ELKHART LAKE, Wis. - At its quickly becoming annual state of the series event at Road America, IMSA has revealed the 2017 calendars for its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama, and newly rebranded IMSA Prototype Challenge presented by Mazda.
Starting with the WeatherTech Championship first, the big changes are twofold - the Circuit of The Americas and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca dates change.
Circuit of The Americas is now a May standalone date, separate from the FIA World Endurance Championship, which brings to an end the Lone Star Le Mans weekend at the end of this year.
Meanwhile the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca date moves to September.
Here’s your reasoning on both of these adjustments, per IMSA President Scott Atherton:
“We’ll take COTA first. We have been there from the start after the American Le Mans Series went by itself. Since we’ve merged we’ve been there with the World Endurance Championship,” Atherton said. “It’s been a spectacular weekend, but it’s come with a lot of compromise by all involved.
“It also has had issues with its proximity on the calendar to college football which is enormous in that part of the world and also in proximity to the Formula 1 race that takes place. So it definitely has a distraction from their staff, their marketing efforts. Let’s be honest: a Formula 1 weekend is their biggest so that’s where their focus is.
“So we had a desire to go to a springtime date. Grand-Am raced there in the spring, had a very successful weekend and that’s been our desire. We made that known to COTA as well as to our partners at WEC. We were able to confirm a date. I don’t have knowledge of what the WEC plans are and candidly it’s not for us to speculate. Right now, we’re pleased with that decision, looking forward to an IMSA weekend at COTA in the spring.
“The second example, simply the opportunity to open up that weekend by virtue moving our weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Again, fall on the Monterey peninsula is a spectacular time of year. It’s a traditional time of year for road racing, big events. They’re big historic car weekend in August followed by what will now be the WeatherTech Championship, got an entire weekend there in September. So same venues, slight modifications on the weekends and some other alterations on the class structure at each event. But all in all, couldn’t be more pleased with the calendar.”
Here’s the WeatherTech Championship schedule:
| 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Schedule |
|---|
| Date Event (Duration) / Venue Classes / Duration |
| Jan. 26-29 Rolex 24 At Daytona P/PC/GTLM/GTD |
| Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, Florida 24 Hours |
| March 15-18 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida P/PC/GTLM/GTD |
| Sebring International Raceway - Sebring, Florida 12 Hours |
| April 7-8 BUBBA burger SportsCar Grand Prix at Long Beach P/GTLM/GTD |
| Long Beach, California 100 Minutes |
| May 5-7 Circuit of The Americas P/PC/GTLM/GTD |
| Austin, Texas 2 Hours, 40 Minutes |
| June 2-3 Chevrolet Belle Isle Detroit Grand Prix P/PC/GTD |
| Belle Isle Park - Detroit, Michigan 100 Minutes |
| June 30-July 2 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen P/PC/GTLM/GTD |
| Watkins Glen International - Watkins Glen, New York 6 Hours |
| July 7-9 Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix P/PC/GTLM/GTD |
| Canadian Tire Motorsport Park - Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada 2 Hours, 40 Minutes |
| July 21-22 IMSA WeatherTech Northeast Grand Prix GTLM/GTD |
| Lime Rock Park - Lakeville, Connecticut 2 Hours, 40 Minutes |
| Aug. 4-6 Continental Tire Road Race Showcase P/PC/GTLM/GTD |
| Road America - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin 2 Hours, 40 Minutes |
| Aug. 25-27 Michelin GT Challenge GTLM/GTD |
| VIRginia International Raceway - Danville, Virginia 2 Hours, 40 Minutes |
| Sept. 22-24 Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda P/GTLM/GTD |
| Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - Monterey, California 2 Hours, 40 Minutes |
| Oct. 5-7 Petit Le Mans P/PC/GTLM/GTD |
| Road Atlanta - Braselton, Georgia 10 Hours |
| IMSA WeatherTech Championship Sanctioned Test Sessions |
| Date Venue Classes |
| Nov. 15-16, 2016 Daytona International Speedway P/PC/GTLM/GTD |
| Daytona Beach, Florida |
| Dec. 13-14, 2016 Daytona International Speedway P/GTLM/GTD |
| Daytona Beach, Florida |
| Jan. 6-8, 2017 Roar Before The Rolex 24 At Daytona P/PC/GTLM/GTD |
| Daytona Beach, Florida |
| Feb. 23-24, 2017 Sebring International Raceway P/PC/GTLM/GTD |
| Sebring, Florida |
Shifting to the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge next, changes come with a reduction in standard races to a two-hour format, from two hours and 30 minutes. Meanwhile two four-hour races are added at Daytona and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, to differentiate.
Class structure stays the same with GT4 becoming the GS platform in 2018. Discussions are possible for TCR to enter into this series by 2018.
Here’s the Continental Tire schedule:
2017 IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Schedule
Date Venue / Location Duration
Jan. 27 Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, Florida 4 Hours
March 17 Sebring International Raceway – Sebring, Florida 2 Hours
May 6 Circuit of The Americas - Austin, Texas 2 Hours
July 1 Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, New York 2 Hours
July 8 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada 2 Hours
July 22 Lime Rock Park – Lakeville, Connecticut 2 Hours
Aug. 4-6 Road America – Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin 2 Hours
Aug. 26 VIRginia International Raceway – Danville, Virginia 2 Hours
Sept. 23 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – Monterey, California 4 Hours*
Oct. 6 Road Atlanta – Braselton, Georgia 2 Hours
* - Subject to final confirmation
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The Prototype Challenge presented by Mazda series is the rebranded Mazda Prototype Lites presented by Cooper Tires, which in 2015 was the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites presented by Mazda.
It adds LMP3 race cars, and the new championship will race a 13-round schedule at seven premier North American circuits.
Prototype Challenge action will be divided into two classes, blending new and existing IMSA machinery. The PC1 class will feature LM P3 chassis from as many as six different constructors powered by identical V8 engines.
The PC2 class will use the existing Élan DP02 chassis powered by Mazda engines currently used in the Lites 1 class of the Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires, the foundation for the new IMSA Prototype Challenge series.
Here’s that schedule:
2017 IMSA Prototype Challenge presented by Mazda Schedule
Date Venue
March 17-18 Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida*
April 21-23 Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama
June 30-July 2 Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York*
July 7-9 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Bowmanville, Ontario*
July 21-22 Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Connecticut* **
Aug. 11-13 Grand Prix of Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Quebec
Oct. 5-7 Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia*
* -- In conjunction with IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship events
** -- Will feature a single, 45-minute race
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The only note of note from the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama was the inclusion of a couple Verizon IndyCar Series dates. See that schedule below:
2017 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama Schedule
Date Venue
March 17-18 Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida*
April 21-23 Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama
May/June To Be Confirmed
June 30-July 2 Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York*
Aug. 4-6 Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin*
Aug. 25-27 VIRginia International Raceway, Danville, Virginia*
Sept. 15-17 Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California
Oct. 5-7 Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia*
* -- In conjunction with IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship events