ESM RACE TEAM". autoweek.com. Crain Communications Inc. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  3. ↑ Dagys, John (3 August 2018). "2019 IWSC Schedule Released". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Schedule Promotes Venue Stability, Date Equity". imsa.com. 3 August 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Fittipaldi to Retire After 2019 Rolex 24". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 Dagys, John (7 September 2018). "Derani Signs With Action Express for 2019". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lloyd, Daniel (9 August 2018). "JDC-Miller Confirms Two-Car Cadillac DPi Program for 2019". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Juncos Confirms Cadillac DPi Entry for 2019". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. 15 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pruett, Marshall (9 August 2018). "Mazda rules out customer DPis for 2019". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing Inc. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dagys, John (13 October 2018). "Porsche Signs Three-Year Extension with CORE". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kilshaw, Jake (12 October 2018). "MSR Reveals All-Female Lineup for Rolex 24, GTD Season". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Kilshaw, Jake (3 October 2018). "Grasser Confirms Michelin Endurance Cup Program". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
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